Password Policy: Maximum Password Age

Configuring Vista Password Policy Settings

Maximum Password Age defines the maximum period of time (in days) that a password can be used before the user must change it. You can set passwords to expire between 1 and 999 days. If you a set a Maximum Password Age of 0 (zero), passwords never expire.

Unless the Maximum Password Age is set to 0 (zero), or no expiration, the Maximum Password Age setting must be higher than the Minimum Password Age setting. When the Maximum Password Age is set to never expire, the Minimum Password Age can be any value between 0 and 998 days.

Note: It is considered a recommended security practice to have passwords expire every 30 to 90 days, depending on the level of security or confidentiality in your environment. Requiring periodic password resets limits the window of opportunity an attacker might be able to exploit a compromised password.

Default: 42.