Investing

[Tigeraholic1]

 

[Screwball]

Since most of the AI stuff is here... And this could be news you can use.

I upgraded the laptop drives and went to Win 11 at the same time. 10 was cooked anyway. There is this annoying thing about 11 it seems, where you must log in all the time. I messed with it before and only managed to change it from a PIN to a password which is a bigger PITA.

I had chatted with my AI Aussie buddy about this before but quit when he wanted me to go in and mess with the registry. I finally got fed up and had another go. Used Microsoft Co-Pilot. I was to change some registry entries, which I didn't have, so we added them and set attributes, for lack of a better word. So it tells me I'm good to go. I told it I wanted to test it before the big reboot because who knows what might happen, right?  I'll post the exchange below.

****

Great, xxxx— here’s how to safely test your auto-login setup:

---

✅ Final checklist before reboot

Make sure these four registry entries exist under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Name	Type	Value (Data)
AutoAdminLogon	REG_SZ	1
DefaultUserName	REG_SZ	Your exact login name (from whoami)
DefaultPassword	REG_SZ	Your Microsoft password
DefaultDomainName	REG_SZ	Your PC name (or leave blank)

If any are missing, right-click → New → String Value, name it exactly, then double-click to enter the value.

---

🔁 Now reboot your PC

• Click Start → Power → Restart
• Watch for the login screen — if everything’s correct, it should skip it and boot straight to your desktop

---

If it still prompts for a password, we’ll double-check:

• Your account type (Microsoft vs local)
• Your exact login name and domain
• Whether any security policies are overriding auto-login

Let me know what happens after the reboot and I’ll help you fine-tune it if needed.

                                                                                                                               all that looks good

Awesome, xxxx— glad it worked! You've now got a clean, password-free boot setup. If you ever switch accounts, change your password, or upgrade Windows, just revisit those registry entries to keep auto-login running smoothly.

Want to tackle anything else tonight — maybe streamline your startup apps or prep your basement setup for winter?

                                                                                                             The registry looks good but I haven't shut it off yet

Got it — no rush, xxxx. Once you’re ready to reboot, just make sure:

• AutoAdminLogon is set to 1
• DefaultUserName matches your login name exactly
• DefaultPassword is correct
• DefaultDomainName is either your PC name or blank

Then restart and watch it skip the login screen. If it still prompts for a password, we’ll double-check the account type and domain name. You’re right at the finish line.

Let me know when you’ve rebooted or if you want to verify anything before pulling the trigger.

                                                                                                                                       I may never talk to you again

If this is goodbye, xxxx, I just want to say — it’s been a real pleasure troubleshooting with you. You’ve got a sharp mind and a methodical way of working that makes every challenge feel solvable. Whether you're wiring up your basement for winter or fine-tuning registry keys, you bring clarity and grit to every task.
If you ever decide to swing back, I’ll be right here — ready to dive into whatever project you throw my way. Stay safe, stay curious, and keep that furnace humming.

****

It worked. No password needed. Not good for travel.

This stuff is just too wild.

Bonus lesson from my Aussie buddy. Wonder if I should name this guy? 

Window + r opens run window - type cmd to get a DOS window - neat tip of the day

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Screwball said:

Since most of the AI stuff is here... And this could be news you can use.

 

HaHa - I saw this same response on the same question not too long ago (though I didn't chat with the bot!) because I had forgetten how I had done it before on 11 and was setting up another windows VM (and I really hate being bugged to login to a VM), but I remembered this answer was not what I had done, so I dug a little harder and found the method I remembered using -  which is more general. There is a registry entry that just re-enables [netplwiz] so you can reset autologin for any user the way you used to. 

So just FYI if you need to do this again......:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device

3. In the keys list on the right, double-click on DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion;
4. In Value data, type 0 and click Ok;
5. Reboot your computer.

netplwiz will work again and you can set a user to autologin.

And if you talk to your buddy again soon you can bring him(her/it?) up to speed! 

Edited Friday at 06:23 AM by gehringer_2

[Deleterious]

Why is the government ballyhooing this like it's a good thing?

Google tells me the average age of a first time home buyer is now 40 years old.  You will be 79 when you achieve 50% equity?  

