Click to View Alphabetical Index of Articles
A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-V | W-Z | View All
Pestered by Windows Password Prompts?
Are you being pestered by user/password requests when booting up Windows? If so, there are several methods for getting rid of the "User/Password" prompt. That’s the good news. The bad news is that precisely which method will work with your computer will be determined by what's causing the prompt to appear in the first place. That’s just a diplomatic way of saying that you may have to try several different approaches to resolve the problem. But persistence pays off, so stick with it and you’ll eliminate those pesky password prompts pronto!
The following are several tried-and-true solutions to the user/password problem. Option 1 works for most users, but if it doesn’t work for you, just continue on with the rest of the options and in all probability, one of them will work for you. Good luck!
Mr. Modem
OPTION 1:
Click My Computer > Control Panel > Passwords. Click the Change Passwords tab, then click the Change Windows Password button.
Make sure all three fields are completely blank and click the OK button to save changes.
If this option tip didn't work for you, your computer might be setup for multiple users. If you're the only person using your computer click to My Computer > Control Panel > Passwords. Click the User Profiles tab and click the All Users Of This Computer Use The Same Preferences And Desktop Settings button. Click OK to exit and save changes.
OPTION 2: When you start Windows 98 and that annoying pop-up "User/Password" window displays, usually this means you've set a password on your computer (perhaps inadvertently) during the initial setup without knowing the user pop-up window would then keep reappearing every time you start your computer.
If you don't share your computer with any other users, follow these steps to make this window disappear:
In C:\WINDOWS, search for a file with the extension of .PWL. Hint: Use your FIND command to locate this file by searching for *.pwl. Just be sure you're in the C:\WINDOWS directory (folder). You may find several .PWL files, but there will be one with your name or username front of it.
Delete that .PWL file.
After you have deleted it, reboot your computer. This will reset the pop-up user window to appear in a different format. The window will say, "If you don't enter a password, this window will not appear again."
The one instruction this user window neglects to give you is to press the ENTER key instead of pressing the OK button. So press the ENTER key.
When you reboot next time, the User/Password window should not reappear.
Enjoying this article? Then why not subscribe to Mr. Modem's Weekly Newsletter (www.MrModem.com) today! Computer tips, tricks, virus alerts, hoax information, plus prompt, personal responses to your computer questions!
OPTION 3: (Recommended by Microsoft) You can prevent Windows from prompting for a password at start-up, assuming you're not using User Profiles and you're not connected to a network.
Launch the Network applet from Control Panel by clicking My Computer > Control Panel > Network.
On the Configuration tab, select Windows Logon from the Primary Network Logon drop-down menu. Click OK and when you are prompted to restart Windows, click No.
Next, launch the Passwords applet from the Control Panel (My Computer > Control Panel > Passwords), and click the Change Windows Password button.
In the Change Windows Password dialog box, type your current Windows password in the Old Password box. Leave both the New Password and the Confirm New Password boxes blank. Click OK, then click OK again to confirm.
Select the User Profiles tab and select "All users of this PC use the same preferences and Desktop settings." Click Close.
Click Start, select Search (or Find), then click For Files or Folders.
Type *.pwl in the Named box, click Local Hard Drives in the Look In box, then press Enter.
Right-click one of the .pwl files, select Rename, then rename the file with an .old file name extension. Repeat this step for each .pwl file.
Note: If you do not rename the .pwl files, the passwords from those files may be detected by Windows, which may result in the Windows log-in password request continuing to appear.
Shut down, then restart Windows to apply these changes and have them take effect.
OPTION 4: (Windows 95/98)
1. Right-click Network Neighborhood, and then click Properties.
2. On the Configuration tab, click Windows Logon in the Primary Network Logon box, and then click OK.
3. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click No.
4. In Control Panel, double-click Passwords.
5. Click the Change Passwords tab, click Change Windows Password, and then click OK.
6. In the Change Windows Password dialog box, type your current Windows password in the Old Password box. Leave the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes blank, click OK, and then click OK.
7. Click the User Profiles tab and verify that the "All users of this PC use the same preferences and desktop settings" option is selected. Click Close.
8. Shut down and then restart Windows 95/98.
OPTION 5: (If you're familiar with DOS command lines): If you assigned a password to access Windows and then you suffer a memory lapse, don't worry. Bypass Windows by pressing F8 during startup and choose the Command Prompt Only option.
At the DOS prompt, go to the Windows directory by typing "cd\windows" (without the quotes). Delete .pwl files by typing "del *.pwl" (again, without the quotes) at the command line. No password will be required on the next boot.
A new password can be set, if you wish, by clicking My Computer > Control Panel > Passwords, then click Change Windows Password.
OPTION 6: You can disable Windows' log-on password by following these steps: Click My Computer > Control Panel > Passwords. Click the Change Windows Password button.
Type your old password in the Old Password field. Then tab to the New Password field and Confirm Password fields in turn, and press Enter without entering any text) in each one.
OPTION 7: (for Windows 2000 users): If you're the only person using a computer running Windows 2000, you can set Windows 2000 to automatically log you in during boot-up.
Click My Computer > Control Panel > Users and Passwords.
Select a user from the list presented, then uncheck the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" box.
OPTION 8: (for Windows XP users):
Click on Control Panel > User Accounts.
Under Pick an account to change,” click on User, Computer Administrator.
Under "What do you what to change about your account?" click on "Change my Password."
When the dialog box appears, if it displays just your current password, delete it so the field is blank. If you see two fields, one with the current password and one for your "new" password, leave the "new" password field blank.
A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-V | W-Z | View All
