Douglas Godbey

As many of us know, coming up with a password can be a real chore. Then you have to be able to remember it! Actually, it isn't as hard as it sounds. There are several neat little tricks (or rules) used by the professionals that make password ... selection easier. Number one is to NOT use anything that someone could decipher by using personal information (names of your pets, parents, spouse, children, street you live on, etc). For example: use the lyrics of a song you like or use a catchy phrase that sticks in your mind. Take the first letter of the words in the phrase and stick a number in it ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ali H. writes: " Dear Infopackets Team, I've somehow managed to lock myself out of my Windows XP machine as my passwords no longer work (for both my user account and the administrator user). Is there any way I can login to Windows ... without having to reinstall or format my laptop? All my important documents are in my laptop. Please help! " Doug's Response: Actually, this isn't hard to get cleared up. First, you should try booting into Safe Mode. Doing so will let you into the system without having to enter a password. To do so: Turn on the machine. Press F8 repeatedly on the ... (view more)

Have you ever come across an ad for a software program that looks especially interesting? For example: an ad might claim that the program has won awards and is the absolute best at doing a particular maintenance task on your computer. The truth is ... that some ads can be very compelling, but often mislead users into downloading unscrupulous software. So how do you know if the claims true? Is the software legitimate? Is the software malware? How can experienced users decide -- and what about inexperience users? Well, I am going to tell you how I go about finding the answers. It is not difficult ... (view more)

As we continue wandering along, there is one area of Linux operation you need to consider before taking the plunge and installing one of them. In fact, there are lots of things you will need to learn and we will get to those later, that is a ... promise. But the one area we need to talk about, though, is Updates and the Update process. Issues with Windows Updates Thanks to Microsoft's repeated issuance of Critical Updates over the years, the mere mention of the word "update" paints an ugly picture in most people's minds. However, an update in Linux does not need to be either as scary, ... (view more)

In my previous article , we discussed choosing a Linux 'distro'. As I pointed out, the choice is highly personal and depends upon your needs. The next step of course is installing Linux. With that said, I've highlighted key differences between the ... types of installations commonly bundled with Linux distributions. The Linux Desktop: Choose between Gnome, KDE, and XFCE Let's start with the Desktop. There are several to choose from. If you were to ask twenty people that used Linux regularly, which they would recommend, you would get a handful of answers, but the two that would get the most ... (view more)

Linux is on the rise and we can all thank Microsoft for it! People around the world are tired of Microsoft's heavy handedness in their marketing ploys and in foisting off a lousy Operating System commonly known as Windows. After years of putting up ... with high pricing, program bloat, and the constant need to Update and Upgrade because of coding errors and insufficient operation, people are turning to Linux in greater numbers. Are you one of them? This article is offered to help you decide which Linux will be right for you and to give you a few resources so you can make an educated decision. At ... (view more)

I just recently moved to a new address; actually, I moved to the next county. ;-) In the process, I had to drop my Internet provider (Yahoo DSL) and had to go with a local cable provider because of availability. The process was not smooth but it was ... eventually completed and I was back online once all the pieces were connected together. I got to thinking about the steps I took to reconnect my network of computers in order to share Internet, and came to the conclusion that the process was straightforward enough that article would be in order. With DSL access, your Internet provider will ... (view more)

Recall -- A few weeks back I wrote about 8 versions of the new Windows Vista (the successor to Windows XP). It appears that this was misinformation. The newsworthy story was leaked by an internal Microsoft site that was accessed by an outside ... reporter, who then dutifully told the rest of the world that there were 8 versions of Windows Vista. After three weeks, that internal site became unavailable, and Microsoft officially declared there were in fact 6 versions of Vista. The below information was taken from a recent Microsoft document . To clarify: " Microsoft ... will offer Windows Vista ... (view more)

A recent question raised a red flag in my mind. I think most, if not all, of you read my 'brief' description of about what happened to the missing 32 MB on a 512 MB Thumb Drive: Available Space Misreported by USB drive? Allow me to explain in ... greater detail. On a hard drive, thumb drive, or any other storage device in common use, the capacity displayed on the carton is the maximum 'raw' or usable number of bytes the device can hold. However, a device that 'says' it can hold 512 MB of data will not display the number 512 MB after it has been formatted. As stated in the previous article , some ... (view more)