Bypass the Windows 8 lock screen

[wmmiller]

Hi Fred,
I was thinking about another Windows 8/8.1 thing that can be a pain in the rear.
The below works well where gpedit.msc is available, but I have recently discovered that gpedit.msc is not available in Windows 8/8.1 Home. Would it be possible to get a fix that can remove the lock screen automatically? I have no idea if it can be easily done for the home versions or not. Is this even worth the effort? It’s not that tuff to do, but I have not found a way to do it on the home versions. Although, I haven’t exactly busted a nut trying to figure it out yet. What say you?
Bill

To remove the lock screen entirely, so that locking is just a plain password prompt — and booting up goes straight to the password prompt.
1. Hit the Start key, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
3. Double click “Do not display the lock screen,” and select Enabled from the dialog that pops up. Click OK.
The change is immediate. Press Win+L and see the your new lock screen.

[Fred]

Hi Bill. If you bypass the lock screen on Win 8, will it go straight to the user selection screen?

I'll have to dig a bit, but it's probably a good fix.

[wmmiller]

Hi Fred,
Yes it goes right to the normal password screen. Here are the two reg keys.

To disable:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000001

To enable:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000000
Bill

[Fred]

Thanks.

In the meantime, you can easily do it from a script.

To disable:

Code: Select all

  <Reg>
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000001

To enable:

Code: Select all

  <Reg>
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000000