"NEW" Computer Set-up QUESTION........Step number THREE......???

[Sourdough]

I did not get very far with the set-up. So here is my question. Is there anyway around having to answer the questions, for if you need or forgot your Password.....??? There are three questions, I can't get past the first question. Actually a list from which i can choose one question and enter my answer. I have tried to skip to the second set of questions.....but it will NOT allow me to advance.

All of the questions I have no answer for them. "What was your first pets name....??? Where did your parents first meet...??

 

[elkhound]

moose or grizzly........school or eharmony...lol

 

[Peanut]

For years I've used odd ball names... for pet names put - dead, dying or corpse. But they are so easy to remember and very difficult to guess.

For mothers maiden name I always think of her cousin... Pen, Convict, chain or gang...

I had a friend who used the chinese calendar - for year of the monkey try easy to remember words like - #$% a Football or football, throwing crap or crap, things monkey's do...

Sort of fun when you get the hang of it.

 

[Haertig]

I think the purpose of the questions is to have unique answers, not accurate answers. Just make up anything you want. If you want to say your first car was a Model T and you're only 21 years old, by all means put down "Model T" as the answer to that question. Nobody is going to check up on you for answering truthfully. Then record your answers in your password manager program. Hopefully you are using one of those. If not, you should start.

 

[Sourdough]

Years ago they allow people to write their own question.......and answer.

 

[Sourdough]

Then record your answers in your password manager program.

I'll just tape the answers to the top of the Laptop. Not like I have any human contact.

 

[Peanut]

Haertig is right, these days you need a password manager. I avoided the ones that want to back your passwords up to the "cloud", which is most of them.

For years I've used the freeware version "Password Depot". It has a password generator that allows great flexibility in setting the parameters. I can keep up to 10 encrypted passwords in the program itself.

I used password depot to create several groups of passwords with various parameters (number of digits, kinds of characters, caps etc). I then stored them on a text file that I created. So, if I need a password I can copy and paste one from that text file. It then gets used and copied to another text file kept on a thumb drive. I can take the thumb drive anywhere and access my internet accounts from any location.

If you really want to get creative... I also use an encrypted email service. I can send myself encrypted emails between my various email accounts, they remain encrypted until I open them. I can also create draft emails that will remain encrypted until I access them. Using a thumb drive I can access these emails from anywhere. I can store all sorts of information in these email messages or drafts, including passwords.

Edit to add... password depot has a linux version.

 

[Haertig]

I use KeePass. There are many variations of this, but they all use the KeePass format database. You can get it for just about everything I can think of - Linux, Windows, Android, iOS, etc. It uses a local database. But you can put that database up in the cloud if you want. I put my KeePass database on my personal cloud (that I self-host on my own servers using "NextCloud"). So I have all the cloud benefits like sharing the database between devices, but on my own cloud, not some commercial offering like DropBox. I don't trust anyone else with my data besides me (unless it's strongly encrypted by - you know who - ME!)

 

[Sourdough]

I have zero idea what any of that stuff you are talking about is.......zero.

But anyone who what's to drive 243 miles, put on their 50" snowshoes, and climb up my mountain, over five and half feet of snow, past three hungry grizzly bears, past two signs that clearly state, "WARNING" I am mostly blind, and shoot to chase away anything that moves. Is welcome to the entire Laptop Computer. I think taped on the top will be safe.

 

[SheepDog]

I just memorize key strokes. I couldn't tell you what any of my passwords are but I can enter them without hesitation.
It works for me.

 

[Peanut]

I have zero idea what any of that stuff you are talking about is.......zero.

It doesn't have to be a real pet name, just a word you can remember. The first time I saw the question about a pets name I thought... he's dead. So I used "dead" to answer the question.

Since you are isolated... write them on a rafter with a marker... or a thumb drive... or on the back of the calendar hanging on your wall... who looks at the back of a calendar even if they are searching?

Use simple words, makes it easy.

 

[The Lazy L]

I think the purpose of the questions is to have unique answers, not accurate answers. Just make up anything you want. If you want to say your first car was a Model T and you're only 21 years old, by all means put down "Model T" as the answer to that question. Nobody is going to check up on you for answering truthfully. Then record your answers in your password manager program. Hopefully you are using one of those. If not, you should start.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I have a lot of passwords and a lot of the sites require often updates and they will not let you reuse them. I keep all my passwords in one place, and then make a back-up copy on a thumb drive that I keep on a hook above my personal computer. I use a word document saved on the thumb drive (not to cloud), and use a combination of words and numbers with special characters for all my passwords, I keep the whole list in my word document, so when I update my password I can save it at the top of the list for that site. I also keep my user names in the word document, but I do it in a code that I know and have used for years....

On the passwords, word likes to copy a space when you do a copy and paste making it hard to transfer the password, if you put a "." at the end of the password you can copy and paste just the password into the required field. If they have a set of 3 questions I put the question keyword "pet " followed by the answer "Tank." for each question.

Hope this helps... it works for me...

 

[Alaskajohn]

I hate those security questions. I had an IT manager at one time tell me to “just make up a word and regardless of the question, alway use that word.” At the time I thought that was the dumbest thing I ever heard. 30 years later, trying to remember what I used decades ago, his idiotic statement is no longer so dumb.

I developed a algorithm in the late 1990s to manage all my military passwords that only I will ever understand. For example I will write down something like 27J or 27j. Those two 3 digits results in a completely different password with no similar characters. Certainly if the NSA wanted to break the code i am sure they would be able to figure it out, but I have nothing and don’t do anything that anyone with those types of resources would ever want to waste their time on.

 

[Haertig]

I just memorize key strokes. I couldn't tell you what any of my passwords are but I can enter them without hesitation.
It works for me.

I used to do this as well. It was like playing the piano - I would type my password by feel, but not be able to tell you what it was without typing it in and then looking at the result onscreen.

This worked fine, until I was away from my computer keyboard and tried to type in the password on a tablet or smartphone screen. Massive fail. I quickly abandoned this method after that.

The newer best practice for passwords is not randomness, it is length. e.g., "orangedogboatclubhousetinysnowroadlettersoundmamablue" is more secure than "jh(^%32b9gEO&^Sdo"

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

My trick for this ... If the security question is "what is your favorite school", just put in the word "school"; same for the "favorite car", "favorite food" and other questions.

The question becomes the answer ...

As your computer is locked up physically (in your house, etc.), you don't really need an additional layer that these security questions are shooting for, but apparently they know better than the actual owner of the pc.