ITSS Home : Virus and Security Info : Passwords : Changing your WinXP workstation passwords

Your Windows XP workstation account

Your workstation account provides access to your computer and the data and applications stored on it; it is not tied in any way to other University accounts such as Novell, email, or Enterprise. While these other accounts are managed by ITSS and University staff, workstation accounts and passwords are stored locally on your computer and therefore are not managed by ITSS staff. If you forget your workstation password, we can only reset it with a site visit to your computer. If you get locked out of your computer with too many failed log in attempts, you will need to turn your computer off (no power) for 15 minutes before you can try to login again.

Workstation password guidelines

To provide a secure computing environment and ensure the security of private data, the University has set the following guidelines for workstation passwords:

• Change all workstation account passwords every 365 days
• Passwords should be a minimum of 8 characters.
• Passwords should contain at least one upper & lower case letter, number and symbol (ie: %, #, $, etc)

For assistance with selecting a strong password, see: Tips for Choosing a Password

Novell client?

How you change your workstation password depends on whether or not you have the Novell client software installed on your computer. Select from the appropriate choices below for details:

• Change workstation password (no Novell client)
• Change workstation password with Novell client

Change your workstation password (no Novell client)

To change your Windows XP password on a computer without the Novell client:

1. Select Start - Control Panel (or Start - Settings - Control Panel) to open the Control Panel, then select User Accounts.
2. On the User Accounts window, select the user account whose password you wish to change.
   
   
3. On the What do you want to change.. window, select Change the password.
   
   
4. On the Change User's Password window, enter your new password, then re-enter it in the confirmation field. Optionally, you may type a hint if you would like help remembering this password.
   When done, select the Change Password button.
   
   
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for the account named Administrator and all other User accounts.

If you have questions or need assistance with your password, please call the ITSS Help Desk at (218) 726-8847.