10 myths about Windows passwords

When I first clicked on this article, I expected to see yet another diatribe telling you to use numbers, mixed-case letters, and special characters when you created a password. Boy was I wrong.

Get past some of the geeky language and you'll find a truly eye-opening story about the security of passwords in Windows.

Some key points from the piece (at least, points that challenge the conventional wisdom of password security):

• Random passwords aren't necessarily more secure. Strings of garbage like Gh&739(*j are hard to remember, easy to mistype, and can be vulnerable to password crackers, especially if they are short.


• The most secure passwords are 15 characters or longer.


• Replacing an "o" with a "0" does nothing for security. Do you really think a hacker can't figure out to try d0g instead of dog? Adding a few digits to a cracking program is no big deal.


• Realistically, changing your password every four months is good enough.


• Documenting your password is not necessarily a bad thing. If a password is written down and stored securely (say, in a safe), this can be useful if an employee quits, for example. Many people store their passwords in a safe deposit box in the event of emergencies, so spouses or children can get access to bank accounts and the like.

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Yahoo! Tech

Watch higher-resolution YouTube videos with this hack

Any YouTube fans out there tired of its low-resolution videos? Personally, I'm still waiting for that high-resolution player the company promised some time ago. Many YouTube competitors, such as Blip.tv, have been offering high-definition content for some time so I'm puzzled by YouTube's late entrance into the HD arena, since the company is already talking about streaming live video.

Back in November Steven Chen said the company was testing a player that detects a viewer's connection in order to serve up high-quality videos, but if you can't wait until that's launched, there are a few things you can do.

Apparently YouTube stores videos in their native resolution, so by appending a few extra characters to the end of the URL, you can access high-quality videos instantly. I tested it, and it worked, so here it goes:

• By adding &fmt=6 to the end of the URL, you'll get a video at a 448 x 336 resolution, and audio at a 44100 Hz sample rate. The video still loaded fast for me, and I was able to see a better video immediately.
• If you want even better quality change the 6 to 18 and append &fmt=18 to the end of the URL. This changes the resolution to 480x360.
  

Example:
Regular video (320x240): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc
High-quality video (448x336): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc&fmt=6
Higher-quality video (480x360): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc&fmt=18

I'm not sure if this will work for all the videos on YouTube, but it works fine with newer videos. If you don't think you can remember those characters, you can download a Firefox script that automatically does this for you. Give it a try.

Related:
YouTube to Stream High-Quality Videos Soon
YouTube to stream video this year, maybe

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Yahoo! Tech

Is your password secure enough?

Password security is a biggie, which is why I like websites with a password checker that tells me if the password I'm choosing is weak or strong. I usually try to choose complicated passwords with numbers, letters, and symbols, but sometimes even those passwords can be weak.



If you're dying to know if one of the passwords on your list needs a makeover, check out this handy password checker over at Microsoft. The tool was actually pretty tough on my own passwords giving most of them a "medium" rating, which probably means I need to get a little more creative.

Passwords get rated as weak, medium strong, and best, and I was surprised to have a hard time achieving a best rating. After trying several passwords, the only one that got a "best" rating had a good mix of letters, numbers, and an underscore. I think the underscore is what really did it.
According to the site a strong password should:

1. Appear to be a random string of characters to an attacker.
2. Be 14 characters or longer, (eight characters or longer at a minimum).
3. Include a good combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

If you're getting a "medium" rating on all your passwords, maybe it's time to update them.
Related:
How to set up an intruder alarm on your email account
Tips to make your inbox less vulnerable to identity theft

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Yahoo! Tech

What is a firewall and why do you need one?

Of the many computer security measures available to end users, none is more confusing to the novice than the firewall. I can understand why. Unlike anti-virus or anti-spyware tools, a firewall doesn't immediately telegraph what it does. I wouldn't be surprised if many people thought it was designed to prevent fires inside your computer. (It doesn't.)

I'm writing this post for novices, so please forgive any over-simplifications. Basically, a firewall is software (or hardware) that blocks malicious attacks on your computer from coming through over the internet. But wait, you might say, don't most malware attacks, like viruses, come over the internet? They do, but the difference is that with viruses and spyware, there is generally some human interaction that starts the infection: You might open an infected email or visit a bad website, for example. Anti-virus software helps in these situations where you're actively involved in the process.

