How to Set Windows Logon Warning Message
Especially in systems that are part of an enterprise domain, you may have noticed a warning message after pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del and before the login window. It is called a Legal Notice. While it is irritating most of the times, there is a good reason why it exists.
Especially in labs, for instance, all systems have similar account usernames and passwords for convenience. It is not uncommon for someone to accidentally log into someone else’s system and proceed as though it were his or her own. If you are an administrator of a system which needs restricted access, you can create a custom legal notice which warns other users from accidental misuse.
Open the Registry Editor (Ctrl+R –> regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon, and you’ll find two registry keys called LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText. Create them using Right Click –> New –> String Value and modify them with the text you wish to include.
In UNIX-based OSs, a MOTD serves this purpose. Even the .profile may be modified to include the MOTD.
While you are at this, you may also change the registry keys DefaultDomainName, DefaultUserName, AltDefaultDomainName, AltDefaultUserName to suit your preferences.
