Denied Vs Accepted: The War on Passwords
By Ann Nonymous
In the Beginning...
I Demonstrated a Terrible Way to Start.....
Have you ever had a staring contest with the Log On screen of a computer? If you are anything like me the story would go a little something like this….you sit there in your comfy mock leather desk chair spinning slightly- left, right, left, right- but all the while your eyes glued to the screen in pure hatred. You blink. You blink again and yet nothing happens. The computer isn’t lifeless it has just denied you access. Is it infected with the latest H1N1 PC version flu? No. Is it unplugged? Uh, probably so please make sure it has sufficient electrical or battery power before you continue reading this and commence with your staring contest. Is it overheated? No. (That would be you. The warmth radiating around you would be of your own making. Your temper is on the brink of exploding as you begin to sweat profusely.) This world shattering catastrophe takes place because you have forgotten your password. And there is no other way about it. You, the administrator, have forgotten the few letters, numbers and/or symbols that allow you access into your technological retreat. What to do, what to do?
This doesn't have to be you!
The password is one of the most precious things that a person can create and own. It is yours to come up with and unfortunately yours to forget. In the past I formulated some of the most absurd passwords. Like there was this one time that after entering in the confirmation, I left the house for a two week out of town visit only to come home and have a blank mind regarding what I consider not just one of the most important words of my life but a vital, necessary word. I had forgotten my password.
AND. I. FREAKED. OUT!
Which is how I came to sit there at my desk for hours as I tried to think of anything and everything that would be considered strong password material….and a few that were not. (QWERTY?!?!?) And somehow I remembered it. It just clicked and granted access all of a sudden. The odds of that occurring are rare, especially with me and due to the negative statistics of me remembering something forgotten the first thing I did was make haste to the control panel to change my password once again.
Blinking counts as elimintaion...
From then on I fought a daily battle on the war of passwords. My technically challenged brain’s first and foremost thought as soon as I rise from bed and the last thought when I lay my head down to rest revolves around one word, my computer password. I have studiously trained my mind to think upon this password on a regular basis, and yet try to never utter it to a single human being. In doing so, therefore, I have at last won the war. I have proven successful in every log in since then. Which is precisely why when a fellow hubber asked me to share my thoughts on how to resolve the issue of, “I forgot my password, how to open a laptop without password?” I couldn’t resist offering my opinion.
I have much experience in forgetfulness. It is one of my strongest talents and is there with me wherever I go. But there are things that really do not improve memory and the probability to remember any forgotten passwords. While reading the following advice please remember that I speak from experience and I trust that I am not that abnormal that I would be the only one that has tried the following in pursuit of recapturing something hidden in the caverns of my brain. If you have tried any of it, you know what I am talking about.
What to do, what to do?
So here are a few rules to follow what although may seem impossible at first to accept and unlikely to help, they are in all actuality lifesavers.
- No matter how comforting your comfort food is, please abstain from eating and drinking over, under, around, oranywhere near you computer as this is probably one of the reasons your computer is feeling discomfort to begin with.
- Do not count to ten as a means to cool your ever rising temper. You see, this will only further distract you from your goal of remembering the forgotten password. Your mind is intently focused on resurrecting a word, phrase, or code you made as your password, and counting to ten, or worse the countdown from 10 to 1 will be very detrimental to your memory. You will start imagining that you had all numeric signals in your password. But who knows maybe you made your password as all numbers 1-10? Yikes for you!
- Do not kick or hit your computer or by all means throw anything at it. The former will only hurt your hand and foot, denting your otherwise sturdy tower, keyboard and screen. If you opt for the latter…well you then will end up with not one but two broken objects. One being your computer, the other being your ammunition. Ammunition that was probably a medieval era vase that was worth over 3.2 million. (Despite the belief that during bad cop investigation- when the authorities start threatening and kicking their suspects with the result of the suspect in turn supplyingthe inside info the police want, i.e., passwords -Yeah well your computer is smart, but not that smart. No matter how often you hit it, it will NEVER spout out any access codes. Never ever. You can bank on that. If fact such torture procedures will only result in more internal damage!)
