Customizing and Automating Installations

When upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can customize your answer files to set passwords for all local user accounts and to force all users or specific users to change their passwords when they first log on. You can also set passwords for the local Administrator account.

Table 5.12 describes the types of passwords that you can set in an answer file:

Table 5.12 Types of Passwords That Can Be Set in an Answer File

Setting Passwords on All Local Accounts

For Windows 95 or Windows 98 upgrades, you can customize your answer file to set all local account passwords to a default value.

To set passwords on all local accounts

• In your answer file, add the following entry in the [Win9xUpg] section:

[Win9xUpg]

DefaultPassword = password

where password is the default password you want to set for all local users.

Note

If a local account must be created for a user without a UserPassword entry and no DefaultPassword is specified, Setup creates a random password. After the first restart, the user is prompted to enter a password.

Forcing All Users to Change Local Account Passwords When Upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98

For upgrades from Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can customize your answer file to require all users to change their passwords on their local accounts when they log on for the first time. When a user logs on for the first time, he or she is notified that his or her current password has expired and that a new one must be supplied.

To force users to change their password after an upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98

• In your answer file, add the following entry in the [Win9xUpg] section:

[Win9xUpg]

ForcePasswordChange = Yes

Creating Passwords for Specific Local Accounts When Upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98

For Windows 95 or Windows 98 upgrades, you can customize your answer file to create passwords for specific local accounts. Because Windows 95 and Windows 98 passwords cannot be migrated during the upgrade, Setup must create passwords for local accounts during the upgrade process. Using this key, the administrator can predetermine those passwords for specific users. If a local account needs to be created for a user without a preset value for the UserPassword entry and no value is specified for DefaultPassword, Setup creates a random password.

To force a user to create a new password after an upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98

• In the answer file, add the following entry in the [Win9xUpg] section:

[Win9xUpg]

UserPassword = user,password[,user,password]