'password policy' on Windows XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Cook
  • Start date Start date
D

David Cook

I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either of my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
 
Hi David,

you can set your local policy by going to Group Policy (GP) Editor.

Click on Start > Run > gpedit.msc > once your GP Editor is loaded drill down
Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account
Policies. Here you have two options
* Password Policy and
* Account Lockout

Be careful what you set. Settings will also apply to Administrator and other
accounts with administrative privileges.

Mike
 
Miha -

There is no such policy editor on Win XP HOME (it only exists on Win XP
Pro)
as evidence both by fact that I can't find one on the XP Home machine and
because
other msgs in this newsgroup and elsewhere explicitly SAY that this
policy-editor
you speak of exists only on XP Pro.


And, unfortunately for me, the machine I care about is the Win-XP Home
machine.
(Sorry I even mentioned that I also HAVE an XP Pro machine. The reason that
I did mention it is that I have existing accts on that PRO machine too, and
they
have no passwords. And, I can assure you that no one has NEVER used this
'policy-editor'
on that machine, yet I was able in the past to setup user accts that have no
passwords.)

Other ideas?

Dave
 
Hi David,

sorry, I missed the XP _Home_ edition part :-).

Default XP policy allows creating users without password (minimum password
length = 0 characters). This can change e.g. once computer joins the domain
if domain policy is set differently (e.g. requires password to be at least 8
characters long)...

The other setting that is affected by this policy is use of users account
without a password to console logon only. If someone is trying to logon to
your computer over network using local user account without a password set
it will fail. This is again set in local policy and can be changed.

Mike
 
Hello,
You can set some of these password options with the net command.
Open a cmd prompt ( Start - Run - CMD)
Then run "net help accounts" and "net help user" to get the syntax and
descriptions correct.
This allows you set some of the user password options from the commandline.
This should be available on Home if I recall properly.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
 
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.
Click to expand...

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.
Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Click to expand...

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]
 
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2" (without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.
Click to expand...

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.
Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Click to expand...

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



Kelly said:
You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
/xp_tweaks.htm

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Ah, ok, I understand now that 'control userpasswords' is a cmd line. (Sigh,
this
was due to ME not carefully reading what someone else wrote. So, I guess I
can't now vent frustration about any of you folks not reading/understanding
fully what
I've been trying to say.)

Ok, again the 'control userpasswords2' suggestion only PARTLY explains the
mystery
of how the rules on my system for the user password policy changed. And it
does
NOT all explain how I could now allow a user to have a simple password,
composed, let's say of
3-chars, all lower case, no digits needed, etc, etc. In the past, I was
able to do that.
Six months ago, I created user accts that could have short passwords (or
user could
later change their password to NO
password), and now seemingly I can't have that functionality.

This little 'control userpasswords2' dialog seems to be an interface to that
old 'autologin'
registry-tweak (or something similar) which is NOT what I want. I want ALL
my users (in total, there are only a handful)
to still get the screen with icons next to all the existing usernames, to
select his and then either get logged in without entering
a password (if he doesn't have one) or else be able to enter the password
that he chose, without
restrictions for minimum pwd-length and mixed case and also containing
numeric digits, etc, etc.

Stated more succinctly: I want to relax the generic RULES for what a
password must look like, and to
include the possibility of a user having a null password.

Any other ideas?

Cheers...

Dave (the base noter)
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2" (without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.
Click to expand...

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.
Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Click to expand...

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



Kelly said:
You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
/xp_tweaks.htm

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


"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char
passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either of my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
My apologies to all. I have solved the mystery and I have also
tested more completely.
(1) So, I must retract the statement where I said the new tighter password
policy is happening on BOTH of my machines...one XP-Pro and the
other one being XP Home. The tight restrictions on password is
happening
ONLY on the XP Home machine.
(2) And, on this 'Win-XP Home' machine, I think that this tight-password
policy
got instituted about six months ago, back when her company (Verizon) pointed
her to an
'upgrade' internal website of their, to use to upgrade her Lotus Notes from
one
older major version to a newer major version. Along with that upgrade, it
also
created an extra user-acct named 'SMSINSTALL'. Also, as a side effect,
there is also an extra 'popup dialog' box (BEFORE the welcome/login screen
asking you to select the user-acct you want to log into), that says:
Proprietary System
(with some detail verbiage about monitoring).
But, since we hadn't CREATED any new user accts since that 'SMSINSTALL'
incident,
the previously created user accts that have no such password policy have
just been
grandfathered.

So, it's now clear to me that this system is no longer 'standard Win-XP' as
shipped!
My apologies to for not investigating/testing more thoroughly before
posting.

(I'd like to undo this SMSINSTALL crap and get rid of this new tight
password policy.
But, I've tried removing the SMSINSTALL acct. It removes without error, but
as soon as
I reboot the system, this SMSINSTALL acct re-appears. Sigh, so now I guess
I must
just live with this SMSINSTALL acct and these new restrictive rules as my
wife no longer
works there and we do not know the password for this SMSINSTALL acct. If
someone
knows how to UNDO this crap, please reply.)

Sorry for the confusion...

Dave



David Cook said:
Ah, ok, I understand now that 'control userpasswords' is a cmd line. (Sigh,
this
was due to ME not carefully reading what someone else wrote. So, I guess I
can't now vent frustration about any of you folks not reading/understanding
fully what
I've been trying to say.)

Ok, again the 'control userpasswords2' suggestion only PARTLY explains the
mystery
of how the rules on my system for the user password policy changed. And it
does
NOT all explain how I could now allow a user to have a simple password,
composed, let's say of
3-chars, all lower case, no digits needed, etc, etc. In the past, I was
able to do that.
Six months ago, I created user accts that could have short passwords (or
user could
later change their password to NO
password), and now seemingly I can't have that functionality.

This little 'control userpasswords2' dialog seems to be an interface to that
old 'autologin'
registry-tweak (or something similar) which is NOT what I want. I want ALL
my users (in total, there are only a handful)
to still get the screen with icons next to all the existing usernames, to
select his and then either get logged in without entering
a password (if he doesn't have one) or else be able to enter the password
that he chose, without
restrictions for minimum pwd-length and mixed case and also containing
numeric digits, etc, etc.

Stated more succinctly: I want to relax the generic RULES for what a
password must look like, and to
include the possibility of a user having a null password.

Any other ideas?

Cheers...

Dave (the base noter)
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2" (without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

/xp_tweaks.htm

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


"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char
passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either
Click to expand...
of
my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

Start/run secpol.msc to open the Security Policy editor. This will allow you
to set parameters on the password policies. If I read you correctly, this is
what you want.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Ah, ok, I understand now that 'control userpasswords' is a cmd line. (Sigh,
this
was due to ME not carefully reading what someone else wrote. So, I guess I
can't now vent frustration about any of you folks not reading/understanding
fully what
I've been trying to say.)

Ok, again the 'control userpasswords2' suggestion only PARTLY explains the
mystery
of how the rules on my system for the user password policy changed. And it
does
NOT all explain how I could now allow a user to have a simple password,
composed, let's say of
3-chars, all lower case, no digits needed, etc, etc. In the past, I was
able to do that.
Six months ago, I created user accts that could have short passwords (or
user could
later change their password to NO
password), and now seemingly I can't have that functionality.

This little 'control userpasswords2' dialog seems to be an interface to that
old 'autologin'
registry-tweak (or something similar) which is NOT what I want. I want ALL
my users (in total, there are only a handful)
to still get the screen with icons next to all the existing usernames, to
select his and then either get logged in without entering
a password (if he doesn't have one) or else be able to enter the password
that he chose, without
restrictions for minimum pwd-length and mixed case and also containing
numeric digits, etc, etc.

Stated more succinctly: I want to relax the generic RULES for what a
password must look like, and to
include the possibility of a user having a null password.

Any other ideas?

Cheers...

Dave (the base noter)
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2" (without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

/xp_tweaks.htm

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


"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char
passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either
Click to expand...
of
my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thank you, Rick.

/xp_tweaks.htm

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


Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2"
(without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

David Cook said:
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.
Click to expand...

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.
Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Click to expand...

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



Kelly said:
You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
/xp_tweaks.htm

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


"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char
passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either of my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Using SMS to Install Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/ie/6/all/reskit/en-us/part5/c24ie6rk.mspx

IE6-Sms.sms describes the setup commands that define how Internet Explorer
is installed on users' computers. It contains command-line definitions for
the installation types and for the uninstall options.

Each of these command-line definitions contains a command line that directs
Setup to run in batch mode with the specific installation type (except for
Custom installations, which always run interactively).

Uninstallation of SMS Clients and Site Servers
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sms/sms2003/instreln.mspx#XSLTsection128121120120

SMS: Logon Server Manager Is Unable to Complete Uninstallation When Multiple
SMS Sites Share a Domain
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;262942&Product=winxp

You Receive a "WBEM_E_FAILED" Error Message When You Delete the SMS
Namespace
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;322850&Product=winxp

/xp_tweaks.htm

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


David Cook said:
My apologies to all. I have solved the mystery and I have also
tested more completely.
(1) So, I must retract the statement where I said the new tighter password
policy is happening on BOTH of my machines...one XP-Pro and the
other one being XP Home. The tight restrictions on password is
happening
ONLY on the XP Home machine.
(2) And, on this 'Win-XP Home' machine, I think that this tight-password
policy
got instituted about six months ago, back when her company (Verizon)
pointed
her to an
'upgrade' internal website of their, to use to upgrade her Lotus Notes
from
one
older major version to a newer major version. Along with that upgrade, it
also
created an extra user-acct named 'SMSINSTALL'. Also, as a side effect,
there is also an extra 'popup dialog' box (BEFORE the welcome/login screen
asking you to select the user-acct you want to log into), that says:
Proprietary System
(with some detail verbiage about monitoring).
But, since we hadn't CREATED any new user accts since that 'SMSINSTALL'
incident,
the previously created user accts that have no such password policy have
just been
grandfathered.

So, it's now clear to me that this system is no longer 'standard Win-XP'
as
shipped!
My apologies to for not investigating/testing more thoroughly before
posting.

(I'd like to undo this SMSINSTALL crap and get rid of this new tight
password policy.
But, I've tried removing the SMSINSTALL acct. It removes without error,
but
as soon as
I reboot the system, this SMSINSTALL acct re-appears. Sigh, so now I
guess
I must
just live with this SMSINSTALL acct and these new restrictive rules as my
wife no longer
works there and we do not know the password for this SMSINSTALL acct. If
someone
knows how to UNDO this crap, please reply.)

Sorry for the confusion...

Dave



David Cook said:
Ah, ok, I understand now that 'control userpasswords' is a cmd line. (Sigh,
this
was due to ME not carefully reading what someone else wrote. So, I guess I
can't now vent frustration about any of you folks not reading/understanding
fully what
I've been trying to say.)

Ok, again the 'control userpasswords2' suggestion only PARTLY explains
the
mystery
of how the rules on my system for the user password policy changed. And it
does
NOT all explain how I could now allow a user to have a simple password,
composed, let's say of
3-chars, all lower case, no digits needed, etc, etc. In the past, I was
able to do that.
Six months ago, I created user accts that could have short passwords (or
user could
later change their password to NO
password), and now seemingly I can't have that functionality.

This little 'control userpasswords2' dialog seems to be an interface to that
old 'autologin'
registry-tweak (or something similar) which is NOT what I want. I want ALL
my users (in total, there are only a handful)
to still get the screen with icons next to all the existing usernames, to
select his and then either get logged in without entering
a password (if he doesn't have one) or else be able to enter the password
that he chose, without
restrictions for minimum pwd-length and mixed case and also containing
numeric digits, etc, etc.

Stated more succinctly: I want to relax the generic RULES for what a
password must look like, and to
include the possibility of a user having a null password.

Any other ideas?

Cheers...

Dave (the base noter)
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

What Kelly means is that you need to type "control userpasswords2" (without
the quotes) in the run box and click "ok" to access this standard windows
user controls applet. Her other advice is to add a shortcut to it to
the
control panel. This is not a non-standard applet, it is part of WindowsXP,
it just doesn't normally show in the Control Panel.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Huh? When I go to Start -> Run,
it asks me to enter a program name that I want to run. There are NO
check-boxes in that dialog.

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

I do NOT yet want to start adding non-standard Windows software.
I'm trying to solve a mystery about Windows-XP Home: In the past, I have
created NEW user accts and set them for no passwords or 3-char passwords,
and now all of a sudden I can't. I'm hoping that someone will either
CONFIRM which 'Windows Update' patch or whatever has changed
that logic or else point me to the standard mechanism to use
to achieve that behavior.

Cheers...

Dave [who is still in 'mumble-mode' over this issue]



You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

/xp_tweaks.htm

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


"David Cook" <(unknown)> wrote in message
I have two Windows XP machines here at home, one XP Pro and
one XP Home. All users have 'administrative' priv on their accounts.

On both machines, it NOW seems that any NEW user accounts that
I create MUST have passwords. Yet, my EXISTING user accounts
either have no passwords or else have very minimal (e.g. 3-char
passwords).

Did the rules change (e.g. by some Windows Update patch) or am I
just not seeing/finding some 'policy' admin program to control this?

(As an aside, I googled this issue and see people mentioning
to look under
'Control panel, administrative tools, local security policies,...'
but, I don't have a choice of 'local security policies' on either of
my
two systems.)

What gives?

Cheers...

Dave
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
You won't have that option via Home.

Check your settings here: Go to Start/Run: control userpasswords2
And uncheck: Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer.

Tip:

Add Control UserPasswords2 to the Control Panel (Line 1)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Click to expand...

Load up 'Local Security Policy' in Administrative Tools.
Click on Account Policies, Password Policy and make sure max password
length is 0.

Peter Hutchison
 
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