I'd like to have the most "Unbranded boot" as possible on Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise.
I have read a few similar questions and I have already done the following steps:
-
Enabled user Auto login (no password asked) (I set
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device
to 1 and then I could uncheck "Users must enter a user name …" and set "Auto login" after doingcmd
>control userpasswords2
. -
"Lock screen settings" > Background > image, and I removed as many options as I could in this dialog box
-
Remove Lock Screen in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization\NoLockScreen
: 1 -
gpedit.msc > Administrative templates > "Do not display the lock screen"
-
I have even replaced
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
by my own app, you can try withnotepad.exe
-
Start menu > "Turn Windows Features On and Off" > Device Lockdown > Shell Launcher, Unbranded boot, Custom logon
It works: on boot, the user automatically logs in. But still, this loading screen is still displayed during ~ 0.5 to 1 second:
How to completely remove this screen?
Here is a possible option but I am not sure if it works for Win 10 Pro or Enterprise: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/microsoft-windows-embedded-embeddedlogon-animationdisabled. I do not know what to do with this XML file, where to load it, in which Windows configuration menu.
Edit: here is the full boot sequence – which ones are configurable from Windows? Obviously A is not, and C and D are configurable from Windows, but what about B?
Screen A:
Screen B:
Screen C:
Screen D:
Best Answer
Custom Logon only applies when preparing a Windows installation image, meaning that you would need to reinstall Windows from scratch using the Windows image that you have created.
The link in your post relates only to disabling animation on the logon screen, and it also belongs to Custom Logon.
A running system cannot be modified this way and the XML that you have found is part of the input used for creating the custom image, and cannot be used for the running system.
You may for your running system :
Disguise your name in the logon screen by in Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Users, double-click your account and in the General tab set your Full name to any text message.
Change the displayed image in Settings > Accounts > Your info.
Analysis of the Custom Logon feature of Windows Enterprise
If you have the Windows Enterprise version, you may enable Custom Logon in Control Panel > Turn Windows features on or off and enable the following registry items under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Embedded\EmbeddedLogon
.Setting BrandingNeutral as follows:
You may further set HideAutoLogonUI to the value of
1
to hide the Welcome screen. Another item you may set isHideFirstLogonAnimation
.I have tried the above settings, and this suppresses almost all of the loading screen, except for the turning circle.
Just to remark that you will get the exact same experience by setting the user image and display-name to empty without the need to have Windows Enterprise.