Author: Donald Brown
Article source: http://www.articlecity.com/. Used with author's permission.
Many people wonder whether or not their computer is secure. They fear that someone might be looking through their files, copying, altering, or erasing them. They are uneasy about the thought that someone might be monitoring their every move in cyberspace. These concerns come to mind when reminded of the problem of hackers, viruses, and other security risks that abound in the Internet. Fortunately it’s easy to prevent these problems by following a few simple tips.
Update
Perhaps the most important step for computer security is to keep it updated. Install the latest critical updates and service packs from Microsoft's download center. This is made easy by configuring the system to utilize Automatic Updates, if available. If not, updates can be downloaded directly from Microsoft's download center. Currently, Service Pack 2 (SP2) is the most current Service Pack for Windows XP.
Firewall
The easiest way to increase the security level of a computer is by using a firewall. Firewalls monitor all activity that occurs on a connection between one or more computers. They act as a “wall” with one or more computers on one side, and one or more computers (usually the Internet) on the other. Information transfer by suspicious programs are immediately cut off, preventing them from entering the protected side of the firewall. This way denying access to anything coming from unauthorized and unknown sources prevents possible infection by viruses, worms, and other malicious codes.
Anti-Virus and Anti Spy-ware
Even if a computer is protected by a firewall it is still necessary to use anti-virus and anti spy-ware. This is because a firewall only prevents unauthorized outside access, and cannot distinguish between malicious and benign access. It is still possible to inadvertently make a request for information that is harmful, which the firewall views as an authorized transfer. Anti-virus and anti spy-ware provides another layer of armor for a computer, making it harder for hackers and their malicious programs to penetrate and control a computer. Some well-known anti-virus programs include Norton, Trend Micro PC-cillin, and McAffee. Anti spy-ware programs are also important as they reduce the chances of spy-ware getting into a computer. Spy-ware behaves differently than viruses, making it necessary to use different programs to catch it. Spy-ware can monitor any activity a computer infected with it performs, or even act as a gateway to download additional spy-ware or viruses. Hackers typically use spy-ware to obtain important information that must remain confidential like credit card numbers, social security numbers, and police records.
Protect Home Networks
It is possible for a computer owner to be unaware they are using a network at home. If more than one computer shares the same Internet connection or if wireless Internet access is being used, a home network is present. Securing a single computer is not much use if it is part of a network. The whole network must be protected as well to prevent malicious software from simply hopping from computer to computer to avoid attack. Different kinds of home networks face different kinds of risks. In the case of a wireless connection, anyone within the broadcast range of the network may be able to look at any data contained within the network.
Most networking devices employ their own security mechanisms. Using this in combination with security defenses installed on each computer's should provide enough protection to thwart attempts from hackers to hi-jack the network and use the computers connected to it. Most routers function as Network Address Translators (NAT) which makes them a safe connection to the Internet.
While no measure can guarantee total immunity from attack, these steps should increase the security of a computer or network enough to protect against any typical attack.
Donald Brown enjoys writing for several web sites, especially http://sixal.com and http://tyrop.com.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
How to remove spyware for good!
Author: Jason Frovich
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Spyware and adware often slows your computer down or you begin to notice that you are seeing pop-ups every time you use your computer. You also discover that someone has access to your identifying information such as IDS, passwords, credit card information, or even that suddenly your homepage has changed, which is known as hijacking.
It is important that you know how to remove spyware, what to do if hijacked and what tools you can use to get rid of spyware.
How to remove spyware
The first method of combating spyware or adware is asking people you know questions like where can I find free spyware software or where can I find free adware removal websites. If your friends or family members cannot help you in this area, you should turn to search engines to help find the answers.
One excellent program for removing spyware is Spy Sweeper. Spy Sweeper allows you to keep your computer safe from spyware even while downloading things such as videos, music, or pictures and surfing the internet. This program delivers the highest form of computer protection available today by removing spyware programs that have infected your computer, as well as blocking any from ever entering again.
