How to enforce Windows XP password

How do you set a password for Windows XP? Just create a password in "Control Panel → User Account"! Maybe you think that you have set a password and a number of digits to reject the "novice" Outside the system, but the more secure password rules you will not refuse to go outside? Not to mention, these rules do not require third-party software, and these rules operate with just a few mouse clicks and enter a few values. can.

By the way, defining a more secure password rule uses the system's "local security settings" tool, which can be activated by typing "secpol.msc" in "Start → Run". In the tree on the left side of the main window, expand Account Policy → Password Policy. The password rule we want to define is the option displayed in the right panel!

Double-click the password first to meet the complexity requirements. , the security setting is set to "enabled", the password created by the user in "Control Panel → User Account" must contain uppercase and lowercase English, Arabic numerals and special characters, three types of characters, if one of the characters is not included , a dialog box will pop up.

Minimum password length: The minimum number of digits the user can create a password. You can enter an Arabic number between 0 and 14. 0 means that the password length created is not required to be detected. Once the password created by the user does not meet the required number of digits, the system will also pop up a dialog box warning.

Maximum password retention period: This option is more interesting. It is the expiration time of setting the password, that is, the new password that meets the requirements must be replaced within the specified period. Of course, setting it to 0 means that the password is never invalid, and the longest cycle time is 999 days.

The minimum password retention period: as opposed to the "Maximum password retention period" option, which is the minimum time to set the password to survive. During this time, the user is not allowed to change the password. Similarly, set to 0 to change the password at any time, the maximum time a password can survive is 998 days.

Forcing password history: Changing passwords frequently will inevitably generate multiple different passwords. At this time, the system will help you "remember" the passwords you have used. The number of passwords you can remember is up to you." Tell the system. 0 means no password reservation history, the system can only help you remember 24 password history, the original system memory is also limited.

Use a recoverable encryption for all users in the domain to store passwords: To ensure password security, it is recommended to disable this feature.

Clear the specific meaning and scope of each option, we can flexibly customize the password rules. The author provides a reference scheme here: password complexity is required to be enabled, the minimum password length is set to 8 characters, and the password is mandatory. After the history is set to 0, the longest (short) retention period of the password is determined. Generally, the longest retention period is set to 2 to 3 times of the minimum retention period. If the maximum retention period is set to 30 days, the minimum retention period can be set. For 10 days, this is more reasonable.

Rename System Administrator Account

WindowsXP default system administrator account name is "Administrator" (so-called real system administrator account), many system experts recommend users to get this The account is set with a password because the account is hidden under the normal system state, and in the safe mode, the account resolutely appears in the login screen. In the case where the password is not set, of course, the password can be entered without using a password. "system. In "Local Security Settings", we can rename the system administrator account name, expand "Local Policies → Security Options" in the left tree, and double-click "Account: Rename System Administrator Account Administrator" in the right panel. A new system administrator account can be entered in the pop-up window. However, after several tests, the new system administrator account name cannot be the current login administrator account name, otherwise the "Failed to save local policy database" error dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure 7.

In fact, when installing Windows XP system, the created account nickname is not allowed to be the Administrator and Guest name. If you want to use the "Administrator" account nickname like the author, you don't have to enter any characters in the account nickname. Directly cold start system, after restarting, WindowsXP has skipped the account nickname step and directly logs in to the system as an Administrator account.