Only need one user name to appear at logon

[MRM]

Hi, I'm new to the board. So forgive me if this is in the wrong section.

We are getting new machines in our office with Windows 10 on them. One thing we don't like is when the logon screen comes up, there are two choice. One is the local account and the other is "other users" which logs onto our office network. Several have complained they forget to switch to "other users" and end up logging in to the local account.

I have read on other sites where people have said to edit the registry. I have done that and it still shows the local account and the other users. If you will see in the attached screen shots, the first one is the user names on my computer. Even after changing the registry, I still get what is in the second screen shot. Instead, I have to click "other users" (see screenshot 3) to log on to the work domain. Any help would be appreciated so I won't have to listen to the higher ups complaining about this.

 

[Regedit32]

The only way you can hide a User account from the Sign-in screen is to modify the Winlogon hive in the Registry.

I am assuming that is what you attempted to do. However, given you are trying to do this on a work machine, I am assuming your IT have not provided you Administrator privileges, meaning your modification of the Registry will not work.

I'm happy to post all the steps to achieve your goal - on the off chance you simply made a mistake while editing your Registry - but first I need to establish whether or not you are able to sign-in to your Desktop with Administrative privileges.

Another factor you need to be aware of here: If you succeed in hiding the local account, you will be unable to switch users on your machine, meaning the only way to use the local account, will be to modify the registry again.

To me that seems a little stupid.

If you need access to that local account, then do not hide it!

If you do not need the local account at all, then simply remove the account altogether!

 

[MRM]

I do have administrator priviledges. Other than that's what Microsoft makes you sign up with when getting a new Win10 machine, I don't see the need for it. But I was skeptical of removing the account. I have another one to set up for another person, I may try that on their new machine before handing it over to them. I can always reset Windows and start over.

 

[Regedit32]

So which account is the one with Administrative privielges?

Michael, or Other users?

 

[MRM]

Both do. But the one under "other users" is the one I need to show up and not the other.

 

[Snuffy]

If you only want 1 signin, and if your Signed in as Admin open account(s) and delete the 2n user.
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\User Accounts\Manage Accounts

 

[Regedit32]

1. Sign-in to Other user account
2. Type Registry Editor into your search box and press Enter
3. When the UAC prompt appears, click yes
4. When the Registry Editor opens, replace what you see in its address bar with the following:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
   
   Example image
   
   
   
   
   
   Once you have entered that in the address bar as illustrated, press Enter key to expand to that location in left pane
   
   
   
5. On the left pane you will now see the Winlogon hive highlighted. Right-click on Winlogon and select New key
   
   Example image
   
   
   
   
   
   That will result in seeing this:
   
   
   
   
   
   Overtype the New Key #1 with SpecialAccounts then press Enter to get the following:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Next, right-click on SpecialAccounts and select New key
7. Then as before overtype the New Key #1 with UserList and press Enter to get the following:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Next, left-click on UserList then inside the Right Pane you need to right-click and select New DWORD (32-bit) value
   
   Example image
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. You will now see this in the right pane:
   
   
   
   
   
   Overtype the New Value #1 with Michael then press Enter which will result in this:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Close the Registry editor

Now when you sign-out, or reboot your computer the sign-in screen will only display Other user

Note: As I stated in a previous post. Doing this means you cannot switch from Other User to Michael. If you need access to Michael again, you will need to sign-in to Other user, then open Registry Editor and do either of the following:

• Right-click on Michael and select modify then change the Data value 0 to a 1, or
• Right-click on Michael and select delete

If you later realize this is a pain in the derriere, then simply open Registry and right-click on SpecialAccounts hive and select delete


Regards,

Regedit32

ps: If you discover your Other user account is only local and does not have Administrator privileges, then the above will not work. A work around to resolve that would be the following:

• When signed in as Other user, opening the Registry editor like this:
  • Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows
  • Scroll down and locate regedit
  • Press & hold down your Shift key while at the same time right-clicking on regedit and selecting Run as different user
    
    Example image
    
    
    
    
    
    That will open this:
    
    
    
    
    
    Simply sign in with an account that does have administrative privileges and then continue using Registry Editor as above.
    
    In your case, based on your original post, you could sign in as Michael here, to ensure the Registry tweak worked.

 

[MRM]

Thanks. I will try this again.

 

[Regedit32]

Oh one last thing!

Everything you type when editing Registry - including the user name you want to hide - is Case Sensitive!

That means those hive names too! SpecialAccounts and UserList are both case sensitive, and note there are no spaces between words either!

 

[MRM]

I tried editing the registry again and it still didn't work. At this point, I'll have to remind everyone which option to select when logging on. I sure Microsoft had left well enough alone.

 

[Regedit32]

What build version of Windows 10 are you using?

 

[Regedit32]

I just tested it on the latest build and it works fine.

Also tested on latest Insider build and works there too.

 

[MRM]

1903

 

[Regedit32]

Given your Michael account is definitely administrator account you should try doing it when sign-in with that account.

I cannot confirm your assertion Other user is an admin account as I cannot see it in your original netplwiz picture

 

[Regedit32]

Well it definitely does work in 1903, I just tested that

 

[MRM]

The best I can tell, the account that says Michael that's not asking to join a domain must be the same account as the one with the domain. I logged in using that and all network drives connected, anything else network dependent works as well. Wonder if that explains when I made the registry change that it appeared to make no difference? I tried the different log on method on a couple of other Win10 machines and got the same result. I'm just trying to make it as easy as possible to log on for the less computer included people in the office.

 

[Regedit32]

Well the account you want to hide must be a Local account.

As I mentioned several posts ago, why not just remove all user accounts other than the single one you want people signing in with to do what they are paid for. I don't see why they need to have local accounts at all. They are there to work, not to play.

 

[Trouble]

"Other User" is simply a construct available in one format or another for a long time to Domain Joined Computers, to provide the ability to Log On Locally should the need arise.
Keep in mind that by default the Domain Administrator is always a member of the local administrators group on all domain joined computers so the need for an actual local user is unnecessary, but....
I'm not entirely sure that Windows 10 supports not having at least one local user account.
You could probably reduce it to only the normally hidden / disabled local administrator account and set that back to /active:no
Might be an interesting experiment.