How to permanently delete passwords from Outlook, OE etc.

sinkumshi · #1 (**permalink**) 31-12-2007, 02:05 PM

Hi,

I learnt that there were certain free softwares which could easily dig out all the passwords of email accounts configured in Outlook, Outlook Express (OE), and Mozilla Thunderbird. This is very dicey as any unethical person can surreptitiously instal/run the software and find out in a jiffy all the secrets without the owner's knowledge and, thus, the whole purpose of passwords/secrecy will be undone.

I had few email accounts configured in Outlook 2003, OE 6, and Thunderbird 2.0.0.9, but later deleted all those accounts from them and configured them in the Windows Live Mail with the same old passwords as before but even though the mails' accounts were deleted from Outlook 2003 and OE 6, the software, as mentioned above, has been able to reveal all the passwords from the deleted accounts.

I want to know if there is any way I can permanently delete the old passwords as well from Outlook 2003, OE 6, and Thunderbird.

I did search a lot in the internet but I mostly got results on how to recover passwords which is not my subject matter. I also tried to follow the Microsoft Office online instructions on "How to Password Protect Outlook 2003" (which also dealt with a .pst file) but it did not serve my purpose.

Can you please bail me out of this predicament?

Thanks.

PS:I'm sorry, my OS is Windows xp (Home) SP2

owen · #2 (**permalink**) 31-12-2007, 03:08 PM

If you no longer use Outlook and Outlook Express and don't require any of the calendar, mail, notes, etc stored in the program then the best way to get rid of the passwords are to get rid of your PST files using a secure Eraser program.

If the same applies to Thunderbird, you need to get rid of the Thunderbird profile information by erasing the Profiles folder at C:\Documents and Settings\**YOURUSERNAME**\Application Data\Thunderbird, again using the secure eraser program.

sinkumshi · #3 (**permalink**) 31-12-2007, 06:24 PM

Thank you very much indeed for showing me the path. While I do use Eraser program often; unfortunately, I know rather little about the PST files - probably they are accessed through 'Run - regedit' and it's an area I am always afraid to tinker. I'll be rather thankful to you if you kindly let me know how to do that a bit elaborately.

Secondly, if I want to re-use Thunderbird, is there any way to ensure that the passwords stored there are not revealed by installing/running any such software by unauthorized persons.

Thanks once again.

owen · #4 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 10:28 PM

I've done a bit more research into this and we won't actually have to remove the PST files, however we will have to delve into the registry, a process which I will guide you through. Please remember that what you are about to do could allow you to no longer access the emails and information contained within your profiles on Outlook and Outlook Express, so please ensure that you don't need anything contained in these programs. Before you start, please make a backup of the registry by following these instructions.

Backup the registry:
1. Go to Start> Run and type regedit. Click Ok.
2. In the left hand pane of the registry editor click My Computer.
3. Go to File> Export.
4. Choose a location to save the file and a suitable file name.
5. At the bottom of the window, ensure that the All option is selected.
6. Click Save.
7. Close regedit

In the event that there is any problem as a result of this fix, the backup can be restored by simply double clicking it and agreeing to the prompt. If you have any problem with the fixes below or don't understand something I've asked you to do, don't be afraid to ask for help. It's better to be safe than sorry

To remove your account information manually for Outlook Express:
1. Go to Start> Run and type regedit. Click Ok.
2. In the left hand pane of the registry editor expand the following keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Account Manager\Accounts
3. Under the Accounts key you will see a few more keys such as the default directory accounts in Outlook Express like Bigfoot, Verisign, etc. Amongst these will be a key for your user account consisting of a lot of 0's and another number. Click the appropriate key and confirm this was your account by looking in the right hand pane of the registry editor and observing the Account Name entry to check this matches your old account name. If it does, then right click the currently selected key in the left hand column and click Delete. Click Yes to the prompt.
4. Close regedit

This should have removed all your details for Outlook Express.

To remove your account information manually for Outlook:
1. Go to Start> Run and type regedit. Click Ok.
2. In the left hand pane, expand HKEY_USERS
3. At the bottom of the HKEY_USERS tree, there are two keys with a lot more numbers and dashes than the other entries. One of the two keys has the suffix _Classes, ignore this one and expand the other key and then navigate to:
Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook
4. Right click the Outlook key and click Delete to remove all Outlook profile information for every account.
5. Close regedit.

This should have removed all your details for Outlook.

Mozilla Thunderbird does allow you to encrypt stored passwords. To do this:
Open Thunderbird and go to Tools> Options and click The Privacy option. Then click the passwords tab. Put a checkmark in the "Use a master password to encrypt stored passwords" box. You should then be prompted to enter a master password. If you are not prompted, click Ok to exit the Options window and a prompt will appear.

There is an awful lot to do there, get back to me and let me know how things have gone

sinkumshi · #5 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 05:13 AM

I am indeed extremely thankful to you for your esteemed help.

With your very clear instructions, I was able to easily navigate all the way through HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Account Manager\Accounts. There were 4 more subentries under it, namely, Active Directory GC, Bigfoot, ****anshu Sinha (which is my account display name for the one still existing account in Outlook Exp.), VeriSign, and WhoWhere. On clicking the subentry, ****anshu Sinha, as many as 27 items got displayed in the right pane, few with icons with brown ab and others with blue dots. I am bit confused here and afraid which ones exactly are to be deleted. I wanted to send you a screenshot of this registry page to help you identify the correct ones for deletion but don't how I can do that.

