JUST SAY NO. It may simply be that you have not have informed Windows that there is no password. Next time, instead of hitting <Esc>, try typing in a user name (if one isn't there already), leave the "Password" field blank, and hit <Enter>.

TWEAK YOUR USER PROFILE SETTING. If Windows detects more than one user name for your computer, it asks for a password by default even if you don't have one. To change this setting, select Start-Settings-Control Panel. Double-click the Passwords icon, then click the User Profiles tab. Select All Users of this PC Use the Same Preferences and Desktop Settings, and then click OK.

CHANGE YOUR WINDOWS LOGON. Windows may think you're on a network even though you're not. To see if this is the cause of your problem, select Start-Settings-Control Panel. Double-click Control Panel's Network icon and then click the Configuration tab. If Windows Logon is not selected as the Primary Network Logon, choose it now and click OK.

DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK. As long as you have a password, Windows will keep asking for it. To get rid of your "open sesame", select Start-Settings-Control Panel. Double-click the Passwords icon, and click first the Change Passwords tab and then the Change Windows Password button. (If there is no Change Passwords tab, you don't have a password to delete.) In the Old password field, enter your password, but leave the other two fields blank. Click OK.

HIDE THE PASSWORD FILE. If the previous tip does not work for you, it may be because your password log file is corrupted, making it impossible to get rid of the old password. The solution? Find the file in your C:\Windows folder -- it'll have a .pwl and the file name will probably be your name -- and rename it, changing its extension. To be on the safe side, don't delete it. The next time Windows asks for a password, leave the field blank and press <Enter>.