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Windows tip of the week

How to deal with password reset questions


By Ed Bott


In recent versions of Windows 10, Microsoft has changed the setup process for creating a local user account (instead of a Microsoft account). Along with the account name and password, you're required to answer three password reset questions, from a list of six (first pet's name, mother's maiden name, and so on).


This precaution is fine for casual users, who will have a way to recover if they forget their password. But the questions are too obvious and easy to guess for use on a PC that contains important personal or business data.


You can't skip the questions completely, but there is a secure workaround: Lie. Seriously, Windows doesn't fact-check your responses, so create a three-word recovery passphrase and use those three words in succession as the answers to the reset questions. And if you want to eliminate the possibility that someone can break into your system even with those answers, go a step further: Mash the keyboard randomly for each "answer" (the more characters the better) and don't write any of it down. No one, not even you, will be able to guess those answers.

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