Solution to Enter Network Password problem

Behold, I hold the answer to a question that hundreds of webloggers have asked me about since I first wrote about it more than a year ago: the dreaded Enter Network Password glitch in Outlook and Outlook Express.

From the moment I purchased a new Dell PC with Windows XP 16 months ago, Outlook 2002 began pestering me with a dialogue box every five minutes. I wrote about it last spring, last summer and again in February.

Michael Tenenbaum of Harvard was one of the hundreds of folks who spotted one of my postings. He did a little further digging and turned up a March 11, 2003, document in the Microsoft Knowledge Base that solved the problem. I had come across a half-dozen other Microsoft documents that did not do the trick, and this one seemed to apply only to Outlook Express, not Outlook 2002, so I was skeptical. But I followed the arcane steps it outlined, and lo and behold, it worked. I no longer have to manually send and receive, and when I set Outlook to automatically send and fetch email every 10 minutes, it now does so without asking for that infernal password. (I'm the only one on my home network, so Outlook's request for a password a few thousand times over the past year was a bit maddening.) The problem, apparently was a "corrupted" registry key, even though the password worked when manually entered.

Michael, I and countless other bloggers owe you a big debt of gratitude.

In case the Microsoft article becomes lost in the ether, I'll reproduce the steps below.

SYMPTOMS
When you run Outlook Express using Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP and connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to retrieve e-mail messages from a Post Office Protocol (POP) server, your password is not retained even though you have chosen to save it.

CAUSE
The registry contains incorrect information for the Protected Storage System Provider registry subkey for your account.

RESOLUTION
To save your password you must back up your registry, remove the user account information, and then re-enter your password. Only people who are members of the Administrators group on the local computer can make these changes. Windows XP Home Edition users need to check the Users control panel. If they are not listed as an Administrator, someone with Administrator rights will have to add them to the Administrators group.

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.

How to Back up the Registry

Windows 2000

Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider

On the Registry menu, click Save Key.
In the File name box, type a unique name for the key.
In the Save In box, click a location for the file, and then click Save.
On the Registry menu, click Exit.

Windows XP

Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider

On the File menu, click Export.
In the File name box, type a unique name for the key.
In the Save In box, click a location for the file, and then click Save.
On the Registry menu, click Exit.

How to Remove the User Account Information

Windows 2000

Quit all programs.
Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider

On the Security menu, click Permissions.
Click the registry key for the user that is currently logged on and ensure that Read and Full Control are both set to Allow.
Click the Advanced button, ensure that user that 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.
Click to select the Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions check box.
Click Apply, and then click Yes when you are prompted to continue.
Click OK, and then click OK.
Double-click the Protected Storage System Provider key to expand the key, click the user subkey folder that is directly below the Protected Storage System Provider key, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes in the warning message dialog box.

The user subkey folder looks similar to the following example:
S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-16701

NOTE: For every identity that you have, there will be a subkey under the Protected Storage System Provider key. To resolve this problem in all of your identities, you must delete all of the user subkeys folders under the Protected Storage System Provider key.
On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart your computer.

Windows XP

Quit all programs.
Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider

On the Edit menu, click Permissions.
Click the registry key for the user that is currently logged on and ensure that Read and Full Control permissions are both set to Allow.
Click the Advanced button, ensure that the user that 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.
Click to select the Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects check box.
Click Apply, and then click Yes when you receive a prompt to continue.
Click OK, and then click OK again.
Double-click the Protected Storage System Provider key to expand the key, click the user subkey folder that is directly below the Protected Storage System Provider key, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes in the warning message dialog box.

The user subkey folder looks 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 key. To resolve this issue in all of your identities, you must delete all of the user subkeys folders under the Protected Storage System Provider key.
On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart your computer.
How to Re-Enter Your Password

NOTE: These steps work for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Start Outlook Express.

NOTE: If you receive a login error, close the dialog box and proceed.
Click Tools, and then click Accounts.
Click the Mail tab in the Internet Accounts window.
In the Account column, click to highlight the Internet E-mail account to be changed, and then click Properties.
On the Server tab, type your password in the Password box, and then click to select Remember password dialog box.
Click OK, and then click Close.
Close Outlook Express and then restart it.
On the Tools menu, click Send and Receive to test if your password is retained.

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

Later: In March 2004, Chicago Tribune tech columnist Jim Coates had this remedy for a reader.

Q. I am running Windows XP Home 2002 version and am having trouble with passwords. Most bothersome is Outlook Express prompting me on initial start with a Logon window, asking me for my mail password for sending and receiving mail. I know how to go to Outlook Express' Tools, Properties and Servers to insert the password and check the box to remember, but it will not remember it. What is wrong?

Rick Bodee, Darien, Ill.

A. Several things can cause this vexing problem, Mr. B., but since you are running Windows XP, it is highly likely that your computer isn't set correctly for an item called the Protected Storage service, also known as pstores.exe.

To fix the problem, you need to go to the Control Panel under the Start Menu and select the one for Administrative Tools. This will give you an icon for Services. Open it and scroll down to Protected Storage. You need to set this service to start every time you boot up. So look in the pane to the left of the list of services and select Start.

Now, to order that this service be started every time you boot the computer, right-click on the Protected Storage line in the Services list and then select Properties. Change the setting to Automatic instead of Manual or Disable.

For users of Windows 98 and ME, the fix is a bit more complicated. With these earlier versions of Windows, one needs to run by hand the pstores.exe program stored in the C: 1/4Windows 1/4System directory.

To do this, click on Start and Accessories and select the DOS Command Prompt icon. Then type (without the quotes) "cd c: 1/4windows 1/4system" and tap Return to move to the required directory. Now type in the command "pstores --install" and tap Return. That will reactivate the Protected Storage service and permit password entries.