Dial-Up Networking Password Is Not Saved

• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows 98

SYMPTOMS

When you try to save your password when you are making a Dial-Up Networking connection by clicking the Save Password check box, your password may not be saved. This problem can occur even when you successfully connect to the server, and when your password has not changed. This problem can also occur if the user name contains characters that are not allowed in a file name. For example user/name would result in a .pwl filename of user/name.pwl

CAUSE

This problem can be caused by any of the following situations:

• Your password list (.pwl) file is damaged.



• The Rna.pwl file (if it exists) is damaged.



• Password caching is disabled.



• Automatic logon is enabled.



• One or more of the files associated with Dial-Up Networking is missing or damaged.



• User profiles are disabled, but the ProfilesList key is present in the registry.

Q143003 Description of Microsoft Windows 95 Service Pack 1 Updates

RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

1. Rename your .pwl file.
   
   NOTE: If you are using a personal certificate, you should export it before renaming your .pwl file. If you do not do so, it may be unavailable when you send e-mail. For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   

   Q190296 Unable to Use Personal Certificates in Outlook Express

   To rename your .pwl file, type the following line at a command prompt, and then press ENTER

   ren c:\<windows>\<username>.pwl <username>.xxx

   
   where <windows> is the name of your Windows folder and <username> is the user name you use to log on to Windows 95. After renaming your .pwl file, restart your computer.
   
   When the Enter Network Password or Welcome To Windows dialog box appears, type the password that you normally use, and then click OK. When you are prompted to confirm the password that you entered, type the password again in the Confirm New Password box, and then click OK.
   
   NOTE: If there are no .pwl files present on the drive (for example, the user pressed the ESC key when prompted for a password as Windows 95 starts) password caching will not be enabled. The user must first log on to the network in order to create a .pwl file.



2. Rename the Rna.pwl file in the Windows folder. To do so, type the following line at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

   ren c:\<windows>\rna.pwl rna.xxx

   
   where <windows> is the name of your Windows folder. After renaming the Rna.pwl file, restart your computer.
   
   NOTE: The Rna.pwl file may not exist on your computer. This file is not required in some configurations.
   
   



3. Verify that password caching is enabled. To do so, use Registry Editor to view the DisablePwdCaching string value in the following registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Network

   If password caching is disabled, the DisablePwdCaching string value has a value data of 1. To enable password caching, change the value data to 0.
   
   NOTE: If the DisablePwdCaching value does not exist, add this value with a data value of 0 to the registry key listed above.



4. Disable automatic logon. To do so, delete the AutoLogon binary value from the following registry key:
   
   

   
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ 
         Network\Real Mode Net 




5. Remove Dial-Up Networking, and then reinstall it. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. In Network properties, record each Network component and its configuration information. To do so, use the following steps:
   
   
   
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.
   
   
   
   2. Click a component on the Configuration tab, click Properties, and then record all of the component's settings. Repeat this process with another component until you record all component configuration information.
   
   
   
   2. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.
   
   
   
   3. Click the Windows Setup tab.
   
   
   
   4. Click Communications, and then click Details.
   
   
   
   5. Click the Dial-Up Networking check box to clear it, click OK, and then restart your computer if you are prompted to do so.
   
   
   
   6. Repeat steps A-C.
   
   
   
   7. Click the Dial-Up Networking check box to select it, and then click OK.
      
      NOTE: You may receive version conflict error messages during this process. If this happens, click No when you are prompted to keep a newer version of each file.
   
   
   
   8. If you are using MSN, The Microsoft Network, version 2.51, reinstall this program. For information about how to do so, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
      

      Q179604 How to Manually Install MSN Components from the MSN 2.51 CD-ROM

   
   
   



6. Even though user profiles are disabled, follow the steps outlined in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base to remove the ProfilesList key in the registry:

   Q156826 How to Disable and Delete User Profiles

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.



2. Click Protocol, click Add, click Microsoft in the Manufacturers box, click TCP/IP, and then click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about this issue, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q141858 No Windows or Network Logon Dialog Box at Startup

Q135197 Damaged Password List File Does Not Save Passwords

Q137361 Save Password Check Box Is Unavailable

Q141858 No Windows or Network Logon Dialog Box at Startup

Additional query words: ierelease outlook express

Keywords          : kbnetwork kbtool dun win95 win98 
Version           : WINDOWS:95
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: August 8, 1999