Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 148925
Dial-Up Networking Password Is Not Saved

The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the
registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and
make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem
occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you are making a Dial-Up Networking connection, if you try to
save your password by clicking to select the Save Password check box,
your password may not be saved. This problem may occur even when you
successfully connect to the server, and when your password has not
changed. This problem may also occur if your user name contains
characters that are not allowed in a file name; for example, the user
name "user/name" may result in a .pwl file name 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 that are associated with Dial-Up Networking
is missing or damaged.
User profiles are disabled, but the ProfilesList key is present in the
registry.

NOTE: This problem can occur after you install the Windows 95 Password
List update that is included with Windows 95 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

For additional information about this update, click the article number
below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
143003 Descriptionof Microsoft Windows 95 Service Pack 1 Updates

NOTE: An additional cause is that the Client for Microsoft Networks is
not installed. To resolve this: install client for Microsoft Networks.

RESOLUTION
Windows 2000
Verify that the Network settings of the Dial-up Networking connectoid
are correct:
Right-click the Dial-up Networking connectiod, and then click
Properties.
Click the Network tab, and then confirm that Client for Microsoft
Networks is installed and that it is selected.
Windows 95 and Windows 98
Rename your .pwl file.

NOTE: If you are using a personal certificate, export it before you
rename your .pwl file. If you do not, the personal certificate may be
unavailable when you send mail. For additional information, click the
article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

190296 OLEXP: Unable to use Personal Certificates in Outlook Express

To rename your .pwl file, type the following line at a command prompt,
and then press the ENTER key (where Windows is the name of the Windows
folder and user_name is the user name that you use to log on to
Windows):
ren c:\Windows\user_name.pwluser_name.xxx

After you rename your .pwl file, restart your computer.

When the Enter Network Password or Welcome To Windows dialog box is
displayed, 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, if
you press the ESC key when you are prompted for a password when
Windows starts) password caching is not enabled. You must first log on
to the network to create a .pwl file.
Rename the Rna.pwl file in the Windows folder; to do so, type the
following line at a command prompt, and then press the ENTER key
(where Windows is the name of the Windows folder):
ren c:\Windows\rna.pwl rna.xxx

After you rename 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.
Verify that password caching is enabled; to do so, you need to use
Registry Editor.

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.

View the DisablePwdCaching value (a DWORD value) in the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Policies\Network

If password caching is disabled, the DisablePwdCaching 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 DWORD
value with a data value of 0 to the preceding registry key. You may
need to remove this value altogether and then restart your computer to
make caching work.
Disable automatic logon. To do so, delete the AutoLogon value (a
binary value) from the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Network\Real
Mode Net

Remove Dial-Up Networking, and then reinstall it:
In the Network properties, record each Network component and its
configuration information:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then
double-click Network.
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 of the component configuration
information.
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then
double-click Add/Remove Programs.
Click the Windows Setup tab.
Click Communications, and then click Details.
Click to clear the Dial-Up Networking check box, click OK, and then
restart your computer if you are prompted to do so.
Repeat steps a through c.
Click to select the Dial-Up Networking check box, and then click OK.

NOTE: You may receive version conflict error messages during this
process. If this occurs, click No when you are prompted to keep a
newer version of each file.
If you are using the Microsoft Network (MSN) version 2.51, reinstall
the MSN program.For additional information about how to install MSN,
click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
179604 How to Manually Install MSN Components from the MSN 2.51 CD-ROM

Even though user profiles are disabled, remove the ProfilesList key
from the registry.For additional information about how to remove this
key from the registry, click the article number below to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
156826 How to Disable and Delete User Profiles

If you are running Windows 95, you may need to add Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to the Network properties:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then
double-click Network.
Click Protocol, click Add, click Microsoft in the Manufacturers box,
click TCP/IP, and then click OK.

Bill Starbuck (MVP)