Crabby Office Lady

I get more frantic e-mail about password issues than any other single issue. The cold, hard fact is: I don't have your password. But usually, all is not lost.

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There are more reasons for forgetting a password than there are reasons for having one. Some passwords you may need:

• A password to send and receive e-mail.
• A password to protect a presentation, spreadsheet, or other Office document.
• A password for your Personal Folders (.pst) file (you know, the one that contains the backups of all your e-mail, Contacts, and Calendar items. The one I've been encouraging you to create?)
• A password to get you into the cave where a magical lamp is waiting for you to gently rub it so the genie who inhabits it can come out and grant you three wishes.

 Note   I can talk to you about the first three, but as for that fourth one, you're on your own (although I did hear that the password has something to do with giving a certain seed a directive.)

A while back I did a video that highlighted some of the funny e-mail messages I received from my readers who are having password issues. Take a look and then come back here; I'm not done with you just yet.

• View "I don't have your password" at 300K
• View "I don't have your password" at 100K
• View "I don't have your password" at 56K

Now that you know a little bit more about the kind of e-mail I get, let's press on.

When you start Outlook for the first time and set up your e-mail account, Outlook asks you whether you want to save your password so that you don't have to enter it every time you want to send or receive your e-mail. There are both good and bad things about doing this:

The good  You won't have to enter your password each time. This saves you time and finger use.

The bad  If you don't enter your password each time, chances are you will forget it and then one day, when something goes terribly wrong and you actually have to enter your password, you won't be able to and then you will blame me.

Heal your password blues

I'm the first to admit that Outlook has some...some... issues with regard to saving passwords. I don't know why this is, but there is a wealth of information on the Office Online site as well as the Microsoft Support site dedicated to helping you figure out any Outlook password problem you might have. To save you time, here are some links I've gathered up for you so that you don't get lost over there.

• I forgot my Outlook password
  Yes, this is an all-too-common scenario and a painful one at that. This article discusses both your POP3 e-mail account password as well as your Personal Folders (.pst) file password.
• Password setting not saved when connecting to a POP3 mail server
  Regarding e-mail passwords, if you're still having problems saving it (even after reading the first article in this list), the Microsoft Windows Registry setting might be incorrect on your computer. As scary as that sounds, this article will help you correct this behavior by stepping you through the process of removing your user account information from the Protected Storage System Provider subkey in the Windows Registry and entering your password options again in Outlook.
  
  As intimidating as that sounds, once you do this, imagine the bragging rights you will have: You will be able to casually say, to anyone who'll listen, "I did some work in my protective storage system today and whipped my registry back into shape. Now who's the boss?")
• Outlook 2002: MSN user is prompted for password that is already saved
  As the title implies, this article is for Office XP (XP=2002 in Office versions) customers; those of you running Outlook 2002 and using MSN e-mail. The crux is this: This problem was corrected when you installed Office XP Service Pack 1 (SP1). However, since SP1, there have been two more updates: SP2 and, yes, SP3. If you don't know which one you're running and which one you need, visit the Office Downloads Web site and click the Check for updates button.
  
  But like I said (again, and again, and...), if you turned on automatic updates, you should be all set to go, and should not have this problem with your MSN password and Outlook 2002, so you should not even be reading this paragraph. Scoot!
• Outlook 2002: You are prompted for a password for an e-mail account with a saved password
  While this password issue seems similar to the one above, it's not about MSN customers. This article talks about why this unseemly password behavior can occur because you have more than one account configured with the same server name, user name, and password.
• Microsoft policy on forgotten passwords
  Basically, this article tells you that we don't have your password, and Microsoft support professionals cannot assist, under any circumstances, in the breaking of passwords applied to files and features within Microsoft programs. This is a hard and fast rule that is never, ever broken. So don't even try.

Now, a few readers popped off some scathing messages to me because of what I said at the end of my video. I said that if you've lost or forgotten a password that's been applied to a file, it's gone forever; you can't retrieve that file without the password.

OK, that isn't exactly true. I mean it IS true that the Crabby Office Lady cannot help you find that password, just as it's true that Microsoft Office programs and their support professionals cannot help you retrieve that file without that password; however (as my outraged readers informed me), there are ways to get that file back. Lots of third-party products are out there claiming to be able to recover those lost passwords or lost files (or both).

 Caution    Sometimes these programs and these procedures just are not legal (not to mention ethical) and so I am NOT condoning this method of retrieving a lost file or password. And no, I don't know which ones are legal and which ones aren't. I'm just acknowledging the fact that, if we're getting nit-picky about it, you MAY be able to retrieve that file. I just don't know how, and Office products and Microsoft support people can't tell you how either. You're on your own. Proceed with caution. Better yet, write down your document-protected passwords and keep them in a safe place.

I've said this before...

I don't have your password. And in a previous column I said this, too, which still applies and so bears repeating: I know that we all have a lot of number combinations to remember: The PIN to get money from the magic cash machine; home, office, and cell phone numbers; security codes for our home, car, or daycare center; and the list goes much further on.... It's a wonder we can manage to find the ignition switches in our cars.

If you're smart (and I know you are), when you signed up for an e-mail account with your Internet service provider (ISP), you chose a really strong e-mail password that only you could know.

 Note   A strong password combines uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Weak passwords don't mix these elements. Strong password: Y6dh!et5. Weak password: supersecretpassword.

However, if you're smart and busy, perhaps that password dropped out of your pretty little head (along with the middle name of your youngest child) after bonking your head at Saturday night's calf catching event at the National Western Stock Show. And now, of course, if you can't remember your password, you can't get your e-mail; and if you can't get your e-mail, you're not going to be able to write your mother-in-law and ask her about that kid's elusive middle name. (Then again, you could look on the bright side of things: no more e-mail means no more spam!)

Here's the thing: Unless you've written the password down or it spontaneously comes to you tomorrow while you're at yoga class doing sirsha-asana (the headstand pose), there isn't any real way to retrieve it. It's gone, pal; get over it and move on to the next one. Chances are, you'll have to call the company you pay to give you access to your e-mail — your ISP — and reset your password. After that's taken care of, you'll need to update Outlook with your new e-mail account password. Then write it down and put it in a safe place, will you?

"I don't have your password. Microsoft does not have your password." — The Crabby Office Lady

About the author

Annik Stahl, the Crabby Office Lady columnist, takes all of your complaints, compliments, and knee-jerk reactions to heart. Therefore, she graciously asks that you let her know whether this column was useful to you — or not — by entering your feedback using the Was this information helpful? tool below. And remember: If you don't vote, you can't complain.

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