To protect your privacy and MSN Messenger account it is important to change your MSN password from time to time and to choose a safe password. MSN Messenger uses a .NET Passport which can be used for several things like Hotmail, MSN Messenger, MSN Groups. In this article we will explain how to change your password, choose a safe password and keep it safe.
Changing your password is rather simple. But, before you start we recommend you to read about 'Choosing a Safe Password' below.
It is always important to choose a safe password for everything! If you refuse to do this you risk losing your password and with that your MSN Messenger account. A safe password is a password that is hard to crack and/or guess. Most passwords get out because they are simply guessed. For example when you choose 'password' or the name of your pet as your password it would be very easy to guess. Microsoft helps you by setting a minimum amount of characters for your password. But this is not enough!
A good method I often use when creating a password is the following. First try to find a small and easy to remember sentence with about 8 to 12 words. Now use the first letter of each word to create your own secret password. For example: "For I am using safe passwords nobody will ever steal my account" will make: FIamuspnwesma. Now to make it even better (harder to crack) we will replace some of the letters with numbers. Both the A's in our password will become a 4 and the E will become a 3. Our final creation: FI4uspnw3sm4.
If you can no longer remember your password or somebody has stolen or guessed it you can always try to reset it using the so called secret question. If you have lost both your password and secret question there is not much more you can do..
The secret question can be used to change your password. This can be useful when you do not longer remember it. But be aware! Other people can also try to answer your Secret Question and if you make it to easy to guess they can obtain access to your account and even close you out.