Forcing users to enter password during login

Unlike Windows NT/2000, the login window in Windows 9x/Me can be easily bypassed by pressing the [Esc] key or by clicking Cancel. So, it's possible that a third person who turns on your PC can gain access to your personal information. To prevent this from happening, first make sure that the user profiles are created and enabled for each user, and that the Include Start Menu and Program Groups in User Settings' option in the Control Panel is enabled for each user.

Reboot the PC in Safe Mode by hitting the [F8] key during Startup and choosing Safe Mode from the Boot Options. This is very important because if something goes wrong, you can always reboot your computer in the safe mode and rectify the problem.

Type regedit.exe in Start > Run. Find the following key in the Registry: HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run. In the right-hand pane, right-click and choose New String Values, and rename it as FixLogon. Finally, open the FixLogon entry you've just created (by double-clicking on the right-pane of the Registry Editor window) and specify the following command as its Value data: rundll.exe user.exe, EXITWINDOWS. Reboot your PC to save the changes. If you want to restore the old setting, delete this key.

Hope that helps any of you still using windows ME.
BB