When it comes to creating and using passwords, just about every security expert will tell you that strong, complex passwords are the safest.

A strong password is a password that meets the following guidelines:

• Be seven or fourteen characters long, due to the way in which encryption works. For obvious reasons, fourteen characters are preferable.
• Contain both uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Contain numbers.
• Contain symbols, such as ` ! ” ? $ ? % ^ & * ( ) _ – + = { [ } ] : ; @ ‘ ~ # | \ < , > . ? /
• Contain a symbol in the second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth position (due to the way in which encryption works).
• Not resemble any of your previous passwords.
• Not be your name, your friend’s or family member’s name, or your login.
• Not be a dictionary word or common name.(Source-StrongPasswordGenerator)

You can download applications or access online password generators that will help you compose a strong password. But what if you aren’t using your own computer, are alternating between Windows, Linux and Mac or can’t easily remember a password like “u65;+8)7VL83w)“? The site linked to above suggests the following mnemonic to help remember that password: “usher 6 5 ; + 8 ) 7 VIRGIN LAPTOP 8 3 weather )”. Sure, that looks like an easy thing to remember.

What I’d like to suggest is developing a fairly strong but easy to remember core password which gets customized for each site you need it for, making it unique and far stronger than the core password.

For this method you can use a core password that doesn’t meet the above criteria. As an example, I’m going to use a core password that consists of my age, initials and my birthdate. (Note, all of this information is easily obtainable and thus is not good for a password in itself. This is not a password I use anywhere.)

I want my core password to be 55JEC02031954. I can easily remember that. Since I still can’t believe I’m 55, I’m going to insert an exclamation point after my age, and a pointer to my birthdate. Now I have 55!JEC>02031954.

Now let’s say I want to register for http://jebersblog.com using my core password. Let’s add the custom characters that will be unique to this site. Using the initials suggested by the site name I come up with jb55!JEC>02031954. On the Lockergnome forum I would use lg55!JEC>02031954. For Friendfeed, ff55!JEC>02031954, and so on.

I only recommend using a strong but still breakable password like this for sites where you have no financial or personal information that someone else could profit from accessing. It should be sufficient for your WordPress blog, forum membership or sites like the Cutest Dog Competition, where you can register to vote for my beloved Cleo.

However, for sites like eBay, PayPal, your bank or any other site which requires much stronger protection of your information, I would suggest you bookmark Steve Gibson’s Ultra High Security Password Generator page.You’re going to get a password no one could possibly remember (for example: “>cr+q-kcKF9bBysCLbHdpVt(6\|r3fMV^~8%R.9^u<Mr(VPPH{1z;a4BhM`7@b[9) so you're going to have to record it somewhere. This is the weakest point of security when it comes to passwords. If you do have to write it down, keep it with you (not written on a Post-It note stuck to your monitor) and don't label it ("My bank password:...").

For even more security, do not let your laptop, or any mobile device, save your password for these sites, and change your password on secure sites frequently.

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• Three steps to help secure your site (owencutajar.com)
• Strong Passwords Not as Good as You Think (it.slashdot.org)
• The art of creating strong passwords (macworld.com)
• Got Problems With Wordpress Admin Password Reset? (mwd.com)
• The achilles heel of the Internet (blogs.securiteam.com)
• Keep a list of your important numbers with Password Keeper (bbgeeks.com)
• Do we really need passwords and PIN codes any more? (allaboutsymbian.com)

There are several small utilities that do a single job and do it extremely well. I’ve recommended a few of these and will post about more in the future.

Have you ever been typing away and accidently hit the CapsLock key with your left little finger, not noticing until you’ve typed out several paragraphs? Frustrating, right?

Well, reader Jeadly of the very popular blog Lifehacker has written a small app that disables the CapsLock key once you click it, and keeps it disabled until you click the Handicapslock icon again. It doesn’t affect the Shift key, just CapsLock.

All you have to do is download the application. There’s no unzipping to be done, the executable file is all there is. If like me this is something you’ll be using on a regular basis, either drag the handicapslock.exe application to your desktop or right-click on it and pin it to the Start menu.

