Passwords. Everyone uses them and everyone hates using them but like it or not they are essential to protecting your data (offline or online). I had a customer earlier this week who learnt this the hard way.
Said customer had a brand new Windows 8 laptop which he used for both work and home. He had set up a login password which he wrote down on a postit note and stuck in his desk draw in his study (he said he could never remember them).
I got the call this week to try and recover some files off his laptop as someone had reset it back to factory settings. It turns out that one of his kids was playing around on the system and inadvertently set the laptop back to factory settings hence wiping all the data. When I asked him how they gained access, the culprit popped their head around the door and said “Dad always uses password for his password”. I had to try really hard not to smile.
Luckily my client had a backup of his data stored at his works premises which he had forgotten about and the file he was looking for was still on it.
You need passwords to protect your data but just as important is your password must be something that is not easily guessed. And what ever happens do not store it in your desk. My client was very lucky, you may not be!!
About the Author
Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows and Linux based IT Support, laptop repairs and computer repairs to both business and personal clients in Stirling, Falkirk and Perth.
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