In order to keep your machine safe from attack, you need to protect all of its local accounts with secure passwords. A secure password is a combination of letters and numbers. It's something that would be very hard for you to forget, but virtually impossible for anyone else to figure out. If this password is forgotten, it cannot be reset. You may want to write it somewhere safe, but remember, if you write the password and keep it near your machine, anyone who finds it will be able to access all of your data and programs.

Windows XP

1. Restart your computer.
2. When the computer begins to start up, press the F8 key about once per second until the Windows Startup menu appears. If you do not see this menu and Windows starts normally, restart the machine and repeat this step.
3. Choose Safe Mode using the arrow and enter keys.
4. If prompted to choose an operating system, highlight the appropriate choice (there will probably only be one) and press enter.
5. When asked to log in, choose the Administrator account. If you are prompted for a password, one is already set. You may stop this process and restart the computer.
6. Go to the User Accounts Control Panel.
7. Confirm that the Guest Account is off.
8. Confirm that every other account is Password protected. For each account that is not protected:
   1. Click on the account.
   2. Click Create a password.
   3. Type a password in the first two boxes.
   4. If you wish, type in a password hint and click Create Password.
   5. When asked if you want to make files private, click No.

Windows 2000

1. Log into your machine as user Administrator.
2. If the Administrator account didn't require you to enter a password, press the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys and choose Change Password.
3. Go to the Users and Passwords Control Panel.
4. Click on the Advanced tab.
5. In the Advanced User Management section, click Advanced.
6. Click on the folder called Users on the left hand side.
7. For every account listed on the right hand side:
1. Highlight the account by clicking once on it.
2. Click Action and choose Set Password from the drop-down menu.
3. Type the desired password once in each box and click OK.

Using Strong Passwords

Protecting Your Password

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