Disable Bluetooth Passkey Requirement By Group Policy - Possible?

Ex_Brit

Ex_Brit

Super Moderator
Staff member
This is in Windows 8 but whatever may work for Windows 7 will no doubt be the same for Windows 8 if done via gpedit. Unfortunately the more obvious dodges to get around the passkey requirement in 7 and Vista don't work for 8 because of the Enhanced (Metro) UI that kicks in when hardware is added.

Anyone any ideas?

I've combed through gpedit.msc until I'm cross-eyed and I can't even find reference to Bluetooth, let alone its passkey. If I could even control how hardware is connected it would be a start. I fail to see the connection between Metro UI and the word 'Enhanced' - they just don't match.

OK professors out there, put your thinking caps on!!

:wink:

Addendum

Forget it, after much research I don't think it's possible.

The requirement appears to be coded in the software itself, not Windows.
 
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Yes, because Windows 8 insists on a passkey in 8, unlike the other OS's which have it installed without one because you can force it using the old-style BT connection wizard, you are forced to reconnect the keyboard in all the other OS's. Now that should work OK as long as wireless settings in the Microsoft Keyboard software UI are set to hardware-based as against software-based in all systems.
But unfortunately it doesn't stick and you have to reconnect the keyboard each time you boot into 8. Now if the BT Dongle could remember settings/passkeys for multiple systems this would be another story.
I've tried until I'm blue in the face to find out exactly how many things that dongle can remember. No dice.
It's a bind to use my old clunky wired one each time I use 8 but at least that prevents problems when I boot back into the old systems. It's always here along with my wired mouse anyway should I ever need to fiddle around in the BIOS or use Safe Mode.

I just can't believe that no-one at Microsoft thought about this, it's their stuff after all.

BTW never got email notification that you had replied.
 
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I still haven't cracked this puzzle. I can connect the BT KB but if I do it stops working in all other OS's, so I just switch to my wired KB which I keep hidden on a slide out shelf, rather than have the hassle of reconnecting to all the other OS's plus I need it anyway for Safe Mode and BIOS input. I've searched and searched and can't find any way of getting around the passkey requirement. There has to be somewhere in the registry where it could be disabled, but for the life of me I can't find it.
 
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