Yes, we know. Having to enter your Windows password each time you boot up can be a hassle. You have to carefully type it in a field where by default it appears as a series of asterisk characters. So if you're in a hurry, you can easily mistype it (more than once), and that gets annoying.

You may even have your copy of Windows set to require the password any time your PC needs to wake up from sleep mode. So the more often your PC falls asleep, the more you have to key in that password.

Obviously, the main purpose of the password is to protect your PC from prying eyes. If you work in an office or other location with people milling about, you'll want to password-protect Windows so no one can peek at your documents, files, and other information. But if you work alone and aren't worried about other people accessing your PC, you can disable the Windows sign-in process.

One point before we proceed. The following steps work the same whether you're running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

First, open the Command Prompt. To do that in Windows 7, click on the Start button and type cmd in the "search programs and files" field. In Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, right-click the Start button and select the command for Command Prompt. At the command prompt, type netplwiz.

The tool for netplwiz, also known as the User Accounts Control Panel, will appear. Select the account you wish to log in automatically, and click the checkbox above that says "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." Click OK.

Enter your password once and then a second time to confirm it. Click OK.

Restart Windows. You'll now bypass the log-in screen (as well as the Lock screen if you're using Windows 8.1 or Windows 10) and automatically arrive at the Start screen in Windows 8.1 and the desktop in Windows 7 or Windows 10; no password needed.

Should you ever change your mind, you can easily renable the log-in screen. Just type netplwiz at the command prompt to open the User Accounts Control Panel. Select your account and click on the checkbox for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" option.