- Do not store your passwords within Microsoft Office OneNote which is password protected, and of course to get there you will need to have remembered the computer LOG ON password. This serves no purpose as you cannot reach it when you forget the initial password. Instead find a safe place to keep your password written down in case an emergency happens such as you are enduring now- blindly staring at your computer hopeful you will remember what your brain is inclined to forget. Another thing to do is come up with a password hint that will guide you through the awful step of logging on. This hint shouldn’t be your password backward or something similar, rather it should be something clever that only you will know, but not too clever that it becomes a riddle that you can never solve when you forget your password!
- DO look around. I know I told you to NOT to count, but an action I urge you to take is looking around in your normal computer vicinity. If you sit at the library a lot, go there and dink in the imagery. Because chances are you have a password like, “austenjane." The setting of your library or wherever you normally compute (compute-not to be mixed with commute- is the verb of logging onto your computer, it also refers to surfing the web.) Again if you often use your laptop in the kitchen chances are your password is “chocolate.” Passwords are often easy to crack once we reacquaint ourselves with ourselves such as our likes and dislikes.
In conclusion here is just one preventative course of action that I myself firmly believe in and know you can take so that this never happens again: Ditch your current desktop or laptop and buy one that has fingerprint reading. You can’t lose! You just swipe your thumb across the installed chip and swoosh, doors , er, screen pages will seemingly miraculously open. I mean how often does someone forget where their hand is, which part is the thumb, and on which side of that thumb is your fingerprint? Your hand will literally have ALL the answers in this scenario. You need no dependence on your brain. It’s the rule of thumb! (and DNA!)
These few steps are only the beginning to the growing dilemma among frequent computer users. I wish I could help you more but I have decided that the advice I have offered should be a good place for your to start. For further help I have decided to leave it to other experts to expound on this subject.
I wish you all much success in your password dilemma and may you, not the computer, win this epic war. And when you win and log on to your computer to an opened Pandora’s Box of viruses I once again would be honored to help and offer you free advice on….
How To...
- FOOL PROOF YOURSELF FROM HACKERS!
I recently had to put my desktop to sleep. Sleep as in stuck safely in the back corner of my cold, dark closet. The mouse, the tower, the beautiful LCD moniter and the keyboard. All of them safely tucked...
A Message From the Pros...
- Best Way - What Can I Do If I Forgot My Administrator Password? | eHow.com
Best Way : What Can I Do If I Forgot My Administrator Password?. Forgetting passwords, especially for the administrator account on your computer, can be exceedingly frustrating. Unless you know the login details for another account on your computer w - How to Get on Your Administrator Account If You Have Forgot Your Password | eHow.com
How to Get on Your Administrator Account If You Have Forgot Your Password. Windows Vista allows you to easily logon to your computer by using the password reset disk. For this, you should have previously created a password reset disk. The password re - How to get on my computer if i forgot the password? FunAdvice.com
FunAdvice How to get on my computer if i forgot the password? I forgot the password on to my computer and I dont know how to get on.. any way to do that ? - How to Log on to Windows XP if You Forget Your Password - wikiHow
wikiHow article about How to Log on to Windows XP if You Forget Your Password.
Comments
Er....don't tell anyone but I've found that writing down the password somewhere actually helps! :P
Hey Steven...great to see you again! Your stamp of approval means a lot to me! Thanks. I am glad you could make sense of this hub. I have no idea why I was asked to write a hub about this subject as I am terrible with computers and always forget passwords! Oh well I enjoyed doing it and am so happy you enjoyed it as well!
Good evening Feline! Your secret is safe with me! Don't feel bad about it though. I too write my passwords down occasionaly, and then am stupid enough to leace the paper sitting beside my PC! Thanks for coming over and commenting!
That is a clever advice. Thank you, Ann, and for a great written hub. I giggled all the way.
Thanks, Hello, hello! I love hearing feedback from you and am so glad you got some laughs out of this! I too can now giggle reading about it, but that time I forgot my password I was NOT laughing or even smiling in the least bit! haha
Thanks again for you sweet words!