But believe it or not, many, many computer attacks come over the internet even if you aren't at your desk and your web browser and email client are closed. Thanks to the millions of zombie PCs in the wild, attack computers are constantly scanning the internet, almost at random, looking for unprotected computers to attack. These zombies continuously scan for security holes (and I won't go into the intricate details of how this works), many of which are caused by Windows. It's like walking down the street, trying all the car doors to find one that's unlocked. If your computer is connected to the internet, they will find you—fast. Before a firewall was added to Windows XP in Service Pack 2, it was commonly held that an unprotected Windows machine connected to the internet would be infected with some form of malware within 20 minutes and in some cases as quickly as 4 minutes. Just plug it in, and the bad guys do their work.

So where does a firewall come in? A firewall plugs the security holes I mentioned and blocks that bad, random traffic from coming through to your computer. Anti-virus won't help you in many of these cases. You really need a firewall to stop a lot of this stuff.

The good news is that you probably already have a firewall up and running. The best firewalls are found inside router hardware (either wired or wireless) that you attach to your broadband modem. Every router I've ever tried has the firewall turned on by default, but check in the configuration tool to make sure it is. It should be easy to find. You usually need not configure it any more other than turning it on.

Don't have a router? Turn on the Windows Firewall by going to the Windows Firewall control panel (in XP or Vista). It also needs no additional configuring, and in my experience it is just as good as using a third-party firewall software product. You do not need both a router-based firewall and the Windows firewall. One will do.

Once your firewall is on, you can largely forget it and let it do its work. You may not notice this silent friend protecting you in the background, but believe me, you'll notice if you turn it off.

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First Aid for Your Hard Drive

So you've ignored our advice about backing up your data, and now you're in trouble. Steve's got tips that can help.

You're doing OK, right? Your computing life has settled down; your machine is stable; and you haven't even considered upgrading to Microsoft's Windows Vista.

Then--oops! You spill coffee on your notebook. (Oh, you don't think that's possible? Read Amber Bouman's "Laptops and Liquids Don't Mix.") Or maybe there's a storm and a power surge fries your PC's hard drive.

One of our Windows experts, Scott Dunn, has marvelous advice on moving the folders that hold your data files off your Windows XP or Vista drive to simplify backups. You can read it in "Keep Your Data Safe by Reorganizing Windows' Folders."

I also have advice from PC World experts about what to do if your hard drive crashes--and you don't have a backup.

A medicine cabinet for your PC

Lincoln Spector, our jack-of-all-trades computing expert, tells you what to do when your Windows XP or Vista system refuses to boot. Get the details in "Diagnose and Repair an Unbootable XP or Vista PC."

It could be possible to bring a stalled hard drive back to life--at least until you can grab the data from it. Watch our "How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive" video for tips, including the freezer and Frisbee techniques. (Hey, it's worth a try, right?)

If you want to fill your toolbox with just-in-case utilities, browse our "Recovering From Disaster" download collection.

But honestly, do you really want to go through all that?

Dig this: If you think "24" took a turn for the boring last season, just be thankful that Jack Bauer isn't fighting terror in the age of dial-up connections, pagers, and dot-matrix printers. BTW, you'll want to turn down your system's volume when you watch this video. [Thanks, Jim G.]

Dig this, too: Have you ever wondered what a combat aircraft's cockpit looks like? Click on a plane to see the cockpit. [Thanks, Bob.]

Better back it up

Readers keep asking me why should they should bother backing up their entire hard drive.

Data's definitely important, but so are your favorites, the look of your desktop, the customized feel of your beloved programs, and Windows patches. Reinstalling and reconfiguring everything from scratch is a nightmare. The best, most staunchly conservative method is to back up the entire drive, with daily incremental backups of just the files that have changed. Mine's set to back up at 7 o'clock every night.

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From : MSN Tech

MacBook Air Versus PC Ultraportable Laptops

The MacBook Air is a stunner, no doubt, but it's going to be up against stiff challenges from PC notebook makers. Here are a few of the top ones.

