Connect Password

This may seem elementary, but I haven't bothered to find out the answer for quite some time. I have an OEM version of W2K and thus cannot get help from Microsoft. The question I think is simple. I'm using it at home, so my online connection is phone modem. I've tried to have W2k remember my password, but it always changes it to about 15 or so XXXX's. I imagine it's an administrator issue, but I can't figure it out. My password only has 6 spaces, the fifteen or more X's causes me to simplydelete the password from the main connection setup, and just enter every time I want to get online. There's got to be a simple way of overiding the default password setting in W2K without having to pay $35 or more to do so.