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Preparing the Computer

You only need one computer for the evaluation. A Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022 domain controller in its own domain is recommended. You can also use Windows 8, 10 or 11 if you only need to enforce policies for local accounts.

Disable the Windows Password Policy Rules​

If the Password Policy Enforcer and Windows password policies are both enabled, then users will have to comply with both policies. This is not recommended for the evaluation because the Windows policy may stop users from reusing recent passwords, or from changing their password more than once a day. These restrictions can make it difficult to evaluate Password Policy Enforcer.

Follow the steps below to disable the Windows password policy.

Step 1 – Open the appropriate policy management tool:

  • If you are evaluating Password Policy Enforcer on a domain, use the Group Policy Management Console (gmpc.msc) to display the GPOs linked at the domain level. Right-click the Default Domain Policy GPO (or whichever GPO you use to set the password policy), then click the Edit... button.
  • If you are evaluating Password Policy Enforcer on a standalone server or workstation, open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).

Step 2 – Expand the following items:

  • Computer Configuration
  • Policies (if it exists)
  • Windows Settings
  • Security Settings
  • Account Policies
  • Password Policy

Step 3 – Double-click Enforce password history in the right pane of the GPO Editor.

Step 4 – Enter 0 in the text box, then click OK.

Step 5 – Repeat the step above for the Maximum Password Age and Minimum Password Length policies.

Step 6 – Double-click the Group Policy Management Editor.

Step 7 – Close the Group Policy Management Editor.

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Step 8 – Execute the gpupdate/target:computer command to refresh the Group Policy.

Create Test Accounts​

Create two user accounts for the evaluation, PPETestUser and PPETestAdmin.

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Make PPETestAdmin a member of the Domain Admins group if you are evaluating Password Policy Enforcer on a domain controller.