The MacBook Air is Apple's first foray into a crowded ultraportable market that has seen its share of very light, very capable products from companies including Sony, Lenovo, and Fujitsu, among others. Here's a fast look at how they stack up.

The MacBook Air is lightweight and well-balanced—and one of our editors, Senior Product Editor Melissa Perenson, had no difficulties lifting this 3-pound notebook up one-handed. Unlike most notebook computers, the MacBook Air has a clean, tapered, uniform look when closed.

There is no optical drive in the MacBook Air, but that isn't unusual for laptops in this class. It has only three ports (a headphone jack, one USB 2.0 port and one Mini-DVI port), and no Ethernet—and its battery is sealed into the case. But its keyboard is already being compared to the popular MacBook and its large (for this class), 13.3-inch monitor boasts 1,280 by 800 resolution.


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How to Choose a New PC: 2008 Self-Help Edition

I will confess the response to my "how to ask for help in buying a new computer" blog post has overwhelmed me. Dozens of you write every day, looking for guidance. I'm happy to help, but a lot of my suggestions are applicable to many buyers. Turns out a lot of you want/need the same thing... even if your budgets are wildly different. With that in mind, here is some general advice that can help you determine what kind of computer to buy, or at least point you in the right direction.

Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux - Windows vs. Mac has long been a perennial debate, and it's still a personal decision as to whether that OS is right for you. But now desktop Linux is on the rise, complicating things even further. It's all very confusing, but here's some advice: Don't jump from Windows to a Mac or Linux without spending a little hands-on time with the OS, either at a physical store or a friend's house. Both are very similar to Windows in many ways, but some substantial differences remain. I regularly recommend both alternatives for readers, but not unless they've experienced Mac OS or Linux in the flesh first.

Desktop vs. Laptop - Most people know this answer coming in, but many are still confused about whether they should go portable. A key issue is price: Expect to pay an extra $500 for a comparably equipped laptop vs. a similar desktop (sans monitor). Is that premium worth it to you for the extra mobility? If so, make the jump to laptop. Don't forget, though: Your laptop will be dead after anywhere from one to three years of use, depending on how rough you are with it. A good desktop PC will last you five years or more, and even longer with appropriate upgrades.

CPU - I'm assuming we're talking a Windows Vista or XP PC from here on out, as that represents the vast majority of computer buyers. (Linux and Mac PCs have far fewer choices when it comes to specs, so just roll with what's available.) As for CPU, right now Intel Core 2 Duo is the way to go, especially on laptops. The AMD Athlon 64 or Phenom are still solid choices for desktops, especially if you're on a budget. Don't get Celeron- or Sempron-based systems if you can help it. Also, it's not worth buying the very fastest CPU on the market. A good rule of thumb is to get a CPU that is two rungs down from the top, speedwise. You'll be getting great performance at a very good price.

RAM - This one's easy. In the Vista world, you need 2GB of RAM. Less will slow down your computer. More will do you no additional good. Don't worry about the speed of the RAM, cache, front side bus, or any of that stuff.

Hard Drive - Even an entry-level drive is more than enough for most people, unless you do loads of video editing on your computer. Even starter computers usually come with 250GB of hard drive space or more now. Upgrade as you need it.

Optical Drive - Unless you are set on high-definition DVD, a dual-layer DVD writer (standard on most machines now) is all you need.

Graphics - Unless you're spending under about $1,000 (laptops) or $600 (desktops), avoid integrated or "shared" graphics. They will noticeably slow your system under Vista and any gaming will be impossible. You don't need to break the bank to get a good graphics card; an Nvidia GeForce 8500GT supports DirectX 10 and can be found for a mere $70, for example. PC makers tend to offer only a couple of video card options with new computers, so get what you can afford, Nvidia or ATI, as long as it's DirectX compatible.

Laptop Screen Size - 15.4-inch laptops are the mainstream now. You'll find the best deals on machines at this size. However, plenty of smaller options abound, at 14 inches, 13.3 inches, and even smaller, but I personally find the lack of screen real estate makes me less productive below 15.4 inches. Again, it's up to you... and remember that those sexy ultraportables have stripped-down components (to keep them light) and can cost much more than larger laptops. 17-inch laptops (aka "desktop replacements") are another option, but they are not terribly feasible if you travel with them.

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