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FAQS!
FACTS! FAX! 202 (09/03/00)
KEY
FACTS
I
have a computer with an Intel 440BX Pentium II Processor and I recently
upgraded to Windows 98. Since the numbers and letters were beginning to wear
off my keyboard, my daughter kindly gave me a new one for Christmas. This
keyboard has three extra keys, "wake", "sleep" and
"power" and the instructions simply said these keys only work if the
computer supports ACPI. Is there any way that I can determine whether I have
this facility and if I so how can I make use of it?
John Street
ACPI
or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface compatibility is dependent on the
PC’s motherboard and BIOS (basic input output system) program that configures
your PC at boot up. When you switch on your PC look for an on-screen message
that says something like: ‘Press XX to
enter Setup’, do so and when the BIOS screen appears select the Power or Power
Management menu and this should tell you whether or not the PC is ACPI
compliant. Alternatively ask the PC vendor or make a note of the BIOS name and
version number that appears on the screen immediately after switch on and
consult the company’s web site (links to major manufacturers at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~matrix/bmanad.html)
If
the PC supports ACPI you may have to re-install Windows or modify the registry,
full details of how to do this are on the Microsoft web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/desinit/retailup.htm
CLOSED
SESSION
A
friend of mine kindly scanned some holiday photographs, and sent them to me on a CD-R. He used a CD-writer and the software provided to do this. Unfortunately, I cannot view them when I load the disc in the CD-ROM
drive. A little window pops up saying, "D-drive in not
accessible". What does this actually mean, and what can be
done to overcome this problem? Other commercial CD-ROMs work okay.
Don Bullough
Your
friend has probably created a ‘Multisession’ CD-R that allows extra data to be
added to it; the disc can be read on his PC with his CD-R software but not on
yours, until it has been ‘closed’ or ‘finalised’.
PASS
NOTES
Mr
Sharpe's dilemma concerning password security (F!F!F! February 24th)
was solved in the early days of radar, when it was highly classified. Students
were allowed to make lecture notes, but after the lecture these were collected
and destroyed by the RSM. This is not so silly as it sounds as the actual
writing down reinforces memory, not just possession of a copy. For instance
although it is many years ago I can remember my Macbeth - "Security is
mortals chiefest enemy"!
B. Priestley
You might be interested in the way I used to
remember passwords when I was working in a very security conscious environment.
Within the office there were passwords, which were personal, some were shared
with one or two colleagues and others, which were known by all the staff, such
as door keypad passwords. I always found it easier to remember patterns or
shapes rather than a collection of numbers or letters and you run out of names
when passwords have to be changed every month and cannot be recycled. If the
password is in a particular shape, a square, triangle, diagonal a straight
run or any other you may devise all you need to remember is where the
pattern starts on the keyboard. When the password has to be changed you can
just move the start one key along and keep the pattern and once in a while a
new pattern will give a whole new range of passwords. If you still need to
write it down then a single letter or number won't give your password away.
Roger Hodge
There's an easy way to remember a
password without writing it down. The trick is not to use a word at all.
Just think up a phrase that's memorable and appropriate to the software and use
the initial letters as your password. For example, for online banking
you might come up with "I wish I had 10 million
pounds" which gives a password of iwih10mp.
Judith White
I
keep a record of all my passwords in my Psion palmtop, which in turn is protected with its own password. So I only have to remember the one password to remind myself of all the others.
Jonathan Rawle
I
use a free utility called Passkeeper. This is a Windows program allowing you to
keep a list of accounts with usernames, passwords and notes. The list is stored
encrypted. You only need to remember one password to open your whole list. This
utility can be downloaded from: www.isys.hu/staff/brad/passkeeper.html
Steve Herr
There
is an excellent free, secure solution for all those Internet logins and
passwords we are stuck with. It’s called Gator and available from www.gator.com
Roy
Dearden
Choose
a password that is already written down, e.g. your house name, the name over
the shop across the street, a word that you can already see while sitting at
the computer. Pick the first one you see; do not cogitate over a list or you
will never remember which you chose. This system is geri@tric proof!
Rex
Boys, Westmancote
I
have a suggestion for people over 65, like me. There is always some memory of
your early youth, which is totally uninteresting to others but burnt into your
memory e.g. the name of the worst bully's friend. I have a file called
"Passwords", not protected by any password, listing clues to the
passwords which would mean something only to me, and where and when used.
Charles
Schaller-Kelly
Use
one of those Data Bank digital watches. There are several to choose from
(available from the Argos catalogue) for about £20. They typically can store up
to 80 names & phone numbers. Just put your password in with your other
phone numbers. Even if the watch was lost or 'fell into the wrong hands' the
numbers would not be of much use to any one - unless you had your name and
address on the watch. As a bonus you have a watch/alarm often with calculator
functions!
Alan Jones
I
advise and manage the systems for several clients, I have to deal with a vast
number of passwords and this was causing me problems. One of my clients
recently came to my rescue and gave me a copy of a freeware program called
Whisper32. It stores all of your logins, passwords and related information in a
single encrypted and password protected file. Now I only have to remember the
one password to Whisper32. The program and its encrypted file are small enough
to fit on a single floppy disk. It's available for download from the net at:
www.ivory.org/index.html
Peter Creed
I
use a spreadsheet held in Windows "My Briefcase" (and thereby also on floppy) to manage all my Web-based and other user-passwords, 93 of them thus
far! The spreadsheet is also protected (of course), with what I'll call
"my favourite password", an eight-character alpha-numeric combination
which I am never likely to forget, including in circumstances of, say,
alcohol-induced senility, don't use your postcode though, it's a tad obvious!
David Swales
Thanks
to everyone who responded, sadly we only have room for a small fraction of the
many ingenious suggestions and anecdotes.
SCRAP
VALUE
How
old and useless a computer is (Any Old PCs, F!F!F! February 24th)
depends on where you live. I help run a recycling charity and here in west
Wales we cannot get enough 286s or 386s and 486s are like gold dust. If anybody
can give any of these to CRAFT (Ceredigion Recycling And Furniture Team) in
Aberystwyth we would be very grateful.
Cliff Pope
PATTERN
RECOGNITION
Can
you please recommend a program for designing patterns for lace making? I use
Windows 98.
L. A. Poole
OVER 2 YOU .
I have what I think is a pretty safe password
generating system - and I can write them down. There are two numbers, one of
six digits, the other of seven. They go back respectively 50 years and 40
years in my life, and to have forgotten them at the time was more
than one's life was worth. To make up a PIN, for example, I take, say, the
first two digits and the last two from one of the numbers and there it is. I
can safely write "Visa 1st two last two" and it is extremely
unlikely anyone will have any idea to what they refer, I don't need to write
down the key. Most of us, even those of lesser years than myself, probably
have a word or a number that is engraved on their (personal) memory.
Certainly, most males of similar years to me will have one such
number.
Rod Hough, rod.hough@tesco.
Most people can remember their principle PIN number
-- usually their bank card PIN. A column of words can be written using the PIN
as the key to the password.
For example, PIN 4231, password to remember DOME
fondly
word
remit
easier
If a longer password is used, the sequence of
numbers can be repeated. A list like this can be openly labelled "Password
for -----" so long as the PIN no is not revealed, it is safe.
Mr.G.N.Hemmings, gnhemm@freenetname.co.uk#
Psion series 5 users will be delighted to know of a
"freeware" utility that I have found extremely useful for the
storage of passwords, PIN numbers and other security data. It is called
"SafePlace" and is available as a free download from the excellent
Palmtop BV site at www.palmtopsoftware.com.
The program stores all your confidential credit card, bank account, phone,
passwords, software registration codes etc in an encrypted form on your series
5(or 5mx) with the program itself protected by just one password. This truly is
a safe place, which cannot be forgotten or lost - provided you remember to keep
it backed up of course!
Ian Carter, magdalen@dial.pipex.com
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