One of the unpleasant truths of being a network administrator is that when the time comes for a password to be reset, the little pop up reminder in Windows is not enough.
Most users ignore the warnings until…well until you drag yourself in one morning ( and without fail it will happen on a morning you have to drag yourself in) and find that 30- 40% of the firm is locked out of the network.
Why? Because they ignored the warnings that passwords would expire. Well there has to be a better way one would think. And there is SysOp Tools Password Reminder PRO.
Password Reminder PRO allows you to set up email alerts for users. While alerts on the screen go largely unnoticed by most users, many will not ignore emails.
This tool allows you to send email alerts to users on expiring passwords. It uses Active Directory (AD) and the existing domain password change security policy. So there are no extra steps, it installs nothing into AD and works passively making no changes to your AD or Group Policy infrastructure.
Password Reminder PRO also contains reporting features to keep you up to date on stale and unused passwords or accounts without passwords. I know I know, we do not have any accounts without passwords. Until we run an audit and find that software evaluation we did installed and account in Ad that had an empty password and has Administrative privileges to the domain.
Try Password Reminder PRO free for 60 days, pricing for a 100 user domain comes in under $300.00. Not bad for a tool that can save you time, helpdesk calls and aggravation.
Find out more about SysOp Tools and Password Reminder Pro at http://www.sysoptools.com/
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Ron Barrett, Director of e-Strategy for ClipTraining , is an independent trainer, author and consultant. He has been a technology professional for over 12 years, working for several major financial services firms and dotcoms. Ron is a specialist in network infrastructure, security, and IT management. He is the author of Office Communications Server 2007 R2: How-To , as well as co-author of Windows Server 2008: How-To and The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers. Ron has been a co-author or technical editor for several other books on Windows administration. Along with book writing, Ron has contributed to several industry magazines such as Redmond, Datamation and Windows IT Pro. Beyond writing, Ron has spoken at several technology conferences for CPAmerica, AICPA and MCP’s TECHMENTOR. Recently Ron has joined ClipTraining as the Director of e-Strategy in an effort to further the company’s presence via the Internet and social networking channels.
Ron's latest book, Windows Server 2008 How-To has been selected as the September 2009 book giveaway on Microsoft Subnet. To enter the monthly book giveaway, visit the Microsoft Subnet home page.
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