Home / server / Questions / 61153
Accepted
Sam
Asked: 2009-09-02 05:59:20 +0800 CST

Switch off Windows Server 2008 admin password

  • 772

I need to set up a windows server 2008 in a virtual machine as demo system to show some apps which are only running on ws2008 with Active Directory.

Since this demo is run infrequently, first the one showing the system always needs to remember the logon password, and quite often is greeted with "your password has expired, pick a new one now" dialog.

Both is cumbersome, especially so since the VM is not connected to anything - how can I switch off the required password for windows server 2008 AD?

I changed the security in the AD group policy to no avail, and the local security policy is readonly, I can't change the values there.

windows-server-2008

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The problem with the AutoAdminLogon solutions given by others is that the password still has to be supplied in the registry, and the password will still expire, even with it enabled.

    So while doing what I am about to suggest is usually a Bad Idea™ under normal circumstances, in this particular case, being a demo domain controller, you will need to do both of the following to achieve what you are asking:

    1. Change the domain's password policy using Group Policy Management (gpmc.msc)

      • Enforce password history: 0 passwords remembered
      • Maximum password age: 0 days
      • Minimum password age: 0 days
      • Minimum password length: 0 characters
      • Passwords must meet complexity requirements: Disabled

    2. Change the Administrator user's account in Active Directory Users and Computers (dsa.msc)

      • Password never expires: check

    After changing the settings noted above, you should be able to change the password of the Administrator to a blank password, and it should not expire (unless there is some other policy (perhaps at a Forest level) that overrides the change (if so, you can use the Resultant Set of Policy console (rsop.msc) to find where the policy is being set.

    • 3

  2. There is an option for expiring passwords in the user "profile" options in Local Users of MMC. Let me find a screen shot.

    http://www.pcwintech.com/files/password_never_expires_vista.gif

    • 0
    1. Start -> Run and enter "control userpasswords2" without quotes.
    2. Clear the checkbox for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer". Click OK.
    3. Enter the user name and password that will be used for Autologon. Click OK.

    if you do not see the checkbox in step 2

    1. Start -> Run and enter

      reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v AutoAdminLogon /t REG_SZ /d "1" /f

    Let me know if this works for you.

    Source

    • 0