I’ve been using this app for over a year now and find it indispensable. No longer do I have to worry about what my left little finger is doing over there.

Grab yourself a copy at Lifehacker and enjoy. This application works only in Windows.

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• There’s Finally a Use For the Caps Lock Key [Software] (gizmodo.com)
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• Use Caps Lock for Hand-Friendly Text Navigation [Downloads] (lifehacker.com)

Hardware drivers are programs, bundles of code that tell one machine (usually a computer) how to interact with other machines like printers, cameras, scanners and monitors that connect via a port on the computer.

One of the reasons Windows takes up so much room on your hard drive (Vista requires about 4GBs of disk space to install) is that Microsoft has tried to include many drivers for common hardware in the operating system. This means that when you plug your new monitor in, Windows will most likely have a driver available for it already available. Windows will search its installed driver database and apply the most appropriate one. It may not be the best driver for your device. We’ll get to that in a moment.

A common frustration with other operating systems like Macintosh and Linux is that quite often the best drivers are not available for those systems. Writing driver software is hard work, so it’s often performed only for the most popular operating system. Usually the code is propriatory. This means coders who want to write drivers for the Mac or for Linux can’t access the driver application in order to adapt it to a non-Windows system. Mac and Linux users are often forced to use generic drivers that don’t provide the functionality that drivers written for Windows do.

Many devices require specific drivers in order to access all their functions. Extra buttons on a mouse won’t work with generic drivers. Multi-function printers need a driver that tells the computer how to use all its functions. Generic drivers or drivers provided with Windows are usually not specific enough to get full use out of your hardware.

This is why I recommend checking, every six months or so, with the device’s manufacturer for the latest driver specific to your device. Go to their website and look for a “Downloads” or “Support” section. You should know your device’s exact model so you can download the driver best suited to your hardware. Most drivers download as executable files (.exe) that you simply need to click on after downloading. They’ll install the drivers and any additional software your hardware needs to function properly.

There are times you’ll need to reinstall drivers. You may get a new computer you want to use your current printer with or you may want to use your camera with your laptop. Maybe Windows just lost track of your device’s driver, or you’ve had to reinstall Windows and now need to reinstall all your hardware drivers. Sometimes you can’t even use your computer until you install the correct driver especially in the case of monitors or ethernet cards. You’ll need to use another computer to download those drivers and transfer them to the computer that needs them.

My suggestion is to buy a USB memory stick. A 2GB stick would likely work, but with prices low these days why not pick up a 4GB stick so you know you have enough space for all your drivers. Use a silver Sharpie to write “drivers” on it so you know it’s your driver storage device. Then download all the latest drivers onto it. Keep it in a safe place where you can find it when you need to install a driver onto your computer. Every six months or so update the drivers on your USB stick.

Using this tip can prevent a lot of frustration the next time you need the best driver for your hardware.

Microsoft has introduced a new way to analyze your system for issues and offer advice for correcting them.

With one click, Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services will detect problems on your machine and automatically fix any common problems that are found. Check back often as we are adding new Fix it diagnostic solutions all the time!

New diagnose and repair solutions

• Windows Vista Aero Glass visual effects are not working
  Automatically diagnose and repair problems when the visual Aero Glass effects, themes, and transparencies are not working on your computer.
• Printing problems and printing errors
  Automatically diagnose and repair when you cannot print, or for problems installing a printer, connecting to a network printer and related errors.
• Your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media
  Automatically diagnose and repair problems with your CD or DVD drive when trying to read or burn media in Windows Vista.
• Hardware devices not detected or not working
  Automatically diagnose and repair problems when the device manager does not detect your hardware, audio, USB and other devices, or when your devices are disabled or not working.
• Problems with sound and audio or no sound
  Automatically diagnose and repair problems with sound and audio on your computer or when your computer does not play sound.

(Note: You can only run this using Internet Explorer 7 or 8. It does not support Firefox or other non-MS browser.)

(Thanks to Greg Duncan and Corrine at Security Garden for the link)