Creating a account with a blank password?

[Jason Grindlay <jasong@sslnz.com>]

Hi,

I'm trying to create a login account on a Debian Woody (3.0) system that 
has no password. (i.e. blank/empty password)  As far as I understand it 
I need to edit /etc/passwd and remove the 'x' from the field after the 
username (I'm using shadow passwords) leaving a line like 
'user::10:10:name:homedir:shell' remaining (or else do the same with 
/etc/shadow leaving the password field blank.)

I've tried both of the above and tried doing a login but entering no 
password is not accepted...  Can anybody tell me what I'm doing wrong?

(before I get the lecture about it being insecure creating a login 
account with no password - I need it for samba, I've got an issue with a 
Windows ME workstation refusing to connect to the SMB server and 
according advice I've recieved ME needs a account with no password to 
let it login.)