PC utilities forum: Poll: How do you keep track of all your passwords?

I keep a document in word and me.com with all the passwords.
I only use a couple of passwords, so I just record the first
letter of the password I'm using. If it requires a number,
I'll add BD for birthday or AN for anniversary, etc.
So . . my list might say M BD for a password . . . or L AN
for another. Don't tell anyone my secret. haha.

I keep the passwords in an Excel spreadsheet. It is password-protected. What if somebody steals my laptop and cracks the password? The actual passwords that appear in the spreadsheet are systematized in a further code that would be hard for others to crack since without knowing quite a lot about where I was 30 years or so ago. The only clue is an indication using #'s and a's to note the number of alpha or numeric characters. For a "default" password for definitely non-critical situations, the childhood nickname that only my brothers and sisters and my wife would know.

If somebody knows that much about me I don't stand a chance!

I have two of them and never thought of that, I will do that as well. thanks.

I use just a few basic passwords, with perhaps a few variations on each (at most). Each basic password I use for one category of Internet activity. So, one is for serious stuff - financial, etc., another for professionally-related stuff, a third for online dating type sites, another for email accounts, and a catch-all one for everything else where security really doesn't matter. Anytime I sign up for a new website, service, etc. I save the confirmation email in a special folder, or send myself an email with the UN + PW, which is saved at my Yahoo account online. Whenever I forget a UN/PW, I can look it up there, or just get another email sent to me, 'cause I always use the same email address. Works well enough.

Using Maximizer for my contact manager, I set up multiple databases. One database contains contact records for those organizations for which I am a consumer including handymen, plumbers, painters, banks, doctors, insurance companies, computer suppliers, software vendors, museums, vacation spots and travel agencies, printer manufacturers, etc.

The Maximizer record about a contact includes fields for web addresses, and email addresses, and using those fields I can access the web site for each organization directly from the contact manager. Maximizer allows unlimited User Defined Fields for each contact. These User Defined Fields are attributes that I define for the contact. Where needed the attributes of login name, password and security hints are defined for the contact.

Given that, as an example, if I want to contact "vonage", and I need a login name and password, I look up "vonage" in the contact manager, click to go to their secure login web page and copy and paste the login name and password directly from the database. In the case of vonage, this allows me to bypass their http:// not secure login page and instead go directly to their secure https:// login page since I have stored their secure page as their website address in the "vonage" record in the database.

The database is as secure as I want it to be. Maximizer enables restrictions on who can access each record and each field in a record. If the PC is a multi-user PC, I could also use login profiles to restrict access to the database itself or to the Maximizer program.

It is very simple to keep track of the required login information doing this. However, most of what I do is on a computer. I have not attempted to integrate this with any PDA.

I use a password that has personal meaning for me. It is NOT personal to me, but is a word I chose. For example, say I chose "historyteacher" as my password. I use this as my password. I f the site requires a number, I use 1historyteacher1. If I must have a capital letter; it is 1Historyteacher1. If I must have a special symbol and a capital letter; it is 1Historyteacher1*."

How do I remember it? I also use Google Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox as well as the version for Internet Explorer. This works for other browsers such as Avant and Advanced Browser, and any browser that allows me to access my Google or Gmail Accounts. The account is stored in cyberspace among millions of other people, not on my computer or on paper, so it cannot be found if my PC/laptop is stolen (I have a desktop). I have not told my friends or family any of my passwords, past or present. Family secrets leak like sieves and so will your passwords. Besides, my family doesn't know everything I do; they don't know everything about me; it's fun having secrets, even something as insignificant as a password, and trust me, your family probably shouldn't and doesn't want to know "everything" about you. If they do, that is all the more reason to keep secrets from them. The same goes for friends, who unlike family may not be your friends forever. It is a random word or phrase that has special meaning to me, but cannot be guessed by someone even if they had my SSN, DOB, POB, DLN, or other data because while the word or concept has personal meaning, it is not a variation of my name, DOB, POB, religion, or any other "hard" data about me. BTW... while I am a History Teacher, my password is obviously not historyteacher or any variation thereof because that is data that you could find out about me through a background check/report. I have changed my password before, and I have different passwords for sites that require changing passwords periodically.

My Google Account is stored in cyberspace among millions of other people, not on my computer or on paper, so it cannot be found if my PC/laptop is stolen (I have a desktop). I have not told my friends or family any of my passwords, past or present. Family secrets leak like sieves and so will your passwords. Besides, my family doesn't know everything I do; they don't know everything about me; it's fun having secrets, even something as insignificant as a password, and trust me, your family probably shouldn't and doesn't want to know "everything" about you. If they do, that is all the more reason to keep secrets from them. The same goes for friends, who unlike family may not be your friends forever. If you own a laptop, I wouldn't save your passwords to a file because if your laptop is stolen, your accounts will be compromised. The same goes for writing them down. If you throw out written down passwords, identity thieves will be happy to go throw your trash to find them as much as they will go looking for bills, receipts, and credit card slips. If you must write down passwords; shred them along with paid bills, bank slips, credit card slips, and the like. I manage my accounts online. Finally, if you think identity thieves will find your written down security questions, or files with security questions and answers. Remember; do NOT write down such terms as "Bank Security Question," and "Security Question Answer." Just write down the actual question and answer. Anyone who does break in to your house or apartment will just see them as ransom scribblings or writings. BTW... identity thieves don't want to be caught and arrested, so they usually go through your trash and the like. They rarely risk it by breaking into your house.

