Windows 7 popup "Consider changing your password"

[studiocomputer]

I bought a used computer that is Windows 7. I use it without needing any password. I just turn it on and use it. There is a popup window by the clock that reads "consider changing your password it will expire in one day".

So what do I do since I have no password?

Can I make a passwrod reset onto a thumbdrive if I don't have a password at all?

Thank you for the help.

 

[alphanumeric]

You could try creating a password, log on once, and then change it back to no password. That nag screen was likely setup though the group policy editor to force employees to change there password at preset intervals. What version of windows is it? If its enterprise you may have problems with activation down the road.

 

[Brink]

Hello Studiocomputer, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You might see if disabling password expiration may stop this for you so you do not have to change it or create one.

Personally, since it's a used computer, I would recommend to do a factory recovery to reinstall Windows 7 back to it's default factory state. There's no telling what else the previous owner may have set or installed on it. The link below can help show you how to if you like.

View Document

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[studiocomputer]

Thank you for the replies.

If I don;t use a password to use the computer, does that mean there is actually no password on it? I have had the computer since Tuesday and never used a password.

I did look at the folder area. I went to the control panel, family safety tab, then User accounts. It shows on this page the words Owner and a picture behind it. I changed the picture last night. I then clicked on create a password for your account to see if it would ask for an old password before allowing a new one to be entered. it did not ask for an old one. It reads "Owner Administrator" and beneath a block with the words new password and beneath it another block that says confirm password. To me this makes me think there is no password on tis computer.

Can I do a reset password disk to be safe using my thumbdirve? Does it require a password to make one?

 

[alphanumeric]

You can leave the password blank when you setup your user account. Its not recommended but people do it. You can also set a password and then set the PC to auto log you on on when windows starts. As far as I know if a password was entered you will be asked for it when you try to change it. You have to enter the old password to set a new one. If the old password was blank then you just leave it blank and enter your new password twice. If you are worried about getting locked out create a new account with a password as a backup plan. The password reset disk probably isn't a bad idea too.

EDIT: What version of Windows 7 is it? Is it Enterprise?

 

[Duzzy]

Depending on the Windows Version you can check the "Local Security Policy". Open Control Panel, click Admistrator Tools, open Local Security Policy. On the right click "Account Polices", on the left double click "Password Policy" and then double click "Maximum Password Age" and set to Zero if it's not already. Now your passwords won't expire on any account.

If you open the run dialog, Windows Key + R, and type "control userpasswords2". This will open up a window titled "User Accounts" and at the top is a check box labeled "Users must enter a Username and Password to use this computer".
If this is unchecked then you can automatically log on even when you have a password set. This will probably depend on the Windows Version. Don't tick this if it's unticked unless you know the password which looks like you don't have one anyway as you should have been asked for an old one when you went to change password.

I wouldn't recommend the above paragraph for a laptop though.

Also there is software out there that can retrieve the password for any user account, I'm not going to tell you where to find them but it isn't too hard. Some of the better ones cost money though and some trails may allow you to recover one or two passwords only.

 

[boohbah]

i read somewhere in the forum that it is a good idea to have a user password to stop a virus creating a password and locking you out

 

[alphanumeric]

I use passwords mainly for securing shared resources. I have shared folders on my network that I don't want guests to be able to access so they are restricted to certain users on my network. My main desktop that only I use is set to autologon with my user name and password. My laptop that I share with my wife uses the normal logon and asks for a user name and password. If I leave my desktop running unattended I just lock my desktop. Thats not so easy to do if you have no password.

 

[studiocomputer]

Hi,

It reads Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 and below that where it talks about the brand being Sony Vaio it says 3.4 Windows Experience Index.

Regarding my other post about the password, when I go to Control Panel and User and Family Safety Tab, there is a link that says User Accounts. After clicking it, on the right the icon says Owner and beneath it Administrator. Further checking to try and set a new password just to see if it would ask for an old one it does not. It provides a way for entering a password apparently for the first time because it just asks to type in a new password. No where on that page does it ask for an old password before allowing me to change. My thinking is that there must not be a password if it allows me to make changes but not put in any old password first. Although, when the balloon by the clock did popup, I did the control alt delete and on that page it shows a block that says to put in the old password just above where it asks for a new password.

The computer has not been turned off yet and it is now a day past the time from when it said to "consider changing password will expire in 1 day". If it had a password, would it say "change your password" or does it always just give the "consider changing" message? I left the computer on so far so once I do turn it off who knows what it will do. I use my thumbdrive to make the password reset disk thinking if there is some type of password, that should get me back into it.

Is it a fact that the password reset disk will definitely get me back into the computer as long as I have the thumbdrive pw file? Or is that only a sometimes type of thing?