Why do we need anti-spyware protection?
Without anti-spyware protection, your computer is vulnerable every time you surf the web. Any time you access the internet, without some form of protection, like Spy Sweeper on your computer, you are putting yourself at risk for infection. Spyware is extremely malicious and can significantly slow down the processes of your computer, your internet performance or the very worst scenario might be completely rendering your computer useless.
When wanting to learn how to remove spyware and why we need anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper is a great place to start. Not everyone who uses a computer can detect which type of download might be infected; Spy Sweeper can do that for you. It will always provide you with protection thanks to their Smart Shields, which keep the emerging and known threats at bay while using the internet. This program has the capabilities of detecting, removing and blocking more than 140,000 variants of spyware, greater than any other anti-spyware program available on the market.
Where can I get the latest free spyware removal software?
Your favorite search engine is a very valuable tool when it comes to searching for anti-spyware programs. There are many available. However, you will want to be careful of which one you choose to download. While many will advertise removal, in reality, they may actually install the spyware. So be sure to get recommendations from people you trust. Some great programs include Spy Sweeper, Microsoft Defender, Spybot and Ad-Aware.
About The Author:
New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must choose a high-quality program and keep it updated. Supportcave.com offer all this and more
Supportcave.com offers new and enhanced spyware removal Software. Not only will these programs effectively check and clean your computer from Spyware, once installed they will also shield your computer from future Spyware intrusions.
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Spyware and adware often slows your computer down or you begin to notice that you are seeing pop-ups every time you use your computer. You also discover that someone has access to your identifying information such as IDS, passwords, credit card information, or even that suddenly your homepage has changed, which is known as hijacking.
It is important that you know how to remove spyware, what to do if hijacked and what tools you can use to get rid of spyware.
How to remove spyware
The first method of combating spyware or adware is asking people you know questions like where can I find free spyware software or where can I find free adware removal websites. If your friends or family members cannot help you in this area, you should turn to search engines to help find the answers.
One excellent program for removing spyware is Spy Sweeper. Spy Sweeper allows you to keep your computer safe from spyware even while downloading things such as videos, music, or pictures and surfing the internet. This program delivers the highest form of computer protection available today by removing spyware programs that have infected your computer, as well as blocking any from ever entering again.
Why do we need anti-spyware protection?
Without anti-spyware protection, your computer is vulnerable every time you surf the web. Any time you access the internet, without some form of protection, like Spy Sweeper on your computer, you are putting yourself at risk for infection. Spyware is extremely malicious and can significantly slow down the processes of your computer, your internet performance or the very worst scenario might be completely rendering your computer useless.
When wanting to learn how to remove spyware and why we need anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper is a great place to start. Not everyone who uses a computer can detect which type of download might be infected; Spy Sweeper can do that for you. It will always provide you with protection thanks to their Smart Shields, which keep the emerging and known threats at bay while using the internet. This program has the capabilities of detecting, removing and blocking more than 140,000 variants of spyware, greater than any other anti-spyware program available on the market.
Where can I get the latest free spyware removal software?
Your favorite search engine is a very valuable tool when it comes to searching for anti-spyware programs. There are many available. However, you will want to be careful of which one you choose to download. While many will advertise removal, in reality, they may actually install the spyware. So be sure to get recommendations from people you trust. Some great programs include Spy Sweeper, Microsoft Defender, Spybot and Ad-Aware.
About The Author:
New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must choose a high-quality program and keep it updated. Supportcave.com offer all this and more
Supportcave.com offers new and enhanced spyware removal Software. Not only will these programs effectively check and clean your computer from Spyware, once installed they will also shield your computer from future Spyware intrusions.
