User accounts lock out without any apparent reason

I have an XP laptop with several user accounts that require a password to log in. Some of these accounts are set for the user to change password at next logon. The rest of them have already been changed by the user. I have a user account with admin rights in addition to access to the built-in administrator account.

When I start working on this computer, I check the status of all of these accounts. Often times, some or most of them are locked out. I unlock all accounts and then do my work. Before shutting down I check these accounts again and sometimes many of these accounts have already locked out. My own user account sometimes also locks. To get back in, I have to CTRL-ALT-DEL twice at the login screen to get into the built-in account and unlock everybody.

This is not a domain problem. I'm required to set this up on a standalone machine. Local policy is set for passwords to expire after 180 days, and for the account to lock out after 3 attempts. Accounts that have recently been accessed correctly are being locked out. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Continue reading...