Not sure if I did this correctly, but I did setup another account. The top of the file area where I went to add a new account is:

Control Panel- User Accounts and Family Safety - User Account

When I click on accounts, it reads Owner (Administrator) and the new one I made csalled New Account (Administrator) and there is another account that I did not setup that shows up there that reads Guest(Guest Account is Off)

Should I turn on the guest account? If I do turn the guest account on, will the computer keep me on that page or will it automatically sign me out of the current account and then open the guest account? I don;t know so I did not click or change without knowing first so not to get locked out of this current account I am on.

I assume I am on the Administrator account because under manage accounts it opens with the icon photo and the words Owner Administrator).

On the New Account (Administrator) I did not set up a password because when I tried it said if I do that this account will loose all efs encrypted files, personal certificates, stored passwords for websites or networks resources. Don't know what that means so I did not set the New Account (Administrator) to have a password.

Anyway, like mentioned, after working, I just closed the lid so far and have not shut down the computer. I was able to get one of the projects I had pending completed and took the files off this computer and backed up to my external hard drive. But I have another one to do before possibly getting locked out.

This is a terrible feature in my opinion, but regardless what I think right now I need to work through this part and get it resolved.

I'll read back through the comments everyone posted.

Any further info is appreciated especially knowing the answer to:

Is it a fact that the password reset disk will definitely get me back into the computer as long as I have the thumbdrive pw file? Or is that only a sometimes type of thing?

Should I turn on the guest account?

Thank you.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Do you have an external HDD and/or a 2nd internal HDD?
You should probably make a backup image of your OS (in case of disaster).

You could use the built-in Windows tool or download a program like Macrium Reflect Free Edition.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

It seems like your computer was used by a business(?) and they used an Encrypted File System (EFS).
You shouldn't need "... personal certificates, stored passwords for websites or networks resources.", unless you have made them yourself.

Did they delete everything off of the PC before you bought it?

You only need the "Guest" account, if you want to allow other people to use your machine.

Of course they could just use your account, if it doesn't have a password (obviously that's assuming you don't tell anyone what your password is).

 

[alphanumeric]

I think I would just enter a password for your user account. If it's not asking for an old one then one was never set. If its Windows thats prompting for a password change you will be forced to change it on your next logon. You may as well change it now. At least thats the way it was in the NT4 days when I was working. We would get that nag about every three months, 90 days. The nag would time down and then eventually you had no choice but to change your password. When the nag pops up clicking it should take you to the Windows password setting screen. If you are infected with male-ware I would expect it to lead you somewhere else. Have you run msconfig and had a look at whats loading on boot up? I see that you are running Home Premium, it would have made more sense if it had be Enterprise as I would expect to see this kind or prompt on a PC in a work environment. I don't think Home Premium has access to the Group Policy Editor which makes it even more intriguing as to why you are getting this prompt. If you can and you haven't already I would make a set of recovery disks. Have you looked at disk management to see if there is a recovery partition? My apologies if you have already stated this in your thread, it's early in the AM here, and I haven't wrapped myself around my first coffee yet. Once I do I'll go over the thread from start to end again just to refresh my memory.

 

[Duzzy]

To stop the message did you look at the "Local Security Policy" procedure that I described in the 1st paragraph Post #6. How did that go?

Password reset disk I have no idea, never look at it.

No need to enable the Guest Account, as lehnerus2000 said this is to give other people limited access to your computer.

 

[alphanumeric]

Yeah, the guest account is really restricted in what it can do and mostly useless for trying to fix or restore anything on your PC.

 

[studiocomputer]

I see Administrative Tools but I do not see anything that reads "Local Security Policies". Is it because it's not on this OS or?

I can try to to a backup disk. Will that be helpful if I get locked out or does that only save files I created?

Thank you again.

 

[Brink]

Studiocomputer,

Please consider what I posted above (click here), and backup anything that you do not want to lose first.

 

[studiocomputer]

Hi Brink,

I do want to do the backup option. Before doing so I may have to go and get more dvds. I don't know how many disks a backup takes and I may be short on disks. I do video work so may have used up the ones I have with me today until I go pick them up.

Depends on how many files I have added but generically speaking, about how many dvd's it requires?

Thanks again.

 

[Brink]

It really depends on how much you have to copy. Each single layer DVD is good for about 4.7 GB each.

However, if you have a external HDD or another internal HDD to use, that would be a much better and more reliable option to backup to.

 

[studiocomputer]

My external only has 23.5 gb free. It's full of video jobs.

 

[AddRAM]

Do you have a key on the bottom of the laptop and what OS is it for ?
Vista , Windows 7 etc.

 

[studiocomputer]

There is a key on the bottom and it reads windows 7 home prem OA and it shows the key number