FAT Drive Recovery
Author: Data Recovery
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Data Recovery has announced that fat recovery software for window operating system supports fat 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, VFAT file systems. Fat partition recovery tool supports recovery of storage media damaged due to virus infection, Power failure overwritten, crashed, hardware-software malfunction. Recovery software restore virus infected accidentally deleted data recover formatted crashed hard disks drive files like acrobat PDF TXT HTML MS Office excel word access power point outlook PST outlook express MBX DBX files. Retrieve undetected root directory damaged storage media including IDE ATA PATA SATA SCSI iSCSI EIDE. Tool recovers Compressed and encrypted data lost by power surges inaccessible disk. Data recovery software for all windows FAT file systems partition hard disk drive files folders provides rescue from data loss due to unexpected shutdown of system, accidentally deleted crashed disk data. Recovery software scans inaccessible hard disk, retrieve data and restore at safe location on your storage media.
Utility provides recovery of deleted data on Window 95, 98, 2000, 2003, NT, ME, WinNT 3.x, WinNT 4.x, Window XP and Windows XP media center edition 2005 operating system.
Features:
* Software is user friendly and provide graphical user interface GUI.
* Powerful and cost effective software.
* No technical knowledge is required
* Software provides recovery from previously existing partition.
* Full support for long files names, encrypted and compressed files.
* Logically damaged or corrupted partition can be recovered by the software
* Software is read only and non destructive support windows operating systems.
* Provides recovery of crashed and disaster data loss of your hard disk drive.
* It can restore the files and folders even if they have been deleted with shift+Del key combination or have been deleted from recycle bin.
* Recover the inaccessible, overwritten or undetected files folders.
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Data Recovery has announced that fat recovery software for window operating system supports fat 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, VFAT file systems. Fat partition recovery tool supports recovery of storage media damaged due to virus infection, Power failure overwritten, crashed, hardware-software malfunction. Recovery software restore virus infected accidentally deleted data recover formatted crashed hard disks drive files like acrobat PDF TXT HTML MS Office excel word access power point outlook PST outlook express MBX DBX files. Retrieve undetected root directory damaged storage media including IDE ATA PATA SATA SCSI iSCSI EIDE. Tool recovers Compressed and encrypted data lost by power surges inaccessible disk. Data recovery software for all windows FAT file systems partition hard disk drive files folders provides rescue from data loss due to unexpected shutdown of system, accidentally deleted crashed disk data. Recovery software scans inaccessible hard disk, retrieve data and restore at safe location on your storage media.
Utility provides recovery of deleted data on Window 95, 98, 2000, 2003, NT, ME, WinNT 3.x, WinNT 4.x, Window XP and Windows XP media center edition 2005 operating system.
Features:
* Software is user friendly and provide graphical user interface GUI.
* Powerful and cost effective software.
* No technical knowledge is required
* Software provides recovery from previously existing partition.
* Full support for long files names, encrypted and compressed files.
* Logically damaged or corrupted partition can be recovered by the software
* Software is read only and non destructive support windows operating systems.
* Provides recovery of crashed and disaster data loss of your hard disk drive.
* It can restore the files and folders even if they have been deleted with shift+Del key combination or have been deleted from recycle bin.
* Recover the inaccessible, overwritten or undetected files folders.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Computers..How to tell if your getting a rabbit not a turtle
Author: John McCollim
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Normally you go to your local computer retailer to buy a new computer. The salesman may boast looky here this one has a such & such speed, this much memory, a huge hard drive, etc. You read the box and sure enough it seems like a powerhouse. But is it?
What the salesman or the box for that matter, fail to tell you is all computers run on whats called Front Side Bus (FSB). In a nutshell its how fast each component can communicate with each other. FSB's can be anywhere from 100MHz to 2000MHz.(even 33MHz or 66MHz on very old systems) Its like trying to fill a swimming pool with 1 garden hose as compared to trying it with a few fire trucks with fire hoses. Hence the higher the FSB the faster all of your data tranfers to all the hardware components. For instance the CPU, Motherboard, Memory(ram), Graphics card, Hard drive etc. all are made with different speeds and have a different speed FSB.
