Can I lock an account after (x) days? (XP Pro)

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My firm has a limited number of laptops that we reserve for users to borrow. I have a few users who will request a laptop for a week, but not return it for a month or more. My boss wants me to set the password to expire a few days after the user has promised to return it. That way, the laptop will be of no use to him, so I can get it back to loan out to the next person. I can’t figure out how to make XP Pro disable an account after a set number of days. Can I do this? The user the person is logging on as will be a local user (not connected to any network at all), so it would have to be something local on the laptop.

Any suggestions (for anything that might work in this situation)?
Thanks,
Becky

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isn’t there a way to have passwords expire after x days. i don’t have an xp machine near me to check but try – right click on > my computer then > manage > users. right click on a user then properties it might give you options for passwords.

ken.

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I looked there, but I didn’t see any options for the amount of time before a password would expire. I’m attaching a screenshot of all I can see.

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your right thats not it. i’m sure one of these moderators will have an idea. when i get to a machine with xp on it i’ll check some more. somewhere in >my computer > manage > …….. when i close my eyes i can’t see any farther. i’ll check back later.

Ken.

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Edited – previous comment withdrawn

Try the following – with a large thank you to StuartR

Start > Run > GPEdit.msc
Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies > Password Policy
Double Click Maximum Password Age

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looks like StuartR and UNKAMUNKA got it. I thought someone would. anyway heres what i do.

start>control panel>performance and maintenance>administrative tools>local security policy>account policy>password policy. right click on max password age, click on properties, change days to what ever you want. ok.

back to where we were yesterday

right click on my computer>click on manage, expand local users and groups, click on users, right click on the user you want, click on properties, check user cannot change password, uncheck password never expires, ok.

in how ever many days you specified the password will expire. the user should not be able to set a new one. the user should have to come to you, the administrator to reset the password.

sorry it took so long but i don’t have an xp machine here at work and i can’t follow it through in my head yet so i had to wait till i got home.

and then i cant get to the lounge from my machine at home so i had to wait till i got here this morning. i’ll have to figure that out later. i can surf the net but can’t get here. strange.

ken.

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Unfortunately, it didn’t work exactly as I had anticipated. As soon as the number of days passed for the password to expire, the user is FORCED to change the password even with the “user cannot change password” option checked. It did keep checking the “have user change password on next login” box, and it didn’t like me unchecking it.

So, back to the drawing board, I suppose. It seems like it should work, though.

Thanks for idea, though.
Becky

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Hmmmm. i’m disappointed. i’ll try it out myself this weekend. seemed like a perfect fit.

Ken.

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My boss was able to come up with a very clever alternative. He created a Scheduled task to run on a specific date (say, the day after the laptop should have been returned) that would launch a batch file with a Shutdown command every 5 minutes, all day every day until the laptop is returned. He made the shutdown message read “Please return the laptop”. It accomplishes the same goal, so we’re happy. Of course, he just borrowed a laptop yesterday and we figured this out today, so it may be awhile before we can try it again!
Here’s the command we used: [indent]

---

shutdown -s -t 10 -c “Please return the laptop”

---

[/indent] Thanks for the help
Becky

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My boss was able to come up with a very clever alternative. He created a Scheduled task to run on a specific date (say, the day after the laptop should have been returned) that would launch a batch file with a Shutdown command every 5 minutes, all day every day until the laptop is returned. He made the shutdown message read “Please return the laptop”. It accomplishes the same goal, so we’re happy. Of course, he just borrowed a laptop yesterday and we figured this out today, so it may be awhile before we can try it again!
Here’s the command we used: [indent]

---

shutdown -s -t 10 -c “Please return the laptop”

---

[/indent] Thanks for the help
Becky

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Becky,
Do the users connect to the work network? Is it a NT/2k domain network? Do they logon to the machine locally or with a cached network id?

Joe

--Joe

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They just log on locally to the laptops, so there’s no network involved. However, their main goal is to log on to Citrix to connect to our work network. I don’t think I can disable their Citrix account without locking thier regular network account, can I?

Thanks,
Becky

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Becky, I don’t know Citrix. Sorry. Maybe someone else here can help.

Joe

--Joe

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Becky, I don’t know Citrix. Sorry. Maybe someone else here can help.

Joe

--Joe

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They just log on locally to the laptops, so there’s no network involved. However, their main goal is to log on to Citrix to connect to our work network. I don’t think I can disable their Citrix account without locking thier regular network account, can I?

Thanks,
Becky

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Becky,
Do the users connect to the work network? Is it a NT/2k domain network? Do they logon to the machine locally or with a cached network id?

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Unfortunately, it didn’t work exactly as I had anticipated. As soon as the number of days passed for the password to expire, the user is FORCED to change the password even with the “user cannot change password” option checked. It did keep checking the “have user change password on next login” box, and it didn’t like me unchecking it.

So, back to the drawing board, I suppose. It seems like it should work, though.

Thanks for idea, though.
Becky

Reply | Quote

looks like StuartR and UNKAMUNKA got it. I thought someone would. anyway heres what i do.

start>control panel>performance and maintenance>administrative tools>local security policy>account policy>password policy. right click on max password age, click on properties, change days to what ever you want. ok.

back to where we were yesterday

right click on my computer>click on manage, expand local users and groups, click on users, right click on the user you want, click on properties, check user cannot change password, uncheck password never expires, ok.

in how ever many days you specified the password will expire. the user should not be able to set a new one. the user should have to come to you, the administrator to reset the password.

sorry it took so long but i don’t have an xp machine here at work and i can’t follow it through in my head yet so i had to wait till i got home.

and then i cant get to the lounge from my machine at home so i had to wait till i got here this morning. i’ll have to figure that out later. i can surf the net but can’t get here. strange.

ken.

Reply | Quote

I never even thought of using a local policy. Great idea. Thanks so much to all!

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I never even thought of using a local policy. Great idea. Thanks so much to all!

Reply | Quote

Edited – previous comment withdrawn

Try the following – with a large thank you to StuartR

Start > Run > GPEdit.msc
Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies > Password Policy
Double Click Maximum Password Age

Reply | Quote

I looked there, but I didn’t see any options for the amount of time before a password would expire. I’m attaching a screenshot of all I can see.

Reply | Quote

isn’t there a way to have passwords expire after x days. i don’t have an xp machine near me to check but try – right click on > my computer then > manage > users. right click on a user then properties it might give you options for passwords.

ken.

Reply | Quote