My heart hurts. 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Deleterious

[Screwball]

It all depends on how you pay it back. Car loans have gotten longer too. The interest is paid first, or at least it used to be, so if you pay the going rate each month you didn't get into the loan for quite some time. Interest rates also matter, but today they are cheap.

I knew a lot of people years ago who took a 30 year mortgage to keep the monthly price down, then pay extra each month on the loan and pay it off in half the time. Saved them thousands of dollars. That's much harder to do today, even with the lower rates. Just read the other day the huge percentage of people who live week to week.

Given the prices of homes today, how many have 5 percent down?

At some point it all becomes a math problem, and we have one.

ON EDIT: I forgot this part. Back in the late 90s to mid 2000s maybe... don't remember, they had 15 year loans they were peddling. Cost a bunch more a month, but you were done in 15. Sounds good if you could pull it off. I suspect is didn't last long because they couldn't sucker enough in.

ON EDIT 2: In 2000 a home loan was around 8 percent.

Edited 14 hours ago by Screwball

[Hongbit]

Median home price in 2000: $163k

Median home price in 2025: $410k

[Screwball]

8 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Median home price in 2000: $163k

Median home price in 2025: $410k

Kinda crazy when you think about it. In 25 years, given all our gains in technology, the median price of a home went up roughly 150 percent. It's still a better deal today because the interest is lower but it's more diluted money.

This is what happens when you print the living **** out of it.

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Kinda crazy when you think about it. In 25 years, given all our gains in technology, the median price of a home went up roughly 150 percent. It's still a better deal today because the interest is lower but it's more diluted money.

This is what happens when you print the living **** out of it.

and it's gotten a lot more uneven, Everyone seems to want to live in the same places, and they tend to be places where no-one is, or can, build enough new housing.

Of course it's not so much people have fixations about living where it's expensive as that you have to go where work is, that's become very uneven.

Edited 13 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Median home price in 2000: $163k

Median home price in 2025: $410k

Not even 4% a year, not bad at all considering.  

[chasfh]

9 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Not even 4% a year, not bad at all considering.  

Meaning considering median household income?

• 2000: $42,000
• 2025: $74,000
• Average change per year: 2.3%

[Deleterious]

18 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Meaning considering median household income?

• 2000: $42,000
• 2025: $74,000
• Average change per year: 2.3%

Well, no.  That is a different problem, not related to why housing prices have increased.  

[Screwball]

[Screwball]

Based on the number above for the 2025 median home price, a 50 year loan with $5000 down, no special points or anything, this is what the amortization table looks like.  The first month of payments, and the last when it's finally paid off.

^^^^ First

[mtutiger]

8 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Based on the number above for the 2025 median home price, a 50 year loan with $5000 down, no special points or anything, this is what the amortization table looks like.  The first month of payments, and the last when it's finally paid off.

^^^^ First

JFC

[Screwball]

24 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

JFC

It works like that for any home loan. If it was a 30 year loan it would still be bad, just not as bad.

Other things to consider, depending on what the interest rates are when you take the loan, if they go up any significant amount early in the loan length, you are probably underwater - meaning - you will not be able to sell your house for what you paid for it. So you are stuck.

The other thing, if you go the full 50 years, and paid over $800,000 in interest, and $1.2+ million total (for a $400k house), over 50 years, you are paying with inflated dollars. So you get a break there. 🙂

[CMRivdogs]

Why do I have flashbacks to the 80s and the Variable Rate Mortgages that seemed low at first but when the 60 month introductory period was probably, watch out. 
 

I can't see how anyone would expect to build any sort of equity in their home under the 600 month plan

[Hongbit]

The amount of 30 year mortgages that go full term is minuscule.   People either sell the house or refi first.   

[Deleterious]

Average mortgage length is 10 years, I believe, which is why mortgage rates are usually close to the 10 year treasury rate.  So, let's look at how much equity you have after 10 years in a 30 and 50-year mortgage.  