Here is an example of various CPU's SPEED - INTERFACE - FRONT SIDE BUS SPEED - PRICE
64 3200+ / 2.00GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $84.99
64 3500+ / 2.20GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $94.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $114.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $116.99
SP 2800+ / 1.60GHz Socket AM2 800MHz $55.97
SP 3200+ / 1.80GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $69.99
SP 3400+ / 1.8GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $75.99
SP 3600+ / 2.0GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $107.99
355 / 3.33GHz Socket 775 533MHz $69.99
351 / 3.20GHz Socket 775 533MHz $39.99*
As you can see in this example The first cpu on the list(64 3200+) runs at 2 Gigs and has a FSB of 2000MHz. The last cpu on the list(351) is a 3.2 Gig and runs on a FSB of 533. In fact i have seen low end computer makers boast of a computer with a fast cpu but with further examination the motherboard could only run a FSB of 100. The end result is a bottle-necked system. The Cpu does a fast job every few milliseconds only to wait on the data to travel to the other components at turtle speed. You want a system that basically runs at the same or near the same FSB speeds on all the components. That goes for the CPU, Motherboard, Memory and somewhat the Hard Drive.
In the fowolling example i will show the differences in the speed of various Hard Drives.(NOTE by no means am i trying to refer one hard drive manufactorer over the other. I picked these at random. These manufactorers make various hard drives with varying capacities and speeds!)
1.Seagate / 20GB / 5400 / 2MB / ATA-100 / IDE / OEM / Hard Drive
2.Seagate / Barracuda 7200.10 / 400GB / 7200 / 16MB / ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
3.Hitachi / Deskstar 7K160 / 80GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
1. The seagate in this example holds 20 gigs of data/ spins at 5400rpm/(ATA-100) has a FSB of 100.
2. The seagate barracuda in this example holds 400gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm wich is 33% faster than 5400. So it delivers data to the mainstream 33% faster and boots up 33% faster. But it only has a FSB of 100.
3. The hitachi in this example holds 80gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm and has a FSB of 133 wich is by far the quickest of the three. So you can see from this example its not the size(gigs) of the drive but the spindle speed and FSB that make it fast.You can even get a SATA Hard Drive wich deliver data even quicker.
I could go on and on with various examples with other computer components but by now you should be getting a good idea by now. Of why some computers give blazing speed while others crawl along showing the hourglass as you wait.But how do you get this information you ask? Its easy, buy your next system online. At TigerDirect You can purchase a Deeply discounted hi-quality system. Whereas you can check on the speed of each component to be sure you are truly getting a rabbit and not a turtle!
Personally i repair, build and upgrade computers, After years of looking for the best sources of parts, I chose Tigerdirect. Just compare the quality and prices with any other store or site and im sure that you will agree that Tigerdirect is the best.
The author(webmaster)operates an article directory http://www.articles-and.bestfinancenews.com/index ... A informative Hybrid Cars site. http://www.activehybrid.com And proudly refers TigerDirect http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=TsLMFyxXF2o&offerid=102327&type=3&subid=0 For hi-quality, lowest cost computer systems and accesories.
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Normally you go to your local computer retailer to buy a new computer. The salesman may boast looky here this one has a such & such speed, this much memory, a huge hard drive, etc. You read the box and sure enough it seems like a powerhouse. But is it?
What the salesman or the box for that matter, fail to tell you is all computers run on whats called Front Side Bus (FSB). In a nutshell its how fast each component can communicate with each other. FSB's can be anywhere from 100MHz to 2000MHz.(even 33MHz or 66MHz on very old systems) Its like trying to fill a swimming pool with 1 garden hose as compared to trying it with a few fire trucks with fire hoses. Hence the higher the FSB the faster all of your data tranfers to all the hardware components. For instance the CPU, Motherboard, Memory(ram), Graphics card, Hard drive etc. all are made with different speeds and have a different speed FSB.
