Windows Login

On Windows, login is handled by WINLOGIN.EXE. The user must identify himself/herself; this is usually done via username and password, but can also be done via alternative methods such as biometrics (e.g. fingerprint identification) or a smart card.

In the case of username/password, the values entered may be verified locally or (in the case of a domain login) remotely. Remote logins use either NTLM (NT LAN Manager) which is a challenge/response mechanism, or Kerberos which uses a series of symetrically encrypted "tickets".

Once the user has been authenticated, the system does an initialization of the user's environment.

Next: Initialization of User's Environment

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