Kill the Lock Screen

On a mobile device that spends a lot of time in your pocket, a lock screen is a helpful tool. It keeps you from accidentally triggering buttons as your fingers brush against the touchscreen. On a desktop or laptop computer though, it serves no purpose whatsoever except for requiring an additional step before logging in.

If you would rather the lock screen never existed, you can eradicate it with a simple registry tweak. Launch the Registry Editor by searching for "regedit" from the Search charm. Click "regedit.exe" from the results pane.

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\

Check for a key called "Personalization" under the "Windows" key. If there, great; if not, right click "Windows," select "New" and click "Key." Name the new key "Personalization" and click "Enter."

Right-click the "Personalization" key, select "New" and click "DWORD (32-bit) Value." Name the value "NoScreenLock" and click "Enter."

Double-click the new value and type "1" in the Value Data field.