Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking Save Password Bug

Description of Bug:

Large numbers of Windows 95 Dial-up Networking users are staying up late at night pulling their hair out over why the Save Password option in their Connect To dialog box doesn't work. Symptoms range from being able to select the box and it not working, to the box being completely grayed out and inaccessible.

 

Available Fix(es):

Option available but not working: The first thing to note when trying to fix this problem is that for the Save Password option to work, you must successfully connect to the remote system at least once with the option checked before Windows 95 will save your password. This also means that if you have more than one connection profile, you need to establish at least one successful connection with each profile that you wish to save your password with, even if your password is the same across all the profiles.

Option not available (grayed out): There are a number of reasons why this may be occurring, and there are a number of ways you can try and get around the problem. One method is to change your Computer Name to the login ID you use for your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You can modify your computer name by double-clicking the Network icon in the Control Panel, then selecting the Identification tab (you'll have to reboot for the change to take affect).

Sometimes, uninstalling and re-installing Dial-up Networking can solve this problem. In the Control Panel, choose the Add/Remove Programs option. Then go to the Windows Setup tab, and uncheck the Dial-up Networking option. Press OK until all the dialog boxes are closed, then reboot. Follow these same instructions and re-check the Dial-up Networking option. Then try your connection again.

Some users have had luck solving this problem by installing the Client for Microsoft Networks. In the Control Panel, open the Network option. If the Client for Microsoft Networks is not at or near the top of the list, press the Add button, then choose Service, Microsoft, and then Client for Microsoft Networks. Press OK until all the dialog boxes are closed, then reboot.

The last thing to try is deleting your Windows password file. Do a search on your system for *.PWL, then delete or rename them. Reboot your system, and you'll notice that Windows will ask for a user name and password to log in. You're now re-creating this password information in your system. You don't have to enter a password here if you don't want to use one every time you log in, but you do need to enter a user name. This will rebuild the password file, and may allow your Dial-up Networking to save your dial-up password.

More information on this bug is available from Microsoft at

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/Q148/9/25.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/Q137/3/61.htm.