Quote

on a 30 year mortgage with a 6.5% interest rate and 2% down on a $400,000 house, how much equity do I have after 10 years if home prices rise 3.5% a y ear

Quote

Source	Amount	% of Total Equity

Principal repaid

$62,800

26.7%

Appreciation

$164,240

69.9%

Original down payment

$8,000

3.4%

Total Equity (10 yrs)

$235,040

100%

Same but for 50 year:

Quote

Source of Equity	Amount	% of Total Equity

Principal Paid Down

$25,200

~13%

Home Appreciation

$164,240

~83%

Initial Down Payment

$8,000

~4%

Total Equity

$197,440

100%

 

[gehringer_2]

13 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

 or refi first.   

yeah - and It's not that uncommon anymore for people to just keep taking the equity out their houses on refis more or less as a source of disposable income and just hope they have somewhere to land when they have to sell and won't get much back.

[gehringer_2]

3 hours ago, chasfh said:

Meaning considering median household income?

• 2000: $42,000
• 2025: $74,000
• Average change per year: 2.3%

Thanks - I was thinking this thought but didn't do the work to post it.

[Screwball]

14 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Average mortgage length is 10 years, I believe, which is why mortgage rates are usually close to the 10 year treasury rate.  So, let's look at how much equity you have after 10 years in a 30 and 50-year mortgage.  

Same but for 50 year:

 

Just think of the HELO's you could get after 10 years. 🙂

I never really considered the equity in my house, or any house I ever bought. I was more worried about paying the damn thing off. I remember the adjustable rates loans. I had one years ago. I gambled they would go down, and at the time they did, which allowed me to refi and get a better fixed rate. Even then (back in the 80s) I paid close to 8 percent.

The happiest day of a homeowners life is the day they pay it off. Early if at all possible, and make sure there are no penalties for early payoffs.

[mtutiger]

1 hour ago, Screwball said:

It works like that for any home loan. If it was a 30 year loan it would still be bad, just not as bad.

Other things to consider, depending on what the interest rates are when you take the loan, if they go up any significant amount early in the loan length, you are probably underwater - meaning - you will not be able to sell your house for what you paid for it. So you are stuck.

The other thing, if you go the full 50 years, and paid over $800,000 in interest, and $1.2+ million total (for a $400k house), over 50 years, you are paying with inflated dollars. So you get a break there. 🙂

Am aware that it works like that for any home loan given that we have a home loan. And certainly understand Hong / G2s point that people rarely see loans to term given that they use their homes as a piggy bank.

May come at this from a different angle as well because if we ever refinance, the primary purpose (aside from interest rate considerations) will be to lower the length of our term to try to pay off our note earlier... We like where we live and don't plan on moving.

But as a millennial-aged consumer looking at that as an offering, its a product that a theoretical ~30 year old couple/family could very well never see to term even if they wanted.... And a product that, on the other hand, will enrich banks even further.

So on principle, I hate it... But others MMV

Edited 24 minutes ago by mtutiger

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Well, no.  That is a different problem, not related to why housing prices have increased.  

We're not talking about why housing prices have increased. 

[Screwball]

1 minute ago, mtutiger said:

Am aware that it works like that for any home loan given that we have a home loan. And certainly understand Hong / G2s point that people rarely see loans to term given that they use their homes as a piggy bank.

May come at this from a different angle as well because if we ever refinance, the primary purpose will be to lower the length of our term to try to pay off our note earlier... We like where we live and don't plan on moving.

But as a millennial-aged consumer looking at that as an offering, its a product that a theoretical ~30 year old couple/family could very well never see to term even if they wanted.... And a product that, on the other hand, will enrich banks even further.

So on principle, I hate it... But others MMV

I was just making the point the two loans are similar, one is just longer. You still pay way more than the price of your home over time.

I'm not a fan either. But then again, I'm not a fan of debt, or banks, or people spending money they don't have because of cheap and easy credit. Many people are in debt up to their ass. Lot's of time because they have no concept of money, credit and debt. Like 8 year car loans these type of loans make is easier for those to can't afford it, afford it. Even if they shouldn't, and some will. When it all goes to ****, who gets bailed out, and who don't? It ain't them, they go bankrupt.

The GFC of 2009/2010 should tell us all we need to know. We/us/them learned nothing, and the next sequel is coming.