Changing Your Passwords

Everybody should change their Morehouse computing passwords at least every 6 months, preferably more frequently.

Password Strength

It's important to pick good passwords since they tend to be all that's standing between your data (or the school's data) and prying eyes. Do not use a password that is:

  • your name or username in whole or in part;
  • a set of numbers like your birthday, phone number, etc.;
  • an unmodified word in any language, particularly english;
A good password might consist of two things you can remember mixed up together and mangled a little. Say you know Joe and Amy, like the number 12, and are fond of the @ symbol. Mix up the case so that Joe is in capitals, then replace Amy's "a" with the @ and stick the 12 on the end: J@mOEy12.

Some computer systems let you use really long passwords, long enough that you could use whole phrases. The chances are very slim that someone will know your favorite passage from Finnegans Wake is Shall Ariuz forget Arioun or Boghas the baregams of the Marmarazalles from Marmeniere?. That sort of thing would be a decent passphrase.

Iff you're going to forget your password, write it down. The best place to keep it is in your wallet since you're used to keeping your money safe anyway. Don't write it down exactly, though. In the Joe and Amy example, maybe write "J and a, 2x6", to remind you how you made the password. For the Joyce excerpt, first letters might do it: "JJsafa".

Faculty/Staff Email

To change an email password for an email account @morehouse.edu, visit that domain's webmail (which is here). Once you log