Why Does Windows Request a New Password Occasionally?
Depending on how your Windows User Account was created, Windows may ask you to change your login password occassionally, sometimes every 42 days. This is a security feature aimed at businesses. If you are a home user, this password request feature may not be helpful.
How Can I Stop This from Happening?
Follow the instructions below to download a program to correct this problem. You will either need to be logged on as an Administator, or have the Administrator's password.
Steps
- Click on the ZIP File attached to this article.
- When prompted, click on Open to automatically open it when it has downloaded.
- When it has downloaded, another box will appear.
- Double click on "Stone_User_password_Policy_Unlimited.exe".
- After double clicking, you might get one or two security prompts. Click on Run, or OK, to accept the warnings.
- If you are prompted for your password, enter your Administrator username and password. If you don't get prompted for your password, just accept any security warnings or click on Run.
- The Stone User Password Policy Update Program will appear.
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- Click on OK to confirm that you would like the change to be made.
- A message will then come back confirming that the change has been completed.
More Information
For more technical users, these changes can also be made from an Administrative command prompt.
To disable passwords being reset every 42 days:
net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited
To put the default setting of 42 days back:
net accounts /maxpwage:42
To see what the current setting is:
net accounts
The NET Accounts method above, as well as the attached utility, change the setting for all users of the PC, as it is a global setting and not just for the user that is logged on at the time.
Tip for creating new user accounts: If you ever create a new user account with a password, use the Control Panel "User Accounts" option for doing this, to prevent accounts being created that automatically have passwords that expire.
Applies to:
- All systems running Windows 7