Here is an example of various CPU's SPEED - INTERFACE - FRONT SIDE BUS SPEED - PRICE
64 3200+ / 2.00GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $84.99
64 3500+ / 2.20GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $94.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $114.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $116.99
SP 2800+ / 1.60GHz Socket AM2 800MHz $55.97
SP 3200+ / 1.80GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $69.99
SP 3400+ / 1.8GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $75.99
SP 3600+ / 2.0GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $107.99
355 / 3.33GHz Socket 775 533MHz $69.99
351 / 3.20GHz Socket 775 533MHz $39.99*
As you can see in this example The first cpu on the list(64 3200+) runs at 2 Gigs and has a FSB of 2000MHz. The last cpu on the list(351) is a 3.2 Gig and runs on a FSB of 533. In fact i have seen low end computer makers boast of a computer with a fast cpu but with further examination the motherboard could only run a FSB of 100. The end result is a bottle-necked system. The Cpu does a fast job every few milliseconds only to wait on the data to travel to the other components at turtle speed. You want a system that basically runs at the same or near the same FSB speeds on all the components. That goes for the CPU, Motherboard, Memory and somewhat the Hard Drive.
In the fowolling example i will show the differences in the speed of various Hard Drives.(NOTE by no means am i trying to refer one hard drive manufactorer over the other. I picked these at random. These manufactorers make various hard drives with varying capacities and speeds!)
1.Seagate / 20GB / 5400 / 2MB / ATA-100 / IDE / OEM / Hard Drive
2.Seagate / Barracuda 7200.10 / 400GB / 7200 / 16MB / ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
3.Hitachi / Deskstar 7K160 / 80GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
1. The seagate in this example holds 20 gigs of data/ spins at 5400rpm/(ATA-100) has a FSB of 100.
2. The seagate barracuda in this example holds 400gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm wich is 33% faster than 5400. So it delivers data to the mainstream 33% faster and boots up 33% faster. But it only has a FSB of 100.
3. The hitachi in this example holds 80gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm and has a FSB of 133 wich is by far the quickest of the three. So you can see from this example its not the size(gigs) of the drive but the spindle speed and FSB that make it fast.You can even get a SATA Hard Drive wich deliver data even quicker.
I could go on and on with various examples with other computer components but by now you should be getting a good idea by now. Of why some computers give blazing speed while others crawl along showing the hourglass as you wait.But how do you get this information you ask? Its easy, buy your next system online. At TigerDirect You can purchase a Deeply discounted hi-quality system. Whereas you can check on the speed of each component to be sure you are truly getting a rabbit and not a turtle!
Personally i repair, build and upgrade computers, After years of looking for the best sources of parts, I chose Tigerdirect. Just compare the quality and prices with any other store or site and im sure that you will agree that Tigerdirect is the best.
The author(webmaster)operates an article directory http://www.articles-and.bestfinancenews.com/index ... A informative Hybrid Cars site. http://www.activehybrid.com And proudly refers TigerDirect http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=TsLMFyxXF2o&offerid=102327&type=3&subid=0 For hi-quality, lowest cost computer systems and accesories.
Computer Repair And Cracking Passwords!
Author: John Dow
Article source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/. Used with author's permission.
I spend a lot of time cracking passwords! No, not for stealing software or information, for doing computer repair!
One of the most common home or small business computer service repair calls I get is that Bob, fill in the blank here – lost his password / forgot his password / left the company and never told anyone his password, and we can’t use the computer or software.
If you have physical access, most times you can reset a password on any version of Windows XP. Some vertical applications get a little trickier but I still can usually figure out a way to get in to clear the existing password and then let the customer reset it.
And no, I’m not going to teach you how in this article, sorry. But what I can do is help you figure out a way to never forget a password without writing down. An especially bad practice that I see all the time is someone will write down the password on a post-it note and put it on the monitor. Which is a particularly ugly breach in security.
