Windows 10 Lock (?) screen question.

Forum newbie here. I've been discussing the following issue in the photography forum dpreview with no luck. Someone there suggested I try here at TenForums.
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I get the following image when I boot my Windows 10, before my custom desktop appears. It's a minor annoyance, so I want to change it or get rid of it. My system is configed with a single admin user and no login, so it boots straight to the desktop after passing thru this "Preparing Windows" screen.

I've Googled thru dozens of suggestions, none of which work. It seems there is confusion over what to call that initial screen that displays for a few seconds after the BIOS display and before the final desktop. Is it a "Lock" screen, a "Splash" screen, a "Login" screen, a "Preparing Windows" screen?

I've changed the "Lock" screen image under Settings/Personalization - no joy. I've set the "No GUI boot" option in msconfig - no joy.

I've located the image in "c:/ProgramData/Microsoft/Windows/SystemData.....", and it's called "LockScreen". But it's in a folder tree that won't let me write, and I can't even change the security permissions.

What's the secret to getting rid of this image, or replacing it with my own.

Thanks for the reply, spunk, and the link. As I said in the OP, my system already bypasses the login screen. I can't remember which method was used, as it was initially done over 5 years ago under Win7 and has survived many upgrades since then (now Win10 Pro v21H1).

The image/screen I'm questioning shows my account logo, with the message "Preparing Windows" and nothing else. The issue is trivial. I've lived with it for years and can live 1 more until I build an all new Win11 system. But I hate mysteries, so I'd really like to solve this one on principle.

Thanks, cereberus. I've already disabled the "lock" screen with different methods, including the gpedit, but the screen in question still appears. I'm confident this screen is NOT a lock screen. I call it the "Preparing Windows" screen since that's the only dialogue that appears.

cereberus said:

Can you take a photo...

Hopefully one better. Here is a video of my boot, from BIOS thru "Preparing Windows" to Desktop.

Note that before the "Preparing Windows" dialogue appears there is a brief flash of "Please wait for the ProfSvc".

Myboot - YouTube

I finally got this fixed. First I slept on it for days. Then I attacked the security permissions from the top level folder all the way down to the image file itself. Seizing ownership and giving myself full control of everything. I thought I did that before, but I must have missed one.

Then, and only then I was able to replace the offending image with my own, and rename it to the name Windows wants. Now I boot through my own image.

Still no way to find how Windows picks that path and image name, and nobody else appears to know (on 3 separate forums).