How-to articles and step-by-step guidance to help you enable, disable, and otherwise configure the security features of Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Editing The Registry UAC (User Account Control) has been much maligned over the past year. The community clamored for tighter security to prevent exploitation and compromise of the Windows operating system, but Microsoft has been buried by criticism of UAC since the release of Windows Vista. UAC has also been the target of humorous...
Read more →Windows Vista Backup Center Microsoft has included some type of data backup functionality in Windows for years. However, the latest flagship operating system, Windows Vista, has a much improved backup and restore utility. In Windows Vista, Microsoft has provided more capabilities and automation and wrapped it up in a more intuitive GUI to help...
Read more →Windows Vista enables you to control many of the features and functions by configuring Local Security Policy settings. There are six components that make up the Password Policy under Vista Local Security Policy. Click the links below for more details about what each of these six policy settings means and how you should configure...
Read more →Enabling Store Passwords Using Reversible Encryption determines whether Windows stores passwords using reversible encryption. Enabling this is essentially the same as storing passwords in plain text which is insecure and not recommended. The purpose of this policy setting is to provide support for applications that use protocols that require knowledge of the user’s password...
Read more →This security setting enforces password complexity to ensure that users create strong passwords that are not easily guessed or cracked. With Passwords Must Meet Complexity Requirements enabled, passwords must meet the following minimum requirements: Must not contain the user’s account name or parts of the user’s full name that exceed two consecutive characters Must...
Read more →The Minimum Password Length policy setting defines the least number of characters that a password may contain. You can set a value of between 1 and 14 characters. You can also enable an account to have no password requirement at all by setting the Minimum Password Length to 0 (zero). Defaults: * 7 on...
Read more →Maximum Password Age defines the maximum period of time (in days) that a password can be used before the user must change it. You can set passwords to expire between 1 and 999 days. If you a set a Maximum Password Age of 0 (zero), passwords never expire. Unless the Maximum Password Age is...
Read more →Minimum Password Age determines the period of time (in days) that a password must be used before the user can change it. You can set a value between 1 and 998 days, or you can allow changes immediately by setting the number of days to 0. The Minimum Password Age setting must be lower...
Read more →his security setting determines the number of unique new passwords that have to be associated with a user account before an old password can be reused. The value must be between 0 and 24 passwords. This policy enables enhanced security by ensuring that old passwords are not simply reused every time a user is...
Read more →Open Windows Local Security Policy Console Open the Microsoft Windows Local Security Policy console and navigate to the Password Policies following these steps: Click on Start Click on Control Panel Click on Administrative Tools Click on Local Security Policy Click on the plus-sign in the left pane to open Account Policies Click on Password...
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