Many ways to preserve a computer password

Forgot your password?

How often have you admitted that with a click, then had to wait for a rescue e-mail? And maybe just to get that e-mail on its way, you first had to answer questions about your dog, your mother or your favorite brand of toothpaste.

Sometimes even that doesn't help. It may take a professional to get a person out of password purgatory.

About half a dozen times a month, someone hauls in a computer that won't budge without its codeword, said Nia Joseph, manager of Computer Outlets on Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers. After her staff makes sure it's not because the computer was stolen - and that's why the password is unknown - they use a special program to unlock the machine and reset the password.

Breaking into your own computer could cost you $50 at Computer Outlets or another repair shop.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column for the newspaper and moaned about my lack of password proficiency. I asked readers for suggestions.

Two dozen readers responded. Here are some of their ideas:

- Dolph Secula suggested changing passwords once a month. Choose one basic word for even-numbered months and one basic word for odd-numbered months, adding a numerical character to each. That way you can guess your password in one or two tries, even if you forget.

- Jim Scollen suggested a password-hiding grid at vvsss.com/ grid/.

- Bruce Johnson wrote about several online helpers, including LastPass, which he likes best. But there is also PassPack and Roboform (at roboform.com/), which stores and installs up to 10 passwords.

Johnson also suggests a handheld password organizer from Atek called the Logio Secure Password Organizer, which stores more than 200 records and costs $29.95. Go to atek.com/logio-secure-password-organizer.html.

- Joan Cross uses a similar program for Macintosh computers, at agile websolutions.com.

- Dianne Rushton, George Shelley and Jo-Z Honeycutt wrote with low-tech approaches. Designate one little address book or notebook for password storage and use a page for each entry.

- One card for each in a recipe file box works best for Ellie Vetter; Marie Jones of Cape Coral uses one Rolodex card for each.

-Cheryl Payne of Fort Myers swears by a simple Excel spreadsheet. Use separate columns for company name/Web address; user name/e-mail address; password; answer to security question.

- Joyce Bradley of Alva sensed that perhaps the problem sometimes runs deeper than passwords.

"I am no psychiatrist or even a professional counselor," Bradley wrote, "but I would first say to you to simplify your life. Just like cleaning out your closet, you should get rid of the extra accounts and keep what you use on a regular basis. By all means, organize!"