But I can understand the problem. Chances are you have many passwords to remember if you use a computer at home or at work. And since many of the systems automatically force the user to change their password every 90 days, this becomes quite a challenge to remember them all.
There are some good ways to create a password so that you can’t forget it. And you can easily meet the minimum requirements of at least 8 characters with at least three being punctuation or numerals too. But the best is 15 characters (I won’t go technical on you but let’s just say that the stored password of over 14 characters are much more difficult to crack). I can’t even remember who taught me this method but I’ve been using it for years.
The first thing to remember is not to use children’s names, birthdays, or any information that someone might guess. This includes common names found in the dictionary or some other know source. The reason for this is there are many cracker programs out there that use these common sources to check against password to break them. So stay away from common words or expressions.
Even the programs that generate random characters can be beat by another program designed to emulate that type of software. The idea behind them is good and they can provide a stronger password but for most user that creates a bigger problem since who can remember W#8hY*2l-Km$!1d, let alone type it.
So what’s the secret? The easiest way I’ve found to remember a password is to associate it with a person or event that you’ll never forget. Something that even a good friend might not know but also something that you couldn’t forget even if you wanted to if you tried.
If the password is for windows or a windows program you have up to 127 characters most times. So use a phrase instead of just one word. So if you have a phrase (or song lyric) burned into your brain you could use it too. When I need a quick password when working at a client’s I normally look at the machine or something on the wall and use it for the password. One of my favorites is “I hate Compaq’s model 2780!” or use any computer name).
When I was five we moved to the corner of 85th street and pacific. Most people I know now don’t know that and I doubt it would come up in any conversation. So if I used 085TH@pacificst5 that contains something I can easily remember and also meets the high end password requirements.
Or how about the first love of my life (which dumped me in about 2 weeks)? I won’t use her real name to protect the guilty but here’s that one, 2wKJeN06.OrGan, I added organ since she was organic (I think). See how this works? I’ll bet we all have lots of things, events, people, and the date or age we experienced them to use.
One weakness any password can have is if someone slips in a keylogger program on your computer. Keyloggers record all the keystrokes that a user makes and regardless how tough you make your password, if they can see the key strokes, they’ve got you. And it’s much easier than you think to do a stealth install.
There is one way to get around this issue, use extended characters. If you hold down the alt key, then press one or more numerals you get one of those weird characters with double dots on top or a symbol. But the keylogger still shows the character, but a way around it is to use Alt 0160. This extended character is a space and hides the fact that you used the Alt method to create it. So they won’t be able to duplicate it even if they see it.
There is no perfect solution for passwords. But you can and should take some steps to insure that you take the appropriate precautions whenever you create one. Keep it over 15 characters, use numerals, punctuation, and alphabetical characters. Combine elements that are easy to remember but not common information like birth dates or children’s names. Use associations that make it easy to remember.
And never communicate your password in any documentation or emails. Don’t display them on your computer or loan them to friends or associates. Random generators can be helpful but aren’t bullet proof. Change your passwords on a regular basis just in case. Always have a master or Administrator password that can be used to go in and change user’s passwords when necessary.
I’d much rather fix hardware or software problems than crack passwords on a computer repair service call. It makes my job a little easier and can save you a lot of money.
John Dow owns www.powersolutionscd.com, a website that specializes in computer troubleshooting, security, and repair utilities. His Power Solutions CD has helped thousands of customers protect their computer and data, by providing a collection of utilities and how to articles to fix and repair ANY hard drive or computer problem. Click here to learn more: Best Computer Repair CD.
Article source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/. Used with author's permission.
I spend a lot of time cracking passwords! No, not for stealing software or information, for doing computer repair!
One of the most common home or small business computer service repair calls I get is that Bob, fill in the blank here – lost his password / forgot his password / left the company and never told anyone his password, and we can’t use the computer or software.
