TR Dojo: Tweak Windows Vista's Logon screen to meet your needs

Bill Detwiler: Most users don't think twice about what the Windows Logon screen looks like. But as an IT pro, you might be interested in customizing the screen.

I'm Bill Detwiler, and during this IT Dojo video, I'll show you several tweaks for the Windows Vista logon screen -- from getting rid of the shutdown button to adding a customized text message.

As I mentioned during the introduction, the average user doesn't give the Windows logon screen much thought. They're just happy if they enter their password correctly and can get to their desktop.

But with a few simple registry hacks, you can make several interesting and functional changes to the Windows Vista logon screen.

Now before we get started, let me give you my standard warning about editing the Windows registry. Before making any changes, take a few moments to back it up. Improperly editing the registry can damage your Windows installation.

With that said, let's get started with our first tweak -- removing the Shut Down button.

The Windows Vista Logon screen typically displays a red shutdown button on the lower right of the screen.

To remove the button and perform our other tweaks, we'll need to open the Registry Editor. First, click the Start button, type Regedit in the Start Search box, and then press [Enter]. When you do, you'll encounter a UAC prompt and should respond appropriately.

Once the Registry Editor launches, locate the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Now, locate and double-click the shutdownwithoutlogon value. When the Edit DWORD dialog box appears, simply type 0 in the Value Data text box and click OK. The next time you see the logon screen, the shut down button will be gone.

There might be situations in which you want to add a customized message to the logon screen. For example, as a little extra deterrent to those attempting unauthorized access to the network, you can add a warning message.

To do so, locate and double-click the legalnoticecaption value, within the same registry key we were working with earlier. Double-click the value and when the Edit DWORD dialog box appears, type the title of your message in the Value Data text box, and click OK.

To add the message text, locate and double-click the legalnoticetext value. When the Edit DWORD dialog box appears, type the warning message in the Value Data text box and click OK.

Your message will now appear during the logon process. They'll need to click OK to proceed.

Our final tweak will help you track of the number of logons to your system and displaying those statistics.

Right-click anywhere inside the System key and select New | DWORD (32-bit) Value. When the new value appears, type DisplayLastLogonInfo and then press Enter twice. When the Edit DWORD dialog box appears, simply type 1 in the Value Data text box and click OK.

Now, when you select your user icon on the Logon screen, you'll see the logon statistics. You'll need to click OK to complete the logon process.

These are just some of the ways you can customize the Windows Vista logon screen. In his article, "Tweak Windows Vista's Logon screen to meet your needs," Greg Shultz also shows you how to change the screen's wallpaper using a third-party utility called LogonStudio from the folks at Stardock.

If you have any other logon screen tweaks be sure to share them with your fellow TechRepublic members in the IT Dojo blog.

And as always, for more teachings on your path to becoming an IT Ninja, visit itdojo.techrepublic.com. And please let us know if this tip was helpful.

You can also submit your favorite IT Ninja tips by e-mailing them to us at itdojo@techrepublic.com. If we use them for an episode of IT Dojo, we'll send you a TechRepublic coffee mug.

I'm Bill Detwiler. Thanks for visiting TechRepublic's IT Dojo.