Password Caching in Windows Me

I recently rolled out 10 new laptops with Windows Me preinstalled. I was surprised to discover that the OS caches passwords by default. To prevent this security risk, you can clear the check box on the logon screen. However, you must remember to clear the check box each time you log on, or Windows Me automatically logs you on with your credentials.

To disable password caching in Windows Me and Windows 9x, start a registry editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPolicies Network registry subkey, and set the DisablePwdCaching DWORD value entry to 1. You can then export the entry to a registry file to obtain the script.

REGEDIT4  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoft  WindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]  |"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001

Save this script as a text file (e.g., disable_ cache.reg), and double-click the file to run it. You'll receive a message that says the registry entry updated successfully.

To reenable password caching, change the DisablePwdCaching DWORD value entry to 0. Alternatively, you can delete the entry.

—Jan Wachowski
[email protected]