nav-left cat-right
cat-right

Use copy and paste to enter long passwords

One technique I use to enter long, complex passwords (which we should all be using) is to open Notepad from the Accessories menu and type the password there. Since we only see the asterisks (*) when we enter passwords, it can be extremely difficult to accurately type in some passwords with mixed case, numbers and other characters. The problem doubles when we have to enter a password two times in a row. Here's how I use the Notepad trick to circumvent this sometimes frustrating procedure:

1.  Open Notepad from the Accessories menu

2.  Type out the password and verify its accuracy

3.  Highlight the password with the mouse

4.  Copy it using your favorite method (Ctrl+C, Edit –> Copy, RIGHT click and copy, etc)

5.  Go to my web form or wireless security password box and click in the password box to get the cursor positioned there

6.  Paste the password there using your favorite method (Ctrl+V, Shift+Insert, Edit –> Paste, RIGHT Click and Paste, etc)

That's it! Remember that you can paste the password as many times as you want to until you copy something else.

Related articles:

  1. Cut, Copy and Paste! – Video Tip
  2. Lose the ads in the Netscape Messenger (email) Preview Pane
  3. Stop the Windows password screen
  4. Remove Password at Startup
  5. Cleaning up Headers in Email

2 Responses to “Use copy and paste to enter long passwords”

  1. Axelde says:

    See:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2007/may/17/isitmoresecuretocopyand

    QUOTE: It’s often convenient to paste in passwords but this would defeat only the simplest keylogging malware. It is trivially easy to capture the contents of the Windows clipboard.

    Therefore this could pose a major security risk!!

Leave a Reply