I noticed the wifi setup allows the user to view the characters in the password screen after it's been saved. Is there a way to hid this/prevent the password from being public?

Greetings,something like this has been already submitted as a bug Password visible in the wireless connect apple- but, and this is literal what is said there:In Win7, we decided to switch the default behavior to show the characters by default in order to improve usability. If the user is concerned about "shoulder surfers," then he should check the "Hide characters" checkbox before typing the passkey. Thank you for testing Microsoft Products,Min WenMicrosoft Windows Beta TeamHope this helps. Best regards. W7 Beta running on an AMD Semprom 3200+ (1800Mhz) with 2 Gbs of RAM and a built-in Nvidia 6100 VGA, and mate, it runs like a charm! And now on my VAIO FE31M Laptop.

Yes, I understand that you can hide it as you enter it, but if someone were to use the computer and enter the Wireless Network Properties for that connection, the option to then show the characters is available. How can I prevent that option from appearing in the connections Wireless network properties?

I too will be looking for a group policy/master setting for when Windows 7 releases. I don't know the answer at this time, but I'm with you. I don't like that it's default exposed either.

You can only see the password if you are an administrator. If you are logged on as a non-administrator or an unelevated administrator, the password is always hidden and clicking the show characters checkbox raises a UAC prompt.I just confirmed this on the public beta build - are you seeing something different?Ned Pyle [MSFT] - MS Enterprise Platforms Support - Beta Team

Ah ha, that's what I get for installing the beta as the default! Good to know.

Whew. :) Ned Pyle [MSFT] - MS Enterprise Platforms Support - Beta Team

I would still like to hide the password visibility or disable it to the local admin. Is there a way of doing this?

I would still like to hide the password visibility or disable it to the local admin. Is there a way of doing this? I would also like to see and answer to this as all of our users are admin on their laptops but we need to hide the wireless key in the profile. A resolution on this would be great.

I would still like to hide the password visibility or disable it to the local admin. Is there a way of doing this? I agree. There needs to be a solution to this issue. Soon, hopefully.

Any news on this Microsoft? We have been using a registry key with the details listed, but it is not consistent! · Run Regedit · Browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{86F80216-5DD6-4F43-953B-35EF40A35AEE} · Right click on the key · Select Permissions… · Click Advanced button · Select Owner tab. · Highlight Administrators group and then click OK. · Under Security Highlight Administrators group and set Permissions to Full Control. Delete the key. Thanks, Ken

This registry tweak only works if you have UAC enabled. At the very least the EnableLUA Dword must be 1, but you could still turn off annoying prompts. Unfortunately I'm faced with numerous program compatibility issues that can only be worked around by making the local user a member of the administrators group and disabling UAC... Microsoft! Please fix this! At the very least give us a group policy setting or something to disable this "feature" in Win 7 Pro. There is no valid argument that this users must switch to WPA2 Ent! Many small businesses do not have that luxury, so you're forcing us basically to hand out our password for people to subsequently use on any devices they want! NO other OS allows this without a "hacking program" of some kind, so how can I hold anyone accoutable for attaching an unauthorized device to my network if it looks like I'm handing it over to them intentionally?

Well if you are concerned then we have a solution when I got wireless at my property then I also felt the requirement to hide the wireless key and eventually I spent some time and found the solution I hope you are also going to take help from it and going to appreciate Hide wireless network key If you require some more security option then you can check these links also How can I secure my wireless network?