Preventing data loss from password resets

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Preventing data loss from password resets

To keep protected information secure, after a user's password is reset, some types of information are no longer accessible, including the following:

  • E-mail that is encrypted with the user's public key

  • Internet passwords that are saved on the computer

  • Files that the user has encrypted

To avoid such data loss, do not reset a user's password. When a new local user account is created, have the user create a password reset disk. Then, if the user forgets the password, the password reset disk can be used to reset the password without data loss. If a user forgets the password to a domain user account, the password must be reset manually.

For more information about how to create a password reset disk, see Create a password reset disk.