Delay Automatic Logon process in Windows
In earlier versions like Windows XP, the Boot Menu Timeout was from 0 to 9999 seconds. A value of ‘-1‘ was also permitted, meaning that the machine would not boot unless and until the User made a choice. Starting with Windows Vista, using msconfig, users can enter a value between 3 and 999 seconds only. The -1 value has been removed in Windows Vista and later. Raymond Chen, a developer on Microsoft’s Windows Shell team, while answering the following question, has pointed out a way where one can actually go to a maximum of 11,059,200 seconds for the Boot Menu Timeout: To do it, launch a command prompt with elevated privileges and enter the following: Hit Enter. This will bypass the limitations of msconfig and set the Boot Menu Timeout to 11 million seconds or around 128 days or around 4 months.