Windows 7/10 Password Requirements and Solution to Set Password Policy – Rene.E Laboratory Support Center

2024-08-02 Amanda J. Brook Senior Product Manager

Summary

To protect personal computer’s security and privacy in a better way, we usually enable “Password must meet complexity requirements” and then set or change a password according to password requirement. Next, let’s learn about Windows 7/10 password requirement, how to enable or disable policy “Password must meet complexity requirements” and how to set password policy. If you forget the password because of its complexity, password reset tool will help you out.

Why Shall We enable Password Meet the Password Complexity Requirement?

When you boot your computer, username and password are required to verify. Perhaps some people know your user account, but generally they have no idea what your Windows password is. If your password is simple, it will be easy to guess by using other third party software.

In order to protect personal computer’s security and privacy in a better way, the system administrator generally suggests you to set a complicated password that conforms to the requirement of password policy. The more complicated and the stronger the password is, the more secure it will be. But what are the of Windows 7/10 password requirements?

What is password policy?

Password policy is a rule concerning specified number of characters and character type for password. Setting password policy can reduce the risk that your computer is accessed by an unauthorized third party.

Windows 7/10 Password Requirements

After enabling the policy “Password must meet complexity requirements”, please make sure whether the password meets the listed minimum requirement.

Tips : Three of the following four types of character requirement need to be fulfilled in your password.

English uppercase characters (A through Z)
English lowercase characters (a through z)
Inclusion of one or more numerical digits (0 through 9)
Special characters (for example, !, $, #, %)

Be at least six characters in length
Complexity requirement are enforced when passwords are changed or created.
Three or more characters from user account cannot be contained in passwords.

The password security will be greatly improved according to the requirement above. If you would like to set a secure password in Windows 7/10，please refer to the following steps to enable the policy “Password must meet complexity requirements”. If you want to disable it, the following method also works.

Password Must Meet Complexity Requirements – How to Enable or Disable in Windows 7/10?

Step 1: Press “Win + R” key to open “Run”, type in “gpedit.msc” and click “OK” to open Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: In the left panel, select them in order: “Computer Configuration” – “Windows Settings” – “Security Settings” – “Account Policies” – “Password Policy”.

Step 3: On the right panel, double click “Password must meet complexity requirements”. If you want to enable it, just select “Enable” and click on “OK”. If you want to disable it, please select “Disable” and then click on “OK”.

Now you can start to customize your password according to password requirement. If one day you forget the password, it’s suggested use a professional password reset tool – Renee PassNow. The whole password reset process just takes five minutes and will not damage data inside. Then you can access your computer again. 100% safe!

Forget Complicated Password? Remove with Password Reset Tool — Renee PassNow

More about Renee Passnow

Whole password reset process takes only 4 simple steps without damaging data inside! Do not require any professional knowledge or possible password combinations.

For local account and administrator , Renee Passsnow will remove the password directly.

For Microsoft account, Renee Passnow will turn the Microsoft account into local one and reserve all data inside the account.

Renee Passnow can help to recover data or transfer data inside the disk without running Windows.

Compatible with: Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP.

Download Now

5174 people has downloaded and reset the password successfully!

Here are detailed steps on how to reset login password with Renee PassNow.

Step 1: Download and install Renee PassNow in any workable Windows computer.

Step 2: Choose creation method, USB or CD/DVD.

Select one option from [ Crate a Live USB ] and [ Create a Live CD ]. Then, select [ x64 ] or [ x86 ] according to your computer. Next, click on [ Download Now ] to download the licensed ISO. Remember to activate the software beforehand. After that, click on [ Create USB ] to create the boot media.

use renee passnow to create usb to reset passnword

Step 3: Boot the target PC from the created password reset USB/CD/DVD.

You will boot the target computer via a new created reset disk. Firstly, please hold a hot key to enter the BIOS menu and put CD-ROM or Removable Devices as the first choice. Please click here to know about how to change the boot order of your computer. After changing it successfully, please remember to save your setting and then restart your PC.

Step 4: Select “PassNow!”.

Step 5: Choose target account and then click “Clear Password”.

You can also recover Microsoft account in Windows 10/8.1/8. That is, Renee PassNow will convert the Microsoft account to a local account and the data or files inside it will still exist. After the software says that password is reset successfully, you can directly press “Enter” key to access Windows.

Besides, you can also create a new administrator to quickly access your PC. Please click “Create new account”.

The created administrator account named “Reneelab” with administrator rights, and its default password is “123456789”. You are able to change the password of target account with this new created administrator.

Suggestions on How to Customize Password Policy in Windows 7/10

As for maximum password age, the expiration time between 30 and 90 days will be better, depending on your environment.
As for minimum password age, it’s suggested to be at least 2 days. That is password can be changed after two days.
On “Enforce password history”, 5 or more passwords remembered are better, which ensures the old password cannot be used again.

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