Vernalex.com - Welcome

The purpose of this tool is to allow system administrators to log onto a Windows workstation without disturbing the last logged on user text. This will be mainly useful to system administrators that retain the last logged on user text, but this program could also be used to clear this information via the command-line.

More generally the program is used to alter the default and alternate logon credentials for a Windows workstation. These are the last logged on user, the last logged onto domain, the domain logged onto two times ago and the user name used to log in two times ago.

What the program actually does is alter registry values stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Winlogon. These values are the DefaultUserName, DefaultDomainName, AltDefaultUserName, AltDefaultDomainName Reg_SZ values. These values can be set, swapped or overwritten by the other values using this program, making it easier and able to be automated to set these values.

The program can be run in one of two ways. The first way is from the GUI and the second is from the command-line. They can also be used in conjunction with each other. Please read these instructions first and then read the section on command-line parameters as they will build off these instructions.

When the program is first started it will scan the registry for the last logged on user name, last domain logged onto, the user name used two times ago and the domain used two times ago. These values will then be placed in their respective fields in the program.

You can then edit the text fields as you see fit. You can also use the buttons to set and alter the fields in various ways. The < button will move the text from the right fields to the left fields, and the > button will do the opposite. The <> buttons will swap text fields.

You should also read the section on the command-line to learn how to automate the use of this program.

I designed the program so that it can be run from the command-line so it can be automated. The best use of this is to make a shortcut of batch that runs on startup when an administrative user is logged on so that it forgets that you logged on and only remembers the person that logged on before you. This would be used like "lct /alt /save", but read more to understand the full potential.

It should be noted that anything contained in brackets is optional and that all parameters are totally independant. If the path or text following a parameter contains a space then surround that path or text in "quotation marks" (like /setaltuser "user_name") or it will truncate the path or text.

Parameter	Description
/def	This will overwrite the alternate logon credentials with the default logon credentials.
/alt	This will overwite the default logon credentials with the alternate logon credentials.
/swap	This will swap the default and the alternate logon credentials.
/userswap	This will swap the default and alternate user names.
/domswap	This will swap the default and alternate domains.
/defuser	This will overwrite the alternate user name with the default user name.
/defdom	This will overwrite the alternate domain with the default domain.
/altuser	This will overwrite the default user name with the alternate domain.
/altdom	This will overwrite the default domain with the alternate domain.
/setdefuser	This allows you to manually set the default user name. Just follow this command with the text that you want to set the user name to. If the user name has a space then use quotations around it.
/setdefdom	This allows you to manually set the default domain. Just follow this command with the text that you want to set the domain to. If the domain contains a space then use quotations around it.
/setaltuser	This allows you to manually set the alternate user name. Just follow this command with the text that you want to set the user name to. If the user name contains a space then use quotations around it.
/setaltdom	This allows you to manually set the alternate domain. Just follow this command with the text that you want to set the domain to. If the domain contains a space then use quotations around it.
/save	This will save the settings. This must be used for the program to be fully automated, otherwise it will do nothing.
/quiet	This will tell the program to perform the specified operations and then quit the program quietly. If this isn't used then the dialog of the program will be displayed. If you are fully automating the use of this program then you will want to use this command.
/?	This returns help information on the command-line parameters.

Examples:
1. lct /alt /save /quiet
This could be used to set the default credentials as the text define in the alternate credentials.
2. lct /setdefuser "some user" /setdefdom "domain_name" /save /quiet
This will set the last logged on user text to "some user" and the last logged onto domain as "domain_name".

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This is the first release of this program. The program is freeware. I am sure the program has some minor bugs so let me know if you find them.

Program Name: Logon Credentials Tweaker
Download: Vernalex.com
Current Version: 1.0.0 (final/release)
Release Date: 2006/07/20
Notes: The program was written in VC++ 7, so it should work on Windows 2000 or Windows XP without any type of installation process. It should also work on NT4, but I have not yet tested it there (yet). Please let me know if you find this program useful, and also let me know if you have any features you would like to see in a newer version.