Consider the following scenario. You use a credential manager dynamic link library (DLL) to receive password change notifications on a Windows Vista-based computer. You press CTRL+ALT+DEL to access the Windows Security box. Then, you click Change a password to manually change the password for an account that is logged on to Windows Vista. In this scenario, the Multiple Provider Router (MPR) calls the NPPasswordChangeNotify function to notify the credential manager DLL of a password change event, even though the password change is unsuccessful.

Two of the methods I describe on this site are included (See tip #9 & tip #50) and a third that requires use of a Linux boot disc. Keep reading →

You boozed it up with your friends last night, and now you’ve gone and killed the brain cells that held your Vista password. What do you do? Thankfully there is a way to reset your password so you can get back in, but you’ll need access to another computer, and your wallet, to make it work. Keep reading →

Consider the following scenario:

• You use the Windows Vista Get Connected Wizard to connect a Windows Vista-based computer to a destination network.
• The user name and password that is configured in the network connection is saved for all users. For example, when you create the network connection, you click to select the Allow other people to use this connection check box.
• The password for the network connection expires on the destination network.

In this scenario, when you next use this connection to connect to the destination network, you are prompted to change the password as expected. However, when you enter a new password for the network connection, you experience the following symptoms:

• You receive the following error message:
  

  Cannot delete saved password.

  Error 5: Access is denied.

• The new password is updated on the destination network. However, the new password is not saved in Windows Vista. Therefore, you must enter the new password again when you try to reconnect to the destination network.

You try to open a 2007 Microsoft Office document that is on a shared folder, or you try to save a 2007 Office document to a shared folder. When you do this, you are prompted two times to type your username and your password to access the shared folder.

When you try use Windows Easy Transfer to transfer files and settings from a Microsoft Windows-based computer to a Windows Vista-based computer, the user name and password are not transferred.

When you unlock a computer that is running Windows Vista, you receive a message that states that the account has expired and the logon process cannot continue.

This issue occurs after a domain administrator resets your password and configures your account to require that you change your password the next time that you log on. However, you are not given the option to change your password.

Vista has a feature called The Forgotten Password Wizard. With it, you can create a special disk to reset your password if you forget it. For it to work, you need to act now, while you still know your password! Keep reading →

I‘m used to having my home computer automatically login when I start it since I’m the only user. In Windows XP I used TweakUI to set this, but how do I do it in Vista? A little searching turned up this tip from Spooky on the MSFN.org forums: Keep reading →

User Account Control (UAC) is bound to be one of the more talked about features of Vista because it has a tendency to ‘get in your face’ with dialog windows every time you try to change or install something (see image below). Administrators will be quickly annoyed by this and likely look to disable it all together. Though it is easily turned off, before doing so, it’s best to know what the different options are, because you’ll want to find a balance between security and convenience. Keep reading →