Pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE Not Required to Log On to Windows NT
  
PSS ID Number: Q180017
Article last modified on 04-01-1998
 
WINNT:5.0
 
winnt
 

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 5.0
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it
if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the
"Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a
Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.
 
SUMMARY
=======
 
You may not be required to press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to begin the logon
process on computers running Windows NT Workstation.
 
MORE INFORMATION
================
 
On a computer running Windows NT, the CTRL+ALT+DELETE key combination is
used as the Security Attention Sequence (SAS). The SAS is used by Windows
NT to initiate the logon process.
 
The SAS can be used to make Windows NT users accustomed to not typing a
Windows NT password without first pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE. In other
words, users learn that when they log on to Windows NT their password
should be supplied only after pressing CRTL+ALT+DELETE. Other programs
that require user passwords, or even programs written to capture
passwords, do not use the CTRL+ALT+DELETE SAS and are not confused with
the Windows NT logon process.
 
In this version of Windows NT Workstation, the SAS is disabled by default.
Disabling this feature does not decrease the security of Windows NT. To
gain access to the computer, users are required to log on to Windows NT
with a valid user name and password. The Windows NT logon process suspends
all other user-mode processes to protect the logon process and is the only
process that can create the access tokens used by the Windows NT security
system. Administrators have the option of enabling or disabling the
CRTL+ALT+DELETE SAS.
 
Note that CRTL+ALT+DELETE is enabled by default when a Windows NT
Workstation is logging into a domain, and CRTL+ALT+DELETE encrypts the
domain password since it is a network resource.
 
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide
problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry
Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
 
For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys
And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and
Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics
in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you
edit it.
 
To enable the CRTL+ALT+DELETE SAS, set the data value of the DisableCAD
value to 0 in the following registry key:
 
   HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\winlogon
 
Additional query words: 5.00
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Keywords          : kbui ntboot ntsecurity ntui NTWkst
Version           : WINNT:5.0
Platform          : winnt
Issue type        : kbinfo
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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1998.