title: Convert ASP.NET Membership Passwords from Encrypted to Hashed
body: <p>I've developed a website that uses ASP.NET membership. Based on comments from previous sites, I decided to encrypt passwords so they could be recovered for users who forgot them.</p>
  
  <p>However, the new site (which now has over 500 registered users) has brought me some criticism that the industry standard is really to hash passwords.</p>
  
  <p>However, after a fairly extensive search, I have been unable to find anything about how to convert existing users' passwords from encrypted to hashed.</p>
  
  <p>I know I can change the web.config file, and new users' passwords will use the new format. But it does nothing to update the existing users.</p>
  
  <p><em>Note: I previously asked a similar question but mostly just got a debate about which is better, encrypted or hashed. I'm past that discussion but I've been unable to find a way to convert them without losing the hundreds of users already registered.</em></p>