Problem With Outlook Passwords On Vista

When Windows Vista was released on January 2007. everyone wanted to have that new operating system. It was suppose to be so good and better than anything else at that time. But, soon after the release, Windows Vista users have discovered that Vista isn’t everything that they have expected. Actually, it wasn’t even close to the great operating system that Microsoft was trying to convince everyone.

A problem that bothers most of the users is Vista’s incompatibility with software that was normally used and without any problems on Windows XP. That problem was found at the begging of Vista and a year after that problem is still here. If some things don’t change soon, Vista will not be popular in near future either.

Among dozens of problems you get when using Vista, one is just making more trouble than the others. That problem is related to Outlook Express 2002. If you can remember right now, before using your Outlook you have to set up your account by filling in your passwords, user ID, server name and e-mail addresses. And of course, you check the option which will save all of your passwords. That’s it. You can now use your Outlook. But, where is the problem you ask? Well, the problem starts the second time you open your Outlook. When you open it and try to send or receive your e-mails a small window pops-up with your user ID info, server name and with a blank field for passwords. If you go to your account settings you will see that all of yours previously written passwords are now gone. And that’s your problem. You have to write password every time you open Outlook Express.

You can find many complaints to this problem on the internet, and a very few good solutions. Maybe the best way to avoid such a problem is to stick with Windows XP and not using Vista, but that’s up to you. Of course, Microsoft is very aware of this problem and because of that it has put some solutions for fixing it on their official Help & Support page. Too bad that their solutions aren’t useful to all users, but there is always an alternative. Some users have written their own solutions on many community boards, but again they don’t work for everyone. I suggest you to try them all until you find what’s good for you.

Here is one solution for this problem:

Back up your registry and remove the user account information from the "Protected Storage System Provider" subkey. Then, reenter your password options.

To do this, follow the steps for the version of Windows that you are using.

Note the the steps listed in this section should not be used on a computer running Windows Vista.
Back up the registry key
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage SystemProvider
4. On the File menu, click Export.
5. In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the .reg file.
6. Type a file name in the File name box, and then click Save.
7. On the File menu, click Exit.

Remove the user account information
Important Do not remove the main Protected Storage System Provider key. This key is not automatically regenerated. If you do not have password retention problems and you do not remember your password, deleting the user subkey may cause you not to be able to retrieve your mail.

Note If you use Windows XP, you must have administrator permissions to edit the system registry.
1. Exit all programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box , and then click OK
3. Locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
4. On the Edit menu, click Permissions.
5. Click the registry key for the user who is currently logged on. Then, make sure that the Read and Full Control permissions are both set to Allow.
6. Click Advanced. Then, verify that the user who is currently logged on is selected, that Full Control is listed in the Permissions column, and that This Key and Subkeys is listed in the Apply to column.
7. Click to select the Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects check box.
8. Click Apply, and then click Yes to continue.
9. Click Ok two times
10. Double-click the Protected Storage System Provider key to expand the key. Click the user subkey folder that is directly underneath the Protected Storage System Provider key, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes in the warning message dialog box.

The user subkey folder resembles the following example:

S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-16701

Note For every identity that you have, there may be a subkey under the Protected Storage System Provider key. To resolve this issue in all identities, you must delete all the user subkeys folders that are under the Protected Storage System Provider key.
11. On the Registry menu, click Exit. Then, restart the computer.

For Microsoft Windows 2000
How to back up the registry
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedt32, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage SystemProvider
4. On the Registry menu, click Save Key.
5. In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the .reg file.
6. Type a file name in the File name box, and then click Save.
7. On the Registry menu, click Exit.

How to remove the user account information in the registry

Important Do not remove the main Protected Storage System Provider key. This key is not automatically regenerated. If you do not have password retention problems and you do not remember your password, deleting the user subkey may cause you to be unable to retrieve your mail.

Note If you use Windows 2000, you must have administrator permissions to edit the system registry.
1. Exit all programs.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedt32, and then click OK.
4. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage SystemProvider
5. On the Security menu, click Permissions
6. Click the registry key for the user who is currently logged on. Then, make sure that the Read and Full Control permissions are both set to Allow.
7. Click Advanced. Then, verify that the user who is currently logged on is selected, that Full Control is listed in the Permissions column, and that This Key and Subkeys is listed in the Apply to column.
8. Click to select the Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions check box.
9. Click Apply, and then click Yes when you are prompted to continue.
10. Click OK two times.
11. Double-click the Protected Storage System Provider key to expand the key. Click the user subkey folder that is directly underneath the Protected Storage System Provider key, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes in the warning message dialog box.

The user subkey folder resembles the following example:

S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-16701

Note For every identity that you have, there may be a subkey under the Protected Storage System Provider key. To resolve this issue in all identities, you must delete all the user subkeys folders that are under the Protected Storage System Provider key.
12. On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart the computer.

How to reenter your password in Outlook 2002 and in Outlook 2003

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Note In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Mail icon or the Mail and Fax icon.
3. Click Show Profiles, click the account that you are troubleshooting, and then click Properties.
4. Click E-mail Accounts.
5. Confirm that the View or change existing e-mail accounts check box is selected, and then click Next.
6. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click the account that you are troubleshooting, and then click Change.
7. Under Logon Information, enter the password, and then click to select the Remember Password check box.
8. Click Next, and then click Finish.
9. Start Outlook.
10. Use the Send and Receive command to determine whether your password is retained.

How to reenter your password in Outlook 2000 Corporate or Workgroup (CW)

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Note In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Mail icon or the Mail and Fax icon.
3. Click to select Internet E-mail in the services list, and then click Properties.
4. On the Server tab, enter the password, and then click to select the Remember Password check box.
5. Click Apply, and then click OK.
6. Start Outlook.
7. On the Tools menu, click Send and Receive to determine whether your password is retained.

How to reenter your password in Outlook Express
1. Start Outlook Express.

Note If you receive a logon error, close the dialog box and continue.
2. Click Tools, and then click Accounts.
3. Click the Mail tab in the Internet Accounts window.
4. In the Account column, click to select the Internet e-mail account that you want to change, and then click Properties.
5. On the Server tab, type your password in the Password box, and then click to select the Remember password check box.
6. Click OK, and then click Close.
7. Exit and then restart Outlook Express.
8. On the Tools menu, click Send and Receive to determine whether your password is retained.

Note If other Windows 2000 users or Windows XP users have password-retention problems, reenter the password, and then click to select the Remember Password check box for those profiles. Each user may have to log on for his or her password to be retained.