I recently posted a query about handling Log In names and passwords. I received
some high and low tech suggestions.
Thanks to the following people for their suggestions:
Rocco Stiano, Deb Waugh, Cheryl Youse, C.B. Seale, Ann Marie Gordon, Colette Eason,
Denise Wilson, Janelle Langford, Stacey Fisher, Charlotte Snyder, Paula Johnson,
and Thomas Kaun
The Responses:
I finally bought an old fashioned
Rolodex for my passwords, AFTER losing many of them in a hard drive failure.
I have about 5 passwords that I use for everything. I've got a general sense that 2
of them are used most frequently for financial sites and other sites I want to keep
very secure. And the other 3 for other sites. So, I can usually guess which
password I've used without too much trouble. But sometimes I do have to request a
password reminder, so it's not fail safe.
I purchased a little
bitty 0.50 address book that works wonderfully for
me. I do sometimes need it at home when it is in my desk at school, but
not all the time. But even at that, there are Stickies that can sit on
your desktop that are a free download. Just google stickies and down
load them from the site. I love 'em!
I use Roboform. It has a free trial but will only hold about 10 or 15 passwords.
The purchased version is inexpensive. It is stored on your computer and requires a
password to get into it, but that protects your passwords. It will generate random
secure passwords for you in whatever for you need. It allows you to add notes to
help in remembering all the questions and answers for a site. It can be loaded on
more than one computer and the files transfered from one to another. You can also
print out a list of all the passwords and store them for safe keeping in case of
computer failure if you only use it on one computer.
I have been satisfied with the site Passpack.com to store long on & password info.
I try to keep the same login and password for all of my school related websites to
make it easier to remember. For those pesky ones that ask for alpha and numeric, I
add 1 or 01 to the same base password. (For personal, I keep the same one too, but
different than the school one.)
Also, when the site sends an email with the login and password, I move them to a
folder called website passwords within the email system. If they don't, I usually
email myself with that information and then move it to the same folder. (I don't
keep my financial passwords in the email anywhere.)
For my university, the one that requires me to change the password every so often I
use the same base password and change the number to the next consecutive number. I
usually don't have a problem remembering that. If I do, I just try again with the
next consecutive number and that's usually it.
Hope this helps.
Take a look at RoboForm.
They have free and paid versions of their password saving software.
One nice trick is using a base password / log in. For example, a base
login might be "baseball." If a site requires a number, start with
the base login and add 1; if they require a capital, go to Baseball1.
(I like to use obscure names from mythology and literature for my base
log-ins, because they're rarely already taken by other users.) And so
on. Then use the same log-in for every site.
But don't use the same log-in / password combination for every site,
which would be a security risk. For the password, try using something
specific to the site. Use some of the letters from the name of the
website plus a number that's important to you that you'll always
remember--but not one too easy for an outsider to guess. For example,
I might choose the ".com" or ".org" from the URL. plus the date I got
my dog. A ".com" site password would be "com" plus your significant
number, while a ".org" site password would be "org" plus your
significant number. I'd end up with a password like "com070101." Or,
I might use the last four letters of the site name plus my number.
Since so many sites require capital letters, always use the letter in
the same position--perhaps the 2nd letter. So for amazon.com, the
password would be "aZon" plus 070101. For Google, the password would
be "oGle" plus 070101. If you want to be even more secure, add a
number to the end of this that changes for every site--the number of
letters in the website name, or the position of the first vowel, etc.
I've been using this "system" for the last couple of years and I can
almost always figure out what my log-in & password are without having
to ask for a reminder e-mail. The only sites I don't do this for are
my financial sites, since I don't want anybody who figures out my
password system to have access to my bank accounts!
Sites that require a regular password change are trickier. I tried
cycling through the same few passwords, but a couple of sites now tell
me I must use a password I haven't used in the last 36 months! A
friend of mine who works in the computer industry uses changing
numbers based on the ages of his kids--so when the bank asked for a
password last December, the password was his base letters plus "368"
and when they ask for another one in June, the numbers will be "468"
and next December, they'll be "479" and so on.
I keep mine in a folder (Notes) in my primary email account. That way they are
always available wherever I am!
I got this for my husband for Christmas.
http://www.atek.com/logio-secure-password-organizer.html
It is available in the USA- that is where I bought it. He hasn't used it yet, I
think it takes some time to add all of your passwords. I think I made need to get
one!
I was having the same trouble. It seemed that I forgot my Amazon password every
time I needed it, and the plethora of sites I am using that require user names that
can't be email addresses, unlike others that must be email addresses, was driving
me crazy. Now when I create a new account, I send myself an email with the
important information and then file it under Listservs and Memberships. It has
worked for me--always available if I'm at a computer, so I don't need to carry a
book around.
I *so* feel your pain on this! I've begun using a password app on my
iPhone. It isn't the "ultimate" (although, like planners, I'm not sure what
the ultimate actually is, only that I've never found it). But it works for
logins and for notes that I want to keep locked. I tend to use the Notes
section for things like my children's ss#'s, locker numbers, ACT accounts,
student numbers, etc.
Josephine Dervan, MLS -Adjunct Instructor
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
Rutgers University
dervan at optonline.net
He who has a library and a garden, wants for nothing- Cicero
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