November 24, 2009

How safe r u?

Hi readers,


Hope u enjoy the changes in my blog.


R u a person who set password to the Operating System? Then this is for u.


Recently, my friend met with a trouble. He forgot his operating system password. He is using Windows Vista Basic OS. So, he is not able to work with his system. After a week’s struggle, he found out software from net to reset his password just today. The software’s name is OHP cracker. The software’s space is something around 500 MB. The downloaded file was in ISO format. So he has written it in a CD. Don’t know whether it will crack the password. We have to wait and see.





Not only him, I have seen many people forgetting the Operating System’s password. Most importantly windows don’t let us open if we forgot the password. I know certain easy ways to avoid these troubles.


Set the Hints Properly


While setting the password, windows will ask for a hint. Many users don’t set it properly. They set hints that r not at all related to the password. The main reason why windows ask us to set it is to help us in those hard times.


Have two administrators


While creating user accounts, create two administrators. Administrators have full power to change other’s passwords (including another administrator’s). So, create another administrator account even if u don’t need it. In case, u have forgotten the password, u can log in another administrator’s account and reset ur password.


Create a Password Reset Disk
Windows let u create password reset disks which will remember ur password. I have written the procedure below.


For Windows Vista
  1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.
  2. Click on the User Accounts and Family Safety link.
  3. Click on the User Accounts link.
  4. In the task pane on the left, click the Create a password reset disk link.
  5. When the Forgotten Password Wizard window appears, click Next
Note: You will need some kind of portable media before being able to create a password reset disk. This means that you will need a USB flash drive or a floppy disk.
  1. In the I want to create a password key disk in the following drive: drop down box, choose the portable media drive to create a password reset disk on.
Click Next to continue.
  1. With the disk or other media still in the drive, enter your current account password in the text box and click Next.
  2. Windows Vista will now create the password reset disk on your chosen media.
When the progress indicator shows 100% complete, click Next and then click Finish in the next window.
  1. You can now remove the flash drive or floppy disk from your computer.
For Windows XP
  1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.
  2. Click on the User Accounts link.
  3. In the pick an account to change area of the User Accounts window, click on your Windows XP user name.
  4. In the Related Tasks area on the left, click the Prevent a forgotten password link.
  5. When the Forgotten Password Wizard window appears, click Next
Note: You will need a floppy disk or USB flash drive.
  1. On the next screen, verify that a blank floppy disk is inserted in your floppy disk drive or USB drive is inserted.
Click Next to continue.
  1. With the disk still in the drive, enter your current account password in the text box and click Next.
  2. Windows XP will now create the password reset disk.
When the progress indicator shows 100% complete, click Next and then click Finish in the next window.
  1. You can now remove the floppy disk or USB flash drive from your computer.
Note: Today floppy disks r out of date. So we have to rely on USB drives for this method. To me, using USB drives is quite an expensive option.


Setting Passwords Properly


One reason why my friend forgot his password is he set a very long password that had more number of characters. Due to this, even changing a single alphabet can affect u. To overcome this we can set the long password as a short abbreviation.
For example, if u want to keep “I like Ice Cream very much”, then consider the 1st letters alone, ILICVM. U can mix up short and capital alphabets, numbers, and special characters. U can make it iLIcVM34&


Tips Given by Ankit Fadia
Ankit Fadia is India’s 1st Ethical Hacker. At the age of 13 he hacked CHIP magazine’s website to put his photo in it. Later he confessed to the editor that he was the one who did it. Impressed, the editor told him to join when he was 18. He has helped US Government after 11/9 attacks. He has helped Indian Government in 2008 when Pak terrorists hacked our Government website. He says CID and FBI websites r hacked at least once in a month. Bank websites r the least hacked ones, as they r in constant watch.


He gives the following tips,

  • Do not use any word that exists in Dictionary.
  • Most common passwords contain username followed by his/her birthday. Avoid it.
  • Try combination of alphabets, special characters, and numbers. Mix lower and upper cases.
  • Do not have same password for all ur accounts.



Don’t think u r safe
Don’t think that u r very safe from hackers. Hackers r everywhere. U won’t believe me. Two of my classmates r well versed in hacking. They hack others mail and social networking accounts just like that.


One of those guys told us that he started hacking two years ago. He has invited his friends to his home one Sunday. When they had come, he has switched on his computer and checked his mail. He has asked his friends whether they would like to check their mails. They have sat one by one and each one of them had checked their mails. The arrangement was that whatever was typed in the check boxes will be copied in a text pad document and will be saved simultaneously. So at the end of the day, all their username and password was in his hand. Just think of, how many times we have sat in a browsing center and checked our mails.





A few months back, one of my friends Gmail account was hacked.  His password was changed. Not only that, the security question was also changed. So he lost his mail id. To worsen it, he had only one mail id, which meant all his contacts were lost. So, have a back up mail id always.


We are very lethargic in setting password. Please be very careful hereafter. Change ur passwords if they r too simple. Better Late than Never.

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