Further, I find in the right pane my existing sole e-mail account in the Outlook Express at 4 places, but I don't find the earlier ones which had already been deleted but which are still being revealed by running 'System Info for Windows'. I have now configured those deleted accounts in the Windows Live Mail retaining the same old passwords and for some reasons I don't want to change the passwords as far as possible.

I have duly saved a copy of the entire registry as well as of this relevant subentry following your helpful instructions.

I am not giving here the names of the items displayed in the right pane as they are large in number, but should they be needed for your scrutiny, I will gladly send them though a screenshot would, I suppose, have been a better option.

I will be waiting to hear from you.

Many, many thanks once again.

owen · #6 (**permalink**) 05-01-2008, 01:39 AM

I've taken a look at the program you have used and figures out how it finds out the secrets. I would therefore like you to ignore the instructions for Outlook Express above and instead use these instructions. Carry on with the rest of the fix after you have performed the actions below.

Here is a link to a video I've created which shows the process outlined below. Please take a look at that video before you perform the fix so that you know exactly what you are doing and then follow the instructions step by step.

To remove your account information manually for Outlook Express:
1. Go to Start> Run and type regedit. Click Ok.
2. In the left hand pane of the registry editor expand the following keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Protected Storage System Provider.
3. When you have expanded Protected Storage System Provider, there should be just one key beginning with the letter S followed by a lot of numbers. Right click this Key and click Permissions. Click the Add button.
4. In the Enter the object names to select box type the exact username of your account on your Windows XP Computer (your logon username) and click Check Names. A prefix will be added to your username and it will be underlined.
5. Click Ok.
6. You are now back in the Permissions dialog box. In the top pane click your username and then in the bottom pane under the Allow column select the Full Control box. Click Ok.
7. Now press F5 on your keyboard to refresh the registry. A little plus will have appeared at the side of the key beginning with S followed by lots of numbers. Expand this and then expand Data.
8. This is the step that requires some searching from you. After you have expanded Data, a few more expandable keys with random letters and numbers will be accessible. As every computer differs, I cannot tell you which one to expand. What you have to do is expand everyone and its subkeys until you come across the strings listed in the "Resource Name" column of System Info. You can then right click and Delete each one of the keys and this will remove the account information from your computer.

sinkumshi · #7 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 04:01 PM

Thank you very much for your help. The video was extremely helpful and made the job extremely simple.

I did carry out the instructions, but whenever I would click on the 'Permissions' option after right clicking the sub-key beginning with the letter S (under the Key, 'Protected Storage System Provider') the following error dialog box would always pop up:
----------------------
regedit.exe - Application Error

The instruction at "0x7155885b" referenced memory at "0x7f7ee88d". The memory could not be "written".

Click on OK to terminate the program
Click on CANCEL to debug the program
-------------------
If I clicked on the OK tab, every time registry editor would exit, but if I clicked the CANCEL tab, every time the registry editor would hang/freeze and
in the Task Manager, registry editor would show as 'Not Responding'.

Unfortunately, because of this apparently abnormal behavior, I could not proceed any further. I therefore request you to kindly let me know how I should extricate myself out of this impasse.

Thanks again to you.

owen · #8 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 09:40 PM

Boot your computer into Safe Mode and try again.

Please be aware that you won't be able to access the internet in safe mode, so save the video and instructions before entering this mode.

sinkumshi · #9 (**permalink**) 10-01-2008, 06:59 AM

Thanks to your pretty helpful instuctions, I was finally able to successfully delete all the needless passwords and the 'System Info for Windows' is no longer able to make these confidential information public.

However, the said software still displayed the following 'secrets' which I don't want to be displayed either:

1. 'Inactive Messenger' which had my old and deleted email account's name and its password (I still use this password, so its removal is necessary).
2. 'IE Password-Protected Site' It probably had my ISP's IP address, login name, and its password
3. 'IE Password-Protected Site' It again probably had my ISP's IP address, login name, and an other password

I believe only 2 messengers are installed in my computer, Windows messenger (which I have never used so far) and Yahoo's (which I use). The password displayed, as mentioned above, is unrelated to Yahoo's.

So, I need your help again in ensuring those passwords are not displayes as well by running 'System Info for Windows' or for that matter any other snooping software.

Thank you very much again.

owen · #10 (**permalink**) 11-01-2008, 12:17 AM

For the IE Password Protected Site entries in System Info, are there any entries under the username and password column? If not, then there isn't any data actually stored in Protected Storage.

What you have got to understand is that this data stored is data that you have asked for the computer to store and is there on your PC to add convenience to you. The IE Password Protected Site entries are things that you have asked Internet Explorer to save. Because you mention your ISP details, it makes me think that you have saved the password to access your router settings. When I type in http://bthomehub.home in my address bar, I can access by router settings here and to access them I get this popup:

If I clicked the Save Password box in this, it would save my password like System Info is pointing out. To remove this password, it is as simple as going to the place where you login (the resource name might tell you this in System Info) and unchecking the check box that says remember password.

To remove the messenger information for your system, go to the Control Panel and find User Accounts. In User Accounts, Select your account. Then, in the top left hand corner click Manage Network Passwords. There should be an entry in here that relates to Windows Messenger (sometimes called Passport). Click on it and select Remove.

This should remove the remaining data.