Protected Storage

[secutanudu]

I am thinking of disabling the Protected Storage service so that passwords are not saved in IE. Will this impact a lot of other things outside of IE? Anything i should be aware of before I disable this service? Thanks.

 

[bcastner]

If you are in a Domain, you lose the cached credientials feature.

In a Workgroup, you lose the ability to cache alternate credentials (if needed) to access shares.

Otherwise:

linney in the past has vote yes on this issue;
I in the past have vote no, do not do this.

In the alternative you could:
Start button, Run, control userpasswords2
Click the Advanced tab.
Click "Manage passwords"
Edit and/or remove what you do not want.

But generally speaking the service can be disabled without trauma. And of course, can easily be re-enabled.

 

[secutanudu]

We are in a workgroup now, but are in the process to upgrading to Active Directory. Basically we want to stop the saving of passwords in IE - not the passwords in forms, but the passwords that pop up on web pages to get through a proxy server...not sure if there's any other way to do it, but we'll need cached credentials.

Question about cached credentials - will machine and user policy still get applied if the DC goes down? Is group policy also cached?

 

[bcastner]

Stopping the Protected Storage service will stop IE saving passwords, albeit you it will not stop an authentication prompt.

"Question about cached credentials - will machine and user policy still get applied if the DC goes down? Is group policy also cached?" It is applied, and preserved as of your last Domain connection.

 

[linney]

Can what you are talking about with IE be achieved via the available Auto Complete settings for IE?

Specifies whether you want Internet Explorer to prompt you to save a password or even save them in the first place or clear any saved passwords.

 

[secutanudu]

linney - It will prevent saving passwords in a form, but not in an authentication prompt to get through a proxy server...(according to bcastner)

 

[secutanudu]

Is there a way to stop saving passwords in an authentication prompt?

 

[bcastner]

Stop the Protected Storage service.

 

[secutanudu]

Stopping the Protected Storage service will stop IE saving passwords, albeit you it will not stop an authentication prompt."

What did you mean by this?

 

[bcastner]

If you access a secured web page, or one that require a Passport account, you likely will be prompted. The password and user information will not however be stored if the Protected Storage service is disabled.

 

[secutanudu]

Oh i understand. I was interpreting that comment incorrectly. We'll need to use cached credentials so turning off protected storage won't be an option. I guess we'll live with authentication prompts being able to save passwords. Thanks.

 

[bcastner]

Control Panel, Internet Options, Security tab, Internet zone (and then Intranet zone), Custom Level, check the user authentication choices. They may not be set as you want.