Installing Windows XP

as far as i know, the administrator with blank password is the default account. can you get by with that?
here is a snippet from mskb article from support.microsoft.com about enabling automatic logon in XP (you want my 2 cents, find and read entire article):
mskb article #315231
How to Enable Automatic Logon

You can also use the following steps to enable automatic logon without editing the registry in Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional (not joined to a domain):
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type control userpasswords2, and then click OK.
In the dialog box that appears, clear the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box, and then click OK.

You can download the TweakUI Utility from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Once installed, goto the Logon option and fill out the information there. From then on, it will logon with that user without a prompt.

Hope this helps.

There is an "unattended" Project (http://unattended.sourceforge.net/) with which you can automate yur Windows Installation. You can enter all the info setup needs before starting the installation into an "unattend.txt" file (including passwords, usernames, product key etc.) and during the installation you won't have to enter any more info.

when you install windows xp it will ask you for the administrators password - this is the default username and password - once the win xp install has finished and the computer has restarted it will ask you who uses the computer if you enter a name here it will automatically boot to that user (note: if you add more than one name when asked you will have to choose which user to boot into)