Windows – Force change password upon next logon

password-managementwindows 7

How can I make sure the currently logged in Administrator account will be forced to change its password, upon the next logon, and only on this next logon.

This is a standalone Windows 7 (Home Premium) machine, with only a single user ('me'), no domain controller, no network policies, etc.

Best Answer

This is not possible on a Home Premium version of windows, and needs a Business or Pro version or higher, as it requires local group policies to exist.

If you upgrade windows 7 to Business Premium, then the following part of the answer can be used:

You can do this from Computer Management.

Go to the control panel, Administrative tools, then Computer management.

In the left menu, find Local Users and Groups.

Open it, and go to Users.

You will find a list of all users on your computer.

Double click the user you want to edit.

You will find a box that says [ ] User must change password at next logon. Check the box and hit ok.

This option will be grayed out for domain users because domain users are controlled through Active Directory. I know this is not applicable for you, but I'm listing this in case someone else finds this that has a pc that is joined to a domain.

This feature exists in every NT version of windows, going back to Windows NT 4. It also is included in Windows 10.

Related Solutions

Windows – How to Automatically Log Out Users

In order to log out disconnected users while leaving the current user connected, copy the following script code into a .cmd file such as "LogOffUsers.cmd" and then run it as a service at midnight:

@echo off
for /f "tokens=1-7 delims=,: " %%a in ('query user ^| find /i "disc"') do logoff %%b

The script works by using the query command to find users who are disconnected by searching the phrase "disc", then logging them out.

If you wanted the script to instead run continuously as a service, logging out users when they had been disconnected/inactive for a certain period of time, you would instead use:

@echo off
:Top
for /f "tokens=1-7 delims=,: " %%a in ('query user ^| find /i "disc"') do if %%d GTR 32 (logoff %%b) else %%e GTR 32 (logoff %%b)
choice /T 120 /C 1 /D 1 /N
goto top

This script uses the same query command, but additionally checks the "IDLE TIME" portion of the results, logging the user off if idle time is greater than 32 ( "GTR 32" ). That phrase occurs twice because the "IDLE TIME" token can occur two slightly different positions. Then the line beginning with "choice" waits 2 minutes before performing the operation again by looping to the beginning. You can increase or decrease the "32" value according to your needs.

Found here.

How to Change Password of Another User in Windows 7 Without Using ‘Set Password’

First log into Administrator on command line:

runas /user: localmachinename \administrator cmd

Then change password with this command (edit it a little bit for your specific instance):

net user user_name  new_password

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – How to Automatically Log Out Users

How to Change Password of Another User in Windows 7 Without Using ‘Set Password’

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