Maybe the guy's caps lock is stuck. That would explain why his password is not being accepted.
Posted by: Tim Hohs at January 19, 2010 1:04 PM
Maybe this person just had caps lock down by mistake and didn't realize it when trying to login .
Posted by: John B. at January 19, 2010 1:17 PM
I disagree that the average user needs to change their password all the time. In fact, it might work against you. One just needs to use words that do not appear in any dictionary [make one up] and alternate it with numbers and symbols.
Something like: F#i*T!M&F09, is relatively safe, but your pet's name is a sure target.
Posted by: robert p at January 19, 2010 2:20 PM
I had this same problem just yesterday. I typed in my CORRECT password, several times, to no avail........then out of the corner of my eye noticed the "caps lock" was on. I took it off, typed in the exact same password, except this time all in lower case, and......everything was fine!
Posted by: Yup at January 19, 2010 2:32 PM
The best defense against hacking by someone is a pass PHRASE not a pass word. Most hacking tools rely on the dictionary and then some tried and true variations but a pass phrase [ believe it or not ] is much easier to remember [ especially if it contains NO spaces ]
Example: I used at one time in the past...
"youaintnotgunnagetanynonothingoutofmemate"
as a pass phrase. I challenged GOD to guess this with any engine on the planet. The phrase was easily remembered because it came from one of my all time favorite shows ' It aint half hot mum '
an english comedy series.
Pick a phrase that is long and drives you or everyone else nuts. Another example : " isaidlookisaiddarlisaidpetisaidloveisaidlook '
This methodology is damn near impossible to crack by guessing or any engine available within your lifetime. Long - yes, time to type it in - yes, secure - absolutely.
Posted by: John Neeting at January 19, 2010 4:22 PM
i'm jumping in cause i think someone needs to say this, which is that, i experienced hotmail giving me this message so consistenly for a very long time that i got use to having to type it in twice because it would work on the second try (always). I got tired of trying to find a fix for it as did others i would 'google'. i haven't had this problem since i switched from xp & firefox to win 7 & IE8. anyway, something was happening besides 'getting hacked' jim
Posted by: jim at January 19, 2010 4:56 PM
More to this than stating "Hacked or Caps lock on"
Recently installed W7 on another PC & can never access my existing hotmail account on this PC, (password incorrect every time) but have no problems logging in & out on the other PC. (Not a keyboard problem either as I'm using the same keyboard for both PCs)
Posted by: Grump at January 19, 2010 4:57 PM
@John Neeting
One of the ways that the programs crack the passwords is to string words and random characters together into pass phrases. I know that John the Ripper, one of the fastest Windows password crackers (cause its written in assembler and has no GUI, only command-line) can crack pass phrases by using dictionary words and stringing multiple words together.
Posted by: Pookey at January 20, 2010 3:43 AM
I'm with Jim - have had to retype the 'good' (same) password, second time always works, 1st time never. I'm on Vista, had the issue when I was on XP, and am NOT going to Win7 in the near future. It isn't (doesn't seem to be) a hacking issue. Hotmail just requires that second password entry. Nuisance!
Posted by: John B. Moss at January 20, 2010 9:33 AM
Sometimes I get that message and then if I try again it works.
Posted by: June Dushaw at January 23, 2010 8:19 AM
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Maybe the guy's caps lock is stuck. That would explain why his password is not being accepted.
Posted by: Tim Hohs at January 19, 2010 1:04 PMMaybe this person just had caps lock down by mistake and didn't realize it when trying to login .
Posted by: John B. at January 19, 2010 1:17 PMI disagree that the average user needs to change their password all the time. In fact, it might work against you. One just needs to use words that do not appear in any dictionary [make one up] and alternate it with numbers and symbols.
Posted by: robert p at January 19, 2010 2:20 PMSomething like: F#i*T!M&F09, is relatively safe, but your pet's name is a sure target.
I had this same problem just yesterday. I typed in my CORRECT password, several times, to no avail........then out of the corner of my eye noticed the "caps lock" was on. I took it off, typed in the exact same password, except this time all in lower case, and......everything was fine!
Posted by: Yup at January 19, 2010 2:32 PMThe best defense against hacking by someone is a pass PHRASE not a pass word. Most hacking tools rely on the dictionary and then some tried and true variations but a pass phrase [ believe it or not ] is much easier to remember [ especially if it contains NO spaces ]
Posted by: John Neeting at January 19, 2010 4:22 PMExample: I used at one time in the past...
"youaintnotgunnagetanynonothingoutofmemate"
as a pass phrase. I challenged GOD to guess this with any engine on the planet. The phrase was easily remembered because it came from one of my all time favorite shows ' It aint half hot mum '
an english comedy series.
Pick a phrase that is long and drives you or everyone else nuts. Another example : " isaidlookisaiddarlisaidpetisaidloveisaidlook '
This methodology is damn near impossible to crack by guessing or any engine available within your lifetime. Long - yes, time to type it in - yes, secure - absolutely.
i'm jumping in cause i think someone needs to say this, which is that, i experienced hotmail giving me this message so consistenly for a very long time that i got use to having to type it in twice because it would work on the second try (always). I got tired of trying to find a fix for it as did others i would 'google'. i haven't had this problem since i switched from xp & firefox to win 7 & IE8. anyway, something was happening besides 'getting hacked' jim
Posted by: jim at January 19, 2010 4:56 PMMore to this than stating "Hacked or Caps lock on"
Posted by: Grump at January 19, 2010 4:57 PMRecently installed W7 on another PC & can never access my existing hotmail account on this PC, (password incorrect every time) but have no problems logging in & out on the other PC. (Not a keyboard problem either as I'm using the same keyboard for both PCs)
@John Neeting
One of the ways that the programs crack the passwords is to string words and random characters together into pass phrases. I know that John the Ripper, one of the fastest Windows password crackers (cause its written in assembler and has no GUI, only command-line) can crack pass phrases by using dictionary words and stringing multiple words together.
Posted by: Pookey at January 20, 2010 3:43 AMI'm with Jim - have had to retype the 'good' (same) password, second time always works, 1st time never. I'm on Vista, had the issue when I was on XP, and am NOT going to Win7 in the near future. It isn't (doesn't seem to be) a hacking issue. Hotmail just requires that second password entry. Nuisance!
Posted by: John B. Moss at January 20, 2010 9:33 AMSometimes I get that message and then if I try again it works.
Posted by: June Dushaw at January 23, 2010 8:19 AMTo post a comment on "Hotmail says my password is incorrect, but I know it's right. What do I do?", please return to that article's main page.