diff --git a/admin/views.py b/admin/views.py
index 5c1cfa794..a46e0e117 100644
--- a/admin/views.py
+++ b/admin/views.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render_to_response
 from django.template.loader import render_to_string
 from django.template import RequestContext
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ from mailng.lib import _render, _ctx_ok, _ctx_ko
 from mailng.lib import events
 import string
 import copy
+import pwd
 
 def is_superuser(user):
     if not user.is_superuser:
@@ -157,6 +159,8 @@ def newmailbox(request, dom_id=None):
             else:
                 mb = form.save(commit=False)
                 if mb.create_dir(domain):
+                    from django.conf import settings
+
                     user = User()
                     user.username = user.email = "%s@%s" % (mb.address, domain.name)
                     user.set_unusable_password()
@@ -174,7 +178,8 @@ def newmailbox(request, dom_id=None):
                  
                     mb.password = crypt_password(request.POST["password1"])
                     
-                    mb.uid = mb.gid = 500
+                    mb.uid = pwd.getpwnam(settings.VIRTUAL_UID).pw_uid
+                    mb.gid = pwd.getpwnam(settings.VIRTUAL_GID).pw_gid
                     mb.domain = domain
                     mb.quota = request.POST["quota"]
                     if not mb.quota:
@@ -218,13 +223,12 @@ def editmailbox(request, dom_id, mbox_id=None):
                         error = _("Failed to rename mailbox, check permissions")
             if not error:
                 mb = form.save(commit=False)
-                enabled = request.POST.has_key("enabled") \
+                mb.user.is_active = request.POST.has_key("enabled") \
                     and request.POST["enabled"] or False
-                if enabled != mb.user.is_active \
-                        or request.POST["password1"] != mb.user.password:
-                    mb.user.is_active = enabled
-                    mb.user.password = request.POST["password1"]
-                    mb.user.save()
+                mb.user.save()
+
+                if request.POST["password1"] != u"é":
+                    mb.password = crypt_password(request.POST["password1"])
                 mb.quota = request.POST["quota"]
                 if not mb.quota:
                     mb.quota = mb.domain.quota
@@ -242,8 +246,8 @@ def editmailbox(request, dom_id, mbox_id=None):
     form = MailboxForm(instance=mb)
     form.fields['quota'].initial = mb.quota
     form.fields['enabled'].initial = mb.user.is_active
-    form.fields['password1'].initial = mb.user.password
-    form.fields['password2'].initial = mb.user.password
+    form.fields['password1'].initial = "é"
+    form.fields['password2'].initial = "é"
     return _render(request, 'admin/editmailbox.html', {
             "form" : form, "mbox" : mb
             })
diff --git a/lib/__init__.py b/lib/__init__.py
index ff9fab9b6..a782314f1 100644
--- a/lib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/__init__.py
@@ -37,15 +37,6 @@ def exec_pipe(cmd):
             code = -1
     return code, output
 
-def crypt_password(raw_password):
-    import md5
-    import random
-
-    salt = md5.new(str(random.random) + str(random.random)).hexdigest()
-    salt = salt[:5]
-    hash = md5.new(salt + raw_password).hexdigest()
-    return "%s$%s$%s" % ("md5", salt, hash)
-
 def _render(request, tpl, user_context):
     return render_to_response(tpl, user_context, 
                               context_instance=RequestContext(request))
diff --git a/lib/authbackends.py b/lib/authbackends.py
index a283c1b30..f9a784332 100644
--- a/lib/authbackends.py
+++ b/lib/authbackends.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from mailng.admin.models import Mailbox
+from django.conf import settings
 import hashlib
 import crypt
 import string
@@ -25,15 +26,26 @@ class SimpleBackend:
         except User.DoesNotExist:
             return None
 
+def __get_password_scheme():
+    try:
+        scheme = getattr(settings, "PASSWORD_SCHEME")
+    except AttributeError:
+        scheme = "crypt"
+    return scheme
+
 def check_password(password, crypted):
-    if True:
+    scheme = __get_password_scheme()
+    if scheme == "crypt":
         return crypt.crypt(password, crypted) == crypted
-    else:
+    if scheme == "md5":
         return hashlib.md5(password).hexdigest() == crypted
+    return password
 
 def crypt_password(password):
-    if True:
+    scheme = __get_password_scheme()
+    if scheme == "crypt":
         salt = ''.join(Random().sample(string.letters + string.digits, 2))
         return crypt.crypt(password, salt)
-    else:
+    if scheme == "md5":
         return hashlib.md5(password).hexdigest()
+    return password
diff --git a/settings_sample.py b/settings_sample.py
index 0fa93cc03..c6ff9ae6b 100644
--- a/settings_sample.py
+++ b/settings_sample.py
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
 STORAGE_PATH = "/var/vmail"
 VIRTUAL_UID = "vmail"
 VIRTUAL_GID = "vmail"
+PASSWORD_SCHEME = "crypt" # Possible values : crypt, md5 or "" for clear passwords
 
 # Mailboxes format: maildir (default) or mbox
 # MAILBOX_TYPE = ""