Windows 7: XP Mode Logon Details

I have virtual pc setup running xp mode with default logon of XPMUser but i have no idea what my password is? i don't even remember putting one in during the install?

its okay as i have logon credentials saved so it autologs on but if i ever want to change that.......well i can't!

any advice much appreciated

cheers



Ben

I am sure you can - if XPMUser is an Administrator

start, type regedit, and in the registry editor drill down the tree to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

There should be a "DefaultUserName"="XPMUser"
And a "DefaultPassword"="password1", or whatever value has been set.

good thinking, i forgot about the auto logon reg key

cheers

Ben

nope thats not worked either, there is no DefaultPassword string value in there, so i added one and stuck a password on it, no change, it wont let me use that password as the logon

it seems its not windows xp thats remembering the logon, its virtual pc itself forcing the logon with the credentials it has stored, but it only shows the username not the password in the stored credentials under the setting tab for the xpmode within VP??

most frustrating!

When you set XP Mode up, first boot, it asked you to create a password:



Because of the restrictions of Remote Desktop Protocol, XP Mode and other Virtual PC vm's can not be used without a password if integration features are enabled. When installing XP Mode and setting it up, integration is by default enabled. This is why XP Mode does not allow you to set it up without password, so IMO you should try once more to remember it.

However, if you have later disabled integration features, then it is possible to login to XP Mode with a username without password. First thing to do is to really check if you have a password or not. This can most easily be done by checking XP Mode > Control Panel > User accounts. Click XPMUser and see what it says. The two images below show the difference, first image shows XPMUser has a password, the second that XPMUser has no password. You can clearly see the difference:





If XPMUser has no password but you have been able to login and use that user account, it means you have also disabled integration features. To enable integration, simply create a password and logout, login using the new password and enable integration from virtual machine's Tools menu.

If your XPMUser account has a password and you can not remember it, the best you can do is this:

• Create a new administrator account with password (XP Mode > Control Panel > User Accounts)
• Still being logged in as XPMUser, copy all your personal files and folders from C:\Documents and Settings\XPMUser to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
• Log off XPMUser, login to your new account
• When new user has logged in successfully, shut down XP Mode and delete saved credentials from XP Mode settings
• When credentials are deleted, boot XP Mode again, select the new account you created, give password and select Remember my credentials:
  .
  

Now in the future XP Mode logs you automatically in with this new account.

When in XP Mode with the new account, open All Users and copy all files and folders you earlier copied from XPMUser to your new account. Now you you can simply delete the XPMUser account, having a new working administrator account with all your files from old XPMUser account transferred to your new account.

Kari

Thanks for that Kari, yet another layer of Virtual fog has dissipated.

It's interesting to read this post. After logging off VirtualXP OS, I wanted to be able to be able to log back on without having to put a password in every time. So I went to XP Mode > Control Panel > User accounts and deleted my password. When I logged off, I couldn't log back in, the reason for which I now understand as explained in this post. I also couldn't reopen XP Mode once I had shut it down and tried to reboot.

By trial and error I discovered that if I disabled the integration option by going to Start Menu > All Programs > Windows Virtual PC > Windows Virtual PC > Right click: Windows XP Mode > Settings > Untick: Integration Features .... I could then boot into XP Mode and create a password in User Accounts. Once done, I could then shut down, reactivate the integration option,and be back to normal.

I was going to do a post to see if there was some way possible to totally remove the need for passwords for booting up and logging on/off?