When you create a password, some sites have you choose security questions. Make sure these are not things that change. For example, instead of using your current pets name (which can change if your pet dies or is a goldfish [which dont live long]; use your first pets name as long as it wasn't something unoriginal like "Spot" or "Rex". Use your favorite hobby like "watching movies" as long as your favorite hobby doesn't change. Do NOT use the names of people like grandma's middle name if you are unsure of the spelling. My grandmother's name was Betty, Betteye, Bettey, Bettye (see, I could not remember the exact spelling because I rarely had to spell it). Therefore, I do not use it. You may want to avoid using your mother's maiden name, unless you have no choice, because this may appear on a Criminal or other type of background check and is in some credit reports. Finally, you can write down your security question responses because usually, if you cannot remember them, you can contact the company (website) by phone to gain access to your account. This is especially true for bank accounts and the like. REMEMBER: Never make Security Questions with Answers that CHANGE!

I stapled a sheet of lined paper in the very back of my personal little phone book,and write down the name of the site,my sign in name, and the password. I'v used this for years. Really sensitive stuff, like my bank,
that I keep in my head.

I use one password, the same password, for most things. My cnet, blog site memberships, etc. all have the exact same password. This password is an ok one (for instance kjag5ohjh is what my password looks like - the letters mean something (tv shows, clothing stores, websites, etc)). These sites I really don't care if someone get's into my account. Sites like facebook and twitter and the like have a different password because I do care about those and would rather someone not get into those. Sites such as my online banking, credit cards, and department stores have more secure passwords (sites that if someone were to get into, may cost me a lot of money).

I view my passwords as falling into two groups. The first I regard as low level and I tend to use the same user name and password for all of these. These are sites such as discussion fora where I have little in the way of personal information beyond my posts. The second group is of sites that require tight security such as my bank and credit card accounts or shopping sites that may have personal information. These sites have built in security and it is getting better all the time. I use passwords that are in a language other than English and numerical sequences, both built round things that are significant to me but not to others so there is a certain mnemonic element in each. Thus I hope to keep this information away from anyone other than myself.

Interestingly, Paypal have just introduced an extra level of security where a code is texted to you when you log in. This code expires after one minute so it is useless outwith that short time. I registered for this service yesterday but haven't managed to activate it yet. Activation needs a text message which hasn't so far arrived. Hopefully they'll get it sorted because it sounds to be a good system for anyone with a mobile phone.

I work for a large corporate and there is a requirement to change your laptop password, your intranet password (fortunately they consolidated from dozens into just one) and your mainframe password every 90 days and there are controls in place to ensure you don't just flip-flop between two.

One day I started building a password from the first line of a song I like, three months later I built the next one from line two, and so on - I am now on my second iteration, same song, but slightly different passwords this time around. It isn't a song a lot of people know, and my "spelling" is somewhat creative, so I feel reasonably safe.

If you prefer, you can take lines out of your favorite Shakespeare play or Mozart opera instead, as long as it is something you can easily remember.

Of course there are so many passwords nowadays for discussion forums where nothing really is at stake; those I keep in a file or let the browser manage them, no sweat.

I save my user names and passwords on a word document on my computer. Then I upload this document to an offsite storage at 'keepyousafe.com' where you can have free storage for small documents.

I use a regular address book with the name of site and password. That
is how I keep up with my passwords. I am not high tech so I doubt any one would want anything. I don't do banking on line- so none of that is in my computer. Thanks Barbara Meadows

I have a series of passwords based on villages in the UK with which I have a connection and I add the day of my birth (not the month or year). I then keep a written note referring to them as p1, p2, etc.

Keeping track of passwords is simple enough if you use a consistant system. I use eight digits which
are comprised of four letters from the site name and
four numbers which are always the same and in the same
sequence. i.e. wachovia.com = a6i6v4o9, the last four letters from right to left interspaced with four numbers. This gives a unique password for every account and having used my brain once I can forget trying to find and remember a multitude of unique
passwords.

My husband & I basically use 3 different words as passwords and 2 numbers behind. So I write down the first letter of each word & the number "w------01" or "n------10" & put into files by name to share with him for our bank accounts, broker accounts & shared files. This pretty well works for us even when we have to change passwords often. There are some things that this format doesn't work for, & we use a corrupted version of our SS #'s & initials that he understands as well.