How funny! And true. At my age, when I'm lucky to remember my own name or where I put my car keys, remembering passwords is impossible. A password to get into the computer, a password to get into the program, a password to access any online account, a password to ... So whether or not it defeats the purpose, I keep my passwords in my Rolodex (yes I still use one of those -- there's a great deal of comfort in having something kept in such a quaint, antiquated way, and let's face it, telephone numbers are beyond the realm of possibility.) Problem solved. And what are the chances someone wants to break into my house to use my rolodex to get passwords to get into my computer to steal my personal information, when if he's in the house, it's all in my purse anyway? Lynda
I love this hub, hehe, I am going crazy right now with all the sites I just joined to backlink my articles and I am having a field day with passowrds, hehe, nice article and with humor, Thank you, Maita
So funny, Ann! Unfortunately I wrote down numerous passwords for different accounts on little slips of paper when I started using a computer. God knows where these slips ended up. Little did it dawn on me to use the same one always!
At the time, these bizarre pw's were terribly witty and meaningful. Oh, Lord.
Great, great read!
Hello Lynda! Yeah this password protection fad you so aptly described is worse than childproof bottles that often prove to be adult proof as well! No wonder there are so many computer books for Dummies and/or Idiots! The rolex actually sounds like a brilliant idea for storing passwords! It is kind of hiding place that would be right under someones nose and yet they would never look in it. or at least i wouldn't! Your secret is safe with me!
I loved reading your funny input, Lynda! Thanks so much for it and for your kindness!
I know, Maita! Anymore you have to create an account to do anything online!! What a predicament! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for liking it!
Been there done that, Lorlie! And like you I have no idea what happened to those slips of paper. I had a habit of scribbling them down on junk mail or something. And then the next thing I know it's trash day! lol And yes it is exciting to come up with a witty password....only to forget it!
Thanks for coming by and have a great weekend!
Ann, this was an interesting hub and important. I try to mix numbers and letters but if I don't write it somewhere I will forget. Good hub.
what a funny hub and it did used to happen to me but now I have a little black book with all my passwords and I know this is probably a no no I sometimes use the same password on several sites. THanks for sharing with us. Nice job.
Good afternoon Pamela! So nice to see you here this beautiful and breezy day! I admit that i have a few select words that have become my passwords for every account, and still I write them down, and still I forget! Such is life!
Ahhh, Ladyjane so that's what a little black book is! haha!
Yeah it may be considered a no-no but it sure beats us beating ourselves up everytime we forget a password. And for me that has become all too frequent of late. actually it's not necessarily that i forget them, it's i put the wrong password with the wrong account. It only takes me half a dozen or so times to catch on!
Thank YOU for coming over! Have a wonderful weekend, jane!
Have you been spying on me?? This happens to me all the time!
This was a fun hub to read. Forgetting or losing my passwords would be a nightmare. My most important passwords I would either never forget or the web sites involved have password reset functions.
It sure is frustrating though when your mind goes blank trying to remember a password.
I also cheat and write down passwords. I have little miniature notebooks, one for each web site I own, dedicated to all the associated online accounts to keep it all nicely organised. These small notebooks only cost about a dollar or less. :)
Ha ha! habee, no i have not but your comment makes me inclined to believe I am not the only one suffering from password memory loss!!!!
thanks for stopping by!
Hey MyWebs! Good to see you! I am glad you found some fun here. Your idea for little notebooks- one per account/website- is something I think I definitely need to invest in. I can easily and gladly spare that dollar instead of wasting time trying to remember passwords!
Thanks for the kind input...love getting feedback from you! Have a great weekend and hopefully it doesn't get too hot!
Wow Cool Hub and neatly explained.
Thank you very much, Madeline, and welcome. So glad you stopped by and read this hub! Feel free to come anytime and have a great weekend!
Great hub.
I laughed, I cried, I felt your pain! The dreaded memory recall blank. When something has slipped between the couch cushions of your mind, it seems to taunt you – bet you can’t find me… for me it is usually the car keys. Let us know how the finger print thingy works out.
Trhank you bojanglesk8! And thank you for coming over here!
Hello jstan! Thank you sooo much for feeling my pain: ) I love my finger print reader. Although it is somewhat hard to activate as you have to swiped two fingers repeatedly until it feels it has enough DNA in it, when it works it is great! Only thing is that when you initially start it you have to know that password. After that it is all a finger swipe and sheer joy from my side!!!!!
