Unable to logon and change Windows password using RD when enabled User must change password at next logon

Question

Hello,

I am encountering an issue with Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). We use RDP to log in remotely to our server, but after enabling the "User must change password at next logon" setting for a user, the user is unable to log in to change their password. The error message we receive is: "You must change your password before logging on the first time. Please update your password or contact your system administrator."

How can the user change their password if they are unable to log in at all?

We are using Windows Server 2019 in a Workgroup environment, not Active Directory. Users do not have physical access to the server only through RDP.

The only solution is to disable "User must change password at next logon" for user to logon and access the server through RDP again.

Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Hello,

I understand that your user can still log in with a valid password. Have you ever tried the shortcut key CTRL+ALT+END to select "Change Password" after login?

You can try the following steps to troubleshoot the problem:

1. After enabling the "User must change password at next logon" setting, temporarily disable network level authentication (NLA) to test whether the login is successful.
2. Some users reported that they could log in successfully after editing the RDP file properties:

Open the Remote Desktop Connection client and click "Save As"

Edit the saved file in Notepad and add the following line at the bottom:

username:s:Administrator

authentication level:i:2

enablecredsspsupport:i:0

Load the saved file and reconnect. 

References:

Can Users Change Expired Passwords via RDP to Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows 8.1 if NLA is Disabled? | Microsoft Learn

User needs to change password on first login but only access is via RDP. RDP will not permit user to connect to make the password change - Microsoft Q&A

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please contact us.

Best regards

Jacen

Answer 2

This is not the solution "Have you ever tried the shortcut key CTRL+ALT+END to select "Change Password" after login?" It defeats the purpose of getting user to force change the password when they try to logon.

Answer 3

Hello, my understanding is that please use this method to update the password, and then enable the "user must change the password at the next login" to perform the login test. To resolve the error: "You must change your password before logging in for the first time".