On my office laptop, I discovered the Internet Explorer "Remember my password" checkbox option was missing. This was quite annoying, as I started using Eclipse's internal browser to test my development work on the staging server I setup at home. The staging server is protected by a simple .htaccess file, which prompts you for a username/password with a dialog box like the one below:
As you can see, its missing the "Remember my password" option, which means I have to reenter the credentials every time I want to login. After a lot of research on Google, I finally figured out the problem: the Protected Storage service needs to be running. Either I disabled the Protected Storage service or a Windows security update did. Either way, after changing the "Startup type" to Automatic and restarting all IE browsers, here's how the password dialog looked:
I have a feeling that a Windows, or an Internet Explorer, security update changed the way IE stores passwords. For most users, the update had no effect since the Protected Storage service is set to Automatic by default. But not for me; I love tinkering with stuff. I disabled a lot of unnecessary Windows XP services on my laptop last year to help keep it secure while I'm on the move.
Update:
In the comments, Haiman posted the following alternate fix. Several users reported his fix worked for them, so I'm including it here. (You'll need to use the registry editor to make this change, Start->Run->regedit.exe, but be sure to make a backup of your registry before fooling around with it!)
Your office pushes out a GPO or registry change to disable users from caching passwords.
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
Internet Settings]
Value Name: DisablePasswordCaching
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable password cache)
It’s not working in my machine. Do you have others solutions?
Did you try the following?
1) Click Start -> Run
2) Type in services.msc and press Enter
3) Look for ‘Protected Storage’ and double click on it
4) Make sure the start-up type is set to Automatic
5) Restart your computer
If that doesn’t work, then I’m afraid I don’t know what else could be wrong.
Let me know how it goes!
Your office pushes out a GPO or registry change to disable users from caching passwords.
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
Internet Settings]
Value Name: DisablePasswordCaching
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable password cache)
Thanks for the alternate solution Haiman!
Also could be security policy
Computer Configuration->Windows Settings->Security Settings->Local Policies/Security Options
Network access: Do not allow storage of credentials or .NET Passports for network authentication.
Set this to Disabled if you want the tick box, this setting can be set by Group Policy.
this worked for me. thanks!!
had a hard time finding local policies though – for those who don’t know where it is – Start – control panel – administrative tools – local security policy –
I always though am an expert in Win, but there was nothing I didn’t try to get this bloody checkup to show up.
You are great Jimmy.
C
After my company refresh my laptop. “remember my passowrd” stop working. After trying your
suggestion, it works for me too now. Thanks a lot.
Thanks Jimmy!
Finally! I have been trying to figure that out for weeks! The .NET Security Option was the trick for me too.
=======================================================
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
Internet Settings]
Value Name: DisablePasswordCaching
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable password cache)
=======================================================
The above fix by HAIMAN fixed my problem
For mee too….. thanx HAIMAN
HAIMANN’s fix sorted my problem.
Thanks for the update, Shang! I’ve added Haiman’s fix to my post.
How do i do the .Net fix witout GPO? computer not in domain.
Hi Andreas,
You should be able to use the Group Policy editor to modify the Local Computer Policy. See this Microsoft article for more info. Good luck!
Thanks a lot, I was able to get back the checkbox which was disabled by some security service.
You’re welcome, Teela!
Thanks a lot man! you gave a solution for a buggy problem
You’re welcome, Rajgoraj! Glad I could help! 🙂
hai everyone ….
can thiis solution applied in xp home ….
coz i wonder how to remember d pass for network
Hey Aries,
I’m not sure if this work for XP Home, but I’m guessing it will. Maybe someone else who stops by here can answer that question better.
Thanks for stopping by!