If you have physical access, most times you can reset a password on any version of Windows XP. Some vertical applications get a little trickier but I still can usually figure out a way to get in to clear the existing password and then let the customer reset it.
And no, I’m not going to teach you how in this article, sorry. But what I can do is help you figure out a way to never forget a password without writing down. An especially bad practice that I see all the time is someone will write down the password on a post-it note and put it on the monitor. Which is a particularly ugly breach in security.
But I can understand the problem. Chances are you have many passwords to remember if you use a computer at home or at work. And since many of the systems automatically force the user to change their password every 90 days, this becomes quite a challenge to remember them all.
There are some good ways to create a password so that you can’t forget it. And you can easily meet the minimum requirements of at least 8 characters with at least three being punctuation or numerals too. But the best is 15 characters (I won’t go technical on you but let’s just say that the stored password of over 14 characters are much more difficult to crack). I can’t even remember who taught me this method but I’ve been using it for years.
The first thing to remember is not to use children’s names, birthdays, or any information that someone might guess. This includes common names found in the dictionary or some other know source. The reason for this is there are many cracker programs out there that use these common sources to check against password to break them. So stay away from common words or expressions.
Even the programs that generate random characters can be beat by another program designed to emulate that type of software. The idea behind them is good and they can provide a stronger password but for most user that creates a bigger problem since who can remember W#8hY*2l-Km$!1d, let alone type it.
So what’s the secret? The easiest way I’ve found to remember a password is to associate it with a person or event that you’ll never forget. Something that even a good friend might not know but also something that you couldn’t forget even if you wanted to if you tried.
If the password is for windows or a windows program you have up to 127 characters most times. So use a phrase instead of just one word. So if you have a phrase (or song lyric) burned into your brain you could use it too. When I need a quick password when working at a client’s I normally look at the machine or something on the wall and use it for the password. One of my favorites is “I hate Compaq’s model 2780!” or use any computer name).
When I was five we moved to the corner of 85th street and pacific. Most people I know now don’t know that and I doubt it would come up in any conversation. So if I used 085TH@pacificst5 that contains something I can easily remember and also meets the high end password requirements.
Or how about the first love of my life (which dumped me in about 2 weeks)? I won’t use her real name to protect the guilty but here’s that one, 2wKJeN06.OrGan, I added organ since she was organic (I think). See how this works? I’ll bet we all have lots of things, events, people, and the date or age we experienced them to use.
One weakness any password can have is if someone slips in a keylogger program on your computer. Keyloggers record all the keystrokes that a user makes and regardless how tough you make your password, if they can see the key strokes, they’ve got you. And it’s much easier than you think to do a stealth install.
There is one way to get around this issue, use extended characters. If you hold down the alt key, then press one or more numerals you get one of those weird characters with double dots on top or a symbol. But the keylogger still shows the character, but a way around it is to use Alt 0160. This extended character is a space and hides the fact that you used the Alt method to create it. So they won’t be able to duplicate it even if they see it.
There is no perfect solution for passwords. But you can and should take some steps to insure that you take the appropriate precautions whenever you create one. Keep it over 15 characters, use numerals, punctuation, and alphabetical characters. Combine elements that are easy to remember but not common information like birth dates or children’s names. Use associations that make it easy to remember.
And never communicate your password in any documentation or emails. Don’t display them on your computer or loan them to friends or associates. Random generators can be helpful but aren’t bullet proof. Change your passwords on a regular basis just in case. Always have a master or Administrator password that can be used to go in and change user’s passwords when necessary.
I’d much rather fix hardware or software problems than crack passwords on a computer repair service call. It makes my job a little easier and can save you a lot of money.
John Dow owns www.powersolutionscd.com, a website that specializes in computer troubleshooting, security, and repair utilities. His Power Solutions CD has helped thousands of customers protect their computer and data, by providing a collection of utilities and how to articles to fix and repair ANY hard drive or computer problem. Click here to learn more: Best Computer Repair CD.
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