password to expire in 2 days ... will laptop be inexcessable?

[MEL]

We own an IBM T40 ThinkPad Laptop we purchased as a corporate off lease
return. The seller provided a password that he said was applied to all areas
where a password would be set.

We are now receiving a message that the password will expire in 2 days and
do we wish to reset the password. Will this deem the laptop unusable once
this happens?

I have tried to reset the password by using the password sent to us with the
purchase papers and then entering a new one but a message says the user or
password isn't correct. I've tried using uppercase, etc., but nothing works.

I realize no one would want to say how to get around this if you knew and
this is understandable. I just need to know if the laptop will stop booting
up when this password expires? Even though we've owned pc's since 1990, I've
never used a password. I'm at a loss as to what this expiration of a
password means, what the results will be when it expires.

Any advice as to what to expect will be most appreciated.

Mary

 

[Bob I]

There should be a Factory Restore partition. It sounds like this PC was
never returned to the factory delivered condition before it was sold to you.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...yind=0&operatingsystemind=49979&validate=true

 

[R. McCarty]

You're encountering a Group Policy. In corporate environments, it's a
good idea to force users to frequently change their password. The T40
should have been reconfigured before selling it. Even though it's not on
a Domain, the computer retains those Group Policies.
Normally you use GPEdit.Msc to remove the Policies. It may also be
possible to remove the Group Policy Registry keys manually, but that is
a more advanced operation.

 

[MEL]

Thank you for this information. I ran GPEdit.Msc and looked through the
various entries.

In Group Policies, none of the various settings is enabled. They all say
disabled. Do I need to delete the Group Policies?

Under Local Computer Policy>User Configuration>Windows Setting>Security
Settings>Public Key Policies

Should I delete the Public Key Policies Folder?

I'm hesitant to delete anything until I know for certain which area I should
be in.

My thanks once again for your assistance.

Mary

 

[R. McCarty]

Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article on how to "RESET" XP's
security settings back to default. However, I would not do this unless
your machine is fully backed up ( & Verified ). This is an extreme
measure and could affect other unrelated OS functions.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313222
Do yourself a favor and carefully read this KB article before you
decide to implement the changes.

 

[Kelly]

Hi Mel,

See if this helps: Start/Run/CMD

net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

 

[Twayne]

We own an IBM T40 ThinkPad Laptop we purchased

as a
corporate off lease return. The seller provided
a
password that he said was applied to all areas
where a
password would be set.
We are now receiving a message that the password
will
expire in 2 days and do we wish to reset the
password.
Will this deem the laptop unusable once this
happens?

I have tried to reset the password by using the
password
sent to us with the purchase papers and then
entering a
new one but a message says the user or password
isn't
correct. I've tried using uppercase, etc., but
nothing
works.
I realize no one would want to say how to get
around this
if you knew and this is understandable. I just
need to
know if the laptop will stop booting up when
this
password expires? Even though we've owned pc's
since
1990, I've never used a password. I'm at a loss
as to
what this expiration of a password means, what
the
results will be when it expires.
Any advice as to what to expect will be most
appreciated.

Mary

What happens when you say yes, you want to change
the password? Doesn't sound like you tried that.

It "means" that the computer is set up so that
every so many days, the password must be changed.
Standard operating procedures for many businesses.
If the password they gave you is no good, get to
them asap and ask them for it.

If worse comes to worse, use the recovery options
to reset the computer to its basic state and start
over again. Do NOT format the drive or you will
lose all that recovery capability!

If you also have a BIOS password set, there is a
way to reset those too; check with the mfg of the
laptop.

HTH

 

[Patrick Keenan]

We own an IBM T40 ThinkPad Laptop we purchased as a corporate off lease
return. The seller provided a password that he said was applied to all
areas where a password would be set.

When does this password appear? Is it before you get the XP startup
screens?

What I'm really asking is whether this is an XP account or a Thinkpad system
password.

Thinkpads can have system passwords that aren't related to the OS at all,
though I am not sure that they support expiry.

We are now receiving a message that the password will expire in 2 days
and do we wish to reset the password. Will this deem the laptop unusable
once this happens?

The short answer is probably yes.

How severe this will be depends on whether it's the account or the Thinkpad
system password, as the system password won't let you into the system at
all if you don't have it, and it has to be sent to a service center to be
reset. This password is not stored on the hard disk, and so you can't
even do an OS reinstall to get past it.

I have tried to reset the password by using the password sent to us with
the purchase papers and then entering a new one but a message says the
user or password isn't correct. I've tried using uppercase, etc., but
nothing works.

Have you contacted the seller?

I realize no one would want to say how to get around this if you knew and
this is understandable. I just need to know if the laptop will stop
booting up when this password expires?

It will boot, you just won't get past the password, wherever that is.

If it's the XP account password, your worst-case is that you have to do a
clean reinstall of XP using the media provided with the laptop.

It did come with re-install media? If not, you may be able to order this
from Lenovo at a nominal cost. Look for the type number on the bottom of
the laptop. For my Vista thinkpad, the cost was around $40, and was
delivered I think the next day.

Even though we've owned pc's since 1990, I've never used a password. I'm
at a loss as to what this expiration of a password means,

One of the things it means is that the system wasn't really properly
configured for retail release. It should have been wiped and reinstalled
without any specific restrictions, and clearly that was not done.

Another option that may be available to you is the use of password removal
boot CDs. These are based on Linux and will reset or blank XP passwords.

what the results will be when it expires.

Any advice as to what to expect will be most appreciated.

You should contact the seller for advice, as they probably have run into
this before.

HTH
-pk

 

[Gruff the Elder]

This will reveal my general ignorance concerning Group Policy, but on my XP
Pro stand-alone (i.e. workgroup) box, the "password age" policy is not
"enabled" or "disabled" like many of the other policies, it is set to a
number (42, the default). This is under Computer Configuration > Windows
Settings > Account Policies ? Password Policy. However, notwithstanding that
"Maximum password age" is set to 42 days, this does not appear to be
enforced. Why not?

Perhaps the OP's real problem is that the hand-me-down laptop still is
configured as a domain member (working off line) and should be re-configured
to be a workgroup computer.

 

[MEL]

Hi Kelly,

This command appears to have worked! I've rebooted 3 times and the 'reset
password' message no longer appears.

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to suggest this.

And my thanks to everyone for taking the time to suggest different things to
consider and try.

This MS forum and those who read and reply regularly are deeply appreciated.
I realize how difficult it must be to try and help when there are so many
different hardware & software combinations, yet you always come through for
me.

with kindest regards,

Mary

 

[The Real Truth MVP]

Forget about gpedit. Right click on the My Computer icon and select manage.
Expand Users and Groups then select Users. Double click on your username and
select password never expires. While you are in there you might as well
setup you own admin account by right clicking on Users and selecting New.
Make sure you add that account to the administrators group.

 

[Kelly]

You are most welcome, Mel. Glad to have helped in my small way. )

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm