I orginally posted this on the Windows 7 forums but they suggested I post it here. Im having a problem using autologon via group policy in Windows 7.
With WXP PCs, we would periodicly needed to enable auto logon in labs for special purposes. We have a Group Policy that sets the AutoAdminLogon, DefaultDomainName, DefaultPassword, and DefaultUserName keys via Computer Configuration settings. This Group Policy works, Computer Configuration GP is processed and the computer does an autologon, no reboot is required for the policy to take affect.
Im now trying to do that same thing on W7 and it is not working. The keys are getting set but it is not auto logging on until the next reboot. I have tried setting the keys via ADMX, via GP preferences, and via a Computer Startup script. In every case I can see the keys get set before the logon appears but it does not autologon until I reboot. The group policy log shows the keys get set before it starts processing the user group policy settings. We use Deepfreeze so a reboot is out of the question. Is it no longer possible to enable autologon via group policy and have it take affect without a reboot?
The fact that it works after a reboot tells me I have the correct keys. It seems like GP processing has changed and no longer allows this to happen.
To be clear, I use to be able to set autologon during the stage that processes the GP computer configuration and because it was happenging before logon, it would automatically logon when it got to that point. With W7, the keys get set before the logon is displayed but it does not auto logon. If I reboot, the keys are already set and it works from that point on. The problem is not getting the keys set, it with when the settings take affect.