We use Exchange 2010 Live via the Live@Edu service and Outlook 2010 has the ability to save user passwords, but at times it will not save them even when the box is ticked. Here are some possible solutions:
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290684 describes the Protected Storage System Provider section in the Registry, however this may not apply to Outlook 2010 or WIndows 7. In my computer this key exists but is empty. (To find out more about the PSSP, see here)
- The same article describes creating a new Outlook profile as an option.
- Open the folder %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Protect on your computer. Rename the subfolder which is named by your account SID. (If you don’t know what your SID is, look at the subkeys in the Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ WindowsNT \ CurrentVersion \ ProfileList )
- Open Credential Manager in Control Panel. Remove credentials that are related to your email address or the address of the Exchange Live server. Create new credentials (see below). This is correct for Windows 7. I don’t know when this architecture was first implemented in Windows but it is not present in XP.
In my case after looking at all the options, the one I actually tried out and can certify as a valid outcome was the Credential Manager solution. Open it up and under “Generic Credentials” you should see some that look like this:
MS.Outlook:mailusername@maildomain@servername.outlook.com
Username: mailusername@maildomain
Password: ********
What you need to do is ensure there is a credential for your account on the right server. I found that I had a credential for my account on a different server than the one where my mailbox is. This is because when you use Outlook Live webmail it is hosted on a different server. You can get the name of the server where your mailbox is held by going to Account Settings on the file menu, select your Exchange Live account and click Change, in there is a “Server Name” which will be someserver.mailbox.outlook.com.
Now you need to create a generic credential with the address MS.Outlook:mailusername@maildomain@someserver.outlook.com (note the server name is slightly different because it doesn’t have “mailbox” in it). Put in the username, your full email address, and enter your password in the Password field, and create the credential. Now when you log off or restart, the next time you start Outlook, the credential should be picked up and there should be no need to enter your password anymore.
Unfortunately after a shutdown and restart this was not a successful fix, and when I started up Outlook at home, where I was normally not required to enter a password, one was requested. I am now looking further into where the problem could be, since there is only one password request for two separate Outlook accounts which are both held on the same server. The home computer has never requested the password before. I am now wondering if the problem is that the server details have changed or something. I think possibly a clue is credentials that are listed as being modified “today”.
UPDATE (13-9-2011): The funny thing is that Outlook has not asked for any passwords lately.
