Your password is not retained when Outlook 2000 is installed with the Corporate or Workgroup option in Windows 2000 or Windows XP

When you run Microsoft Outlook on Microsoft Windows 2000 or on Microsoft Windows XP and connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to retrieve messages from a Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) server, your password is not retained although you have selected to save your password.

This behavior occurs because the registry contains incorrect information for the Protected Storage System Provider registry subkey for your account.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


To resolve this behavior, use the following steps in this section to remove the user account information and then re-enter your password.

How to Back up the Registry

Windows 2000

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
4. On the Registry menu, click Save Key.
5. In the File name box, type a unique name for the key.
6. In the Save In box, click a location for the file, and then click Save.
7. On the Registry menu, click Exit.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
3. On the File menu, click Export.
4. In the File name box, type a unique name for the key.
5. In the Save In box, click a location for the file, and then click Save.
6. On the Registry menu, click Exit.

How to Remove the User Account Information

Windows 2000

1. Quit all programs.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedt32, and then click OK.
4. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
5. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
6. Click the registry key for the user who is currently logged on, and then verify that Read and Full Control are both set to Allow.
7. Click the Advanced button, verify that the user who is currently logged on is selected, that Full Control is listed in the Permission column, and that This Key and Subkeys is listed in the Apply to column.
8. Select the Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions check box.
9. Click Apply, and then click Yes when you receive the prompt to continue.
10. Click OK two times.
11. Double-click the Protected Storage System Provider key, click the user subkey folder, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes in the Warning Message dialog box.
    
    The following example is similar to how the user subkey folder should look:
    S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-16701
    NOTE: For every identity that you have, there may be a subkey under the Protected Storage System Provider key. To resolve this behavior in all your identities, you must delete all the user subkeys folders under the Protected Storage System Provider key.
12. On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart your computer.

Windows XP

1. Quit all programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
4. On the Edit menu, click Permissions.
5. Click the registry key for the user who is currently logged on, and then verify that Read and Full Control are both set to Allow.
6. Click the Advanced button, and then verify that the user who is currently logged on is selected, that Full Control is listed in the Permissions column, and that This Key and Subkeys is listed in the Apply to column.
7. Click to select the Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects check box.
8. Click Apply, and then click Yes when you receive a prompt to continue.
9. Click OK two times.
10. Expand the Protected Storage System Providerregistry subkey, click the user subkey folder that is directly below the Protected Storage System Provider registry subkey.
    
    The user subkey folder is similar to the following example:
    S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-16701
    Note For every identity that you have, there may be a subkey under the Protected Storage System Provider registry subkey. To resolve this issue in all your identities, you must delete all the user subkeys folders under the Protected Storage System Provider registry subkey.
11. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes when you receive the warning message dialog box.
12. On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart your computer.

How to Re-Enter Your Password

These steps work for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Mail or Mail and Fax.
3. Click Internet E-mail, and then click Properties.
4. On the Servers tab, type your password in the Password box, and then select the Remember password check box.
5. Click OK two times.
6. Close Control Panel, and then start Outlook.
7. On the Tools menu, click Send and Receive to verify that your password is retained.

NOTE: If other Windows 2000 or Windows XP users are having password retention issues, re-enter the password, and then select the Remember Password check box for those profiles. Each user may have to log on for their password to be retained.

For additional information about passwords not retained in Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: