How can I temporarily bypass the Welcome Screen in Windows XP?
Windows XP uses that idiot proof welcome screen where all one has to do is click the stupid icon of a user and wham! He’s logged on.
Not only does the welcome screen hog resources, but it’s bound to another XP feature – the Fast User Switching method.
Sometimes the Welcome screen in XP can drive you nuts…
(How stupid can this be?)
You CAN temporarily disable the Welcome screen by clicking on CTRL + ALT + DEL twice when the Welcome screen appears.
You will then receive the original logon screen found in W2K and in XP Pro that is a part of a domain.
You can then press ESC to come back to the Welcome screen if you want.
BTW, for this to work there shouldn’t be any users logged on.
You can also permanently disable the Welcome Screen and Fast User Switching (and you should…). Read the following article: Disable the Welcome Screen in XP Pro and Disable Fast User Switching in XP Pro.