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14 Day Password Change Notification Cannot Be Changed

Article ID: 135403 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q135403

SUMMARY

In Windows NT 3.x, when your password is 14 days from expiration, you receive a Password Change Notification when logging on requesting you to change your password. If the Maximum Password Age is set to 30 days, you receive the notice when your password is only half way through its life span. Although you may wish to change the advance time of the reminder, the Password Change Notification is hard coded at 14 days in Windows NT 3.x and is not configurable.

In Windows NT 4.0, a new registry parameter is available to allow administrators to configure the number of days at which the Password Change Notification is presented. The implementation of this new parameter requires that the registry change be made on the client computer.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Add or modify the following entry:
PasswordExpiryWarning: REG_DWORD: <number of days>
Click OK and quit Registry Editor.

This entry specifies the number of days that a warning message is displayed before the user's password expires. This value entry does not normally appear in the registry unless you add it manually.

In Windows 2000 and later, you can use Group Policy settings to change when the Password Change Notification is presented. In Windows 2000, the policy setting is Prompt user to change password before expiration. In Windows 2003, the policy setting is Interactive Logon: Prompt user to change password before expiration.