password Archives - Page 2 of 3

Q&A: If I hide my WiFi network’s name will I still be able to connect to it?

Posted on June 15, 2021

Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter

Question from Jennie: I overheard a conversation the other day that really interested me, and I want to see what you think about it.

A young man told his friend that hiding the WiFi network name in his router would prevent his neighbors from finding and connecting to the Internet over his network.

I live in an apartment building and I’m pretty sure I have this same problem right now.

I’d like to follow that guy’s advice but I want to make sure I can connect new devices of my own (as well as those of friends) to my WiFi network with the network name hidden. Will I be able to?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I remove the PIN from my Windows PC?

Posted on February 11, 2021

Question from Beverly: My 7 year old laptop stopped working last year and I replaced it with a new one that has Windows 10 on it.

When I was setting up the new laptop it asked me to create a password for logging into Windows.

Then it also asked me to create a PIN.

I’ve been logging in with the PIN ever since but I recently read an article that said passwords are more secure than PINs.

I’ve been logging in with my password since then but the log-in screen still gives the option to use the PIN when I click the “Sign-in Options” link.

If I can choose to enter the PIN instead of the password a computer thief would be able to as well, right?

My questions is, how do I completely remove the PIN from my laptop?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Instantly retrieve a forgotten Wi-Fi password from your PC with WirelessKeyView

Posted on April 17, 2019

When most folks set up a wireless router they create a secure Wi-Fi network that’s protected by a wireless security key (commonly referred to as a “password”).

Most computers and mobile devices will “remember” the passwords for each of the wireless networks they connect to, allowing the device to automatically connect to a network whenever the device comes into range.

That’s a wonderful feature, but it can lead to a problem… [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I reset a forgotten Windows 10 password?

Posted on August 28, 2017

Question from Gloria: I tried to log in to my computer for the first time in several months, but it won’t let me log in because I can’t remember the password.

This is a desktop computer with Windows 10? I can’t believe I forgot the password! Can you tell me how to reset it?

Rick’s answer: Don’t be too hard on yourself, Gloria. This happens all the time. In fact, rarely a week goes by without someone asking me how to reset a Windows password that they’ve forgotten.

As you might imagine, Microsoft doesn’t include an easy way to reset a forgotten password with Windows since that would defeat the purpose of having a password in the first place. But luckily there are third-party tools that we can use to reset them. [Read more…]