Thanks for coming over!
Wow!! This is a funny and interesting hub :)...really good..I know alot of people who love the face scanner identifier and finger print reader for their laptops.
Thank you very much, L3BO!!!
I am very pleased with the finger print reader on my laptop. I never thought I could enjoy it so much. And I can use it on other online accounts such as web banking!
Thank you for stopping by and your kind comments! Come again!
omg i am so glad im not the only one that forgets lol .. i tried writing them down but that dont work because i all the time change my passwords .. great hub
Hey Pinkylee! Trust me, you are not the only one. And I used to change them all the time too thinking one of these days I'll find an unforgettable one! Yeah right!
Love having you stop by!
Quick hint, e-mail yourself your passwords, you create an e-mail and send it to yourself. When you send that it goes in your sent folder. When you create new ones, draw up your sent one, add new passwords and delete any you no longer use, and mail it to yourself. Always keep as new. Now if you forget your password, you can use someone else's computer to go into your mail server, and retrieve it. We have two PC's but if you don't you have neighbors, friends and the library. (on your MSN, Yahoo etc, not Outlook Express.)
I have an awful time, and now I have way too many to remember! My Uncle sent me a password program, but I am afraid to use it. He told me about keeping the back up list.
Oh my goodness, Faybe, that's brilliant, inexpensive and HIGHLY EFFECTIVE! Incredible!
Thank you sooo much for your advice and input! Hmmm, I never knew the answer could be so simple!
Thanks for coming over, solving, and ending the war on passwords!
With all the sites I have joined I also forgot some of my passwords but logging in everyday made me familiarize and remember it. Thanks for this hub. I really had a nice time reading. I enjoyed reading this hub. Thanks
Good afternoon this Sunny Sunday, borge! I too find that the more I use an account the less likely I am to forget the password. Common sense I guess and yet I still have memory lapses!
Thanks so much for your input and hope to see you around here on HP!
Thanks for the chuckle! And I identify - oh my, how I identify! I sometimes sign up for a site and then don't ever go back because for the life of me I cannot remember my password and it seems like too much trouble to try to recover it.
Thanks for sharing
Love and peace
Tony
You took the words out of my mouth, Tony! Too often I never get to reap the benefits of an account because I can't access it!
Thank YOU for stopping by and for the uplifting words you always give!
The amazing part is that I will log in almost daily somewhere with no problem, then suddenly one day it's not there in my head...heelllllooooo???? What happened, why is it gone suddenly? Noise I think, too many passwords, for too many sites. It's insane.
Oh Mulberry i know the feeling. many a time I have freaked out in front of my computer when I forget a word I type more than any other! You are too funny...i got a good laugh out of your comment! Thanks for coming over!
sounds like me on some days,, but I have to say counting to ten doesn't help but maybe 100,000 by then I've forgotten what I am mad about... I asked for a faovur on hub, but I'll aks it here, if you'd ever want o guest blog on one of my blogs feel free, you are an amazing talent... this hub proves it.
Counting to 100,000 sounds very efficient! I'll try that next time. (and there will be a next time!)
Wow! That means a lot coming from you, Rebecca! I would be honored to guest write on your blog some day!
Thanks for the uplifiting remarks and your extreme kindness! Have a great weekend!
The worst part is that now password rules have become so complicated thet the majority of password thefts in companies are down to people picking up and selling little pieces of paper and sticky-notes left on desks!
Seriously?!?!? That's too rich, Oli! They would make a fortune from my desk. Not that my passwords are locks to any great hidden secrets or value, but still my sticky notes are always present!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and to comment, Oli! It was nice seeing you here!
I love this hub too. The swiping of the thumb works for someone as forgetful as me. I love the feature so much and it gives me the ease pretty much. I've never looked back since.
Recently I heard like from USB you can boot into any windows system protected by password. My friend showed it also
Stevennix2001 2 years ago
wow, thanks for the great advice ann. although i've been fortunate to never had to go through that before, I'll definitely be sure to follow your advice if i ever find myself locked out of my pc without remembering my password. thanks ann for the great read. :)