Forgot My Password
Passwords
We utilize a very sophisticated security functionality provided by
Microsoft for log-in and password management.
In that system there is nothing we can do to retrieve your password for
you. There is only the following procedure for recovering from a forgotten user
name or forgotten password.
Did you forgot your User Name, or your password?
In either case your first step is to select the “Email a Password”
menu item. You will be asked to enter your User Name and click Submit. If your User Name is bad, you will be
advised immediately in the error message, and there is nothing you can do but
start anew
and create a new account.
If your User Name was recognized, an Email will be sent to you with a
new “Cryptic looking” password. With having
done that, your old password is now gone forever. Only the new Cryptic password will work with your User Name. Please
read the following:
User
name is OK, and I forgot my password
After requesting a new password you MUST use the password given to
you in the Email. This is because the old password has been changed to the
Cryptic looking password. Did you receive the cryptic password via Email? If not, the Email address on file for you is
wrong. Send us an Email and ask us to change your Email address. Assuming you did receive the new password,
you may either carefully type it in at your next log-in attempt, or you can
utilize a windows “Copy and Paste” procedure.
This procedure is explained below and is HIGHLY recommended for entering
this complex Cryptic password. Furthermore, you will have to do this a second
time in the following:
After you successfully log-in, the FIRST thing you should want to
do is change your Cryptic password to something easy for you to remember. On the menu bar you can do that by selecting
“Change a Password.” Follow the steps
to change your password. It will ask
you for you current password where you can again Paste (Ctrl-P) the Cryptic
password. Then, enter your new password.
I
did not succeed, and I followed the above steps
The above procedure will work for you if done properly. The only
stumbling block is getting that Cryptic password entered properly (and you will
have to do that twice: once to Log-In, then a 2nd time to change the Cryptic password to something
easier to remember). Attempting to
do so manually by trying to retype it from the Email is time consuming, error
prone, and frustrating. Please read below some tips on how to Copy and Paste. As a last resort you can start anew by
following the “New User” procedure to create a new account and performing the
(optional) authentication process.
Copy
and Paste
First, highlight the text you want to copy. The best highlighting technique is to place the cursor to the rignt of the last character you want to highlight, and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the highlighter to the left of the first character and release the mouse button. Make sure the highlighted text does not include a blank space in either the first character or last character highlighted. To copy the highlighted text, hold down the Ctrl key, tap the letter “C” and release the Ctrl key. The text you have highlighted will be copied into cyberspace in a place called the “clipboard.” You cannot see this clipboard. To paste what you have in the clipboard all you do is place the mouse cursor where you want the text copied and hold down the Ctrl key and tap the “P” key, and release the Ctrl key. After the Ctrl-C sequence you may utilize the Ctrl-P sequence over and over again as needed.
Having mastered the above, there is another way that usually works as well. Highlight as described above, click the right mouse button and a menu should appear with an option "Copy" for you to select. This does the same thing as a Ctl-C. When you are ready to paste just place the cursor, right click the mouse, and select "Paste."
This Ctrl-C and Ctrl-P (and mouse menu) sequences for Copy and Paste are common
throughout windows. It might be best to
practice this, for example, in a Word document, or in your Email editor to improve
your skills with practice. This will be
VERY useful to know how to do as it works everywhere in windows, and can be a
real time-saver for you in the future.
Test your Copy and Paste skills
Open your text editor (like Word) and type six asterisks (e.g. ******). Then from the Email where you received your Cryptic password copy the Cryptic password and paste it between the 3rd and 4th asterisk. There should NOT be a blank space (or anything else) between the 3rd asterisk and the 1st character of the Cryptic password. Likewise, NOTHING between the last character of the Cryptic password and the 4th asterisk. If this is not the case, you are highlighting improperly prior to the Ctl-C.