Microsoft KB Archive/303795

= Leading or Trailing Spaces in Password Are Discarded and Ignored =

Article ID: 303795

Article Last Modified on 2/21/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2

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This article was previously published under Q303795



SYMPTOMS
When you create a new user account by using the Local Users and Groups snap-in, the specified password may not be created correctly. Attempts to log on with the newly created user account may generate the following error message:

The system could not log you on. Make sure your User name and password are correct, then type your password again. Letters in passwords must by typed using the correct case.



CAUSE
This behavior can occur if there are leading or trailing spaces in the password. These spaces are ignored. If you create an account with leading or trailing spaces, the password is saved without the leading or trailing spaces.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:   Date          Time   Version        Size    File name 19-July-2001 15:45  5.0.2195.3888  230 KB  Localsec.dll



WORKAROUND
A possible workaround is to right-click the newly created user account, and then click Set Password after the account has been created successfully. This dialog box preserves any leading or trailing spaces.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265173 The Datacenter Program and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Product

For additional information about how to install multiple hotfixes with only one reboot, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296861 Use QChain.exe to Install Multiple Hotfixes with One Reboot

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

Note that leading and trailing spaces in passwords are &quot;legal&quot; and can be used for a successful logon. This does not apply to domain controllers.

Additional query words: kbMgmtAdmin

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbwin2000presp3fix kbqfe kbsysadmin kbwin2000sp3fix kbhotfixserver KB303795

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