Disabling Windows Password

[spaulding]

We run a network with NT 4.0 servers and Win 98SE clients for our high school. We have set a policy which requires the users to log in to the domain and have a valid userid. We also regularly re-image our workstations to restore settings etc.

My question is this: How do I turn off the "Set Windows Password" dialog box? My students see that box, enter their network password again, then a few weeks later, having forgot their network password, come to me to have it reset. Works great until they get to a computer that has the Windows Password set with their forgotten password, then I've got to go to that machine and wipe out the PWL list. I've talked til blue in the face about not setting a windows pw, but I guess it's Pavlovian when they see that dialog. Life would be easier if the option to set it was not available.

Any Help??

Thanks

 

[Jpoandl]

Gee Windows 9x questions. This brings back memories. I haven't work on 98 machines for a long time now. Anyway, If you don't mind all users seeing the same desktop, you could disable the whole PWL thing by following these MS steps:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q156/8/26.ASP

If that doesn't help, try this link. There is a bunch of information that concerns 9x machines and logons here:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q152/1/04.asp

Hope this helps.. Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

 

[spaulding]

Unfortunately, none of that helped. We already had the user profiles set to same for all users, consequently there was no Registry Key to delete (As suggested by the first KB article). Went through the steps in the second article no effect. The first time a user logs on to the machine, it prompts for a Windows password. If I can get them to highlight, delete it and push ok, no problem. But, some still enter the password. The second article did talk about Using TWEAKUI to hide the last logged on user. We don't use TWEAKUI or WIN95, but we do have a policy set which hides the last user. That KB article just talks about how to hide the login, not anything about the effects. Since we're a school, we'd rather not have the last user login readily apparent, but I'd also rather not run around to 200 computers deleting a PWL list when a student forget's their password.
Hope somebody can help!

Thanks

 

[Mubashir]

Another case of MS doesn't help...

Edit the registry as described below to add a new entry:

HKLM > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > Network

Here, add a new DWORD 'DisablePwdCaching' and set its value to 1. Exit and reboot.

Here's the logic: normally Windows caches a copy of the users password on the local system to allow for additional automation, this leads to a possible security threat on some systems. This setting also removes the second Windows password screen and also remove the possibility of networks passwords to get out of sync.

Test this on one system, it should be successful as I've done it many times on Win98, once through, find a shortcut for all of your systems. Otherwise, it will be a herculean task!

And if you have some time after that, I would be interested in knowing what exactly do you mean by the term 'Pavlovian'. Never heard this before. I guess it's psychology, seemingly meaning doing something on impulse or reflex action, right?

Mubashir
muhammad.mubashir@sbp.org.pk

No one's worth your tears. The one who is, won't make you cry.

 

[Jpoandl]

Mubashir: Good information. I'll have to keep note of this one.

Spaulding: I would push this out through a script so that you don't have to manually perform this on each workstation by hand....If interested, I can post how... Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

 

[spaulding]

Mubashir-Works like a champ. Thank you very much! Regarding "Pavlovian". Not sure exactly the facts, but I think around 1900 there was a Russian scientist that would ring a bell just before feeding his test dogs. After a period of time, they would start salivating just at the sound of a bell. So just as you surmised, my kids enter a password just because the dialog box is displayed.

JPoandl- We use software from Altiris to push out changes to our configurations (once we figure them out). But... I'm always interested in seeing if there's an easier way. So if you get a chance, I'd like to see how you do the script. Thanks