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**John John - MVP[_2_]**

wrote:
On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:04:37 -0700 (PDT)
Jose wrote:

Sounds like it is working fine.

You can create a new account with a PW just for STs.

You can assign your account a PW and use it, and still have the system
to log you in automatically when XP starts (convenient).

This is why you may want to test your mechanism by assigning yourself
a PW temporarily and get the command task to run and open a command
window, then work on your new task.

Set up a second user account with admin privileges and the command
prompt task ran fine. As did the defragger I wanted to schedule. The
MSE task has a syntax error that I'm researching.

Then I came across a registry hack to turn the password-required
feature off with Scheduled Tasks, as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Lsa
Value name: limitblankpassworduse, Type: REG_DWORD, Data: 0 (disabled)
1 (enabled)

Is there any downside to disabling it, assuming an assortment of
anti-malware programs?

Yes, this can potentially open a security hole the size of Texas on your
machine! If you do not restrict the use of blank passwords to console
logon only you should make sure that Remote Desktop is not enabled!

The real fix to the this password problem is to properly password
protect your user account! Use a good strong password on all your
accounts and use the Auto Logon feature if you wish to logon without
having type your password. Accounts with null passwords are nothing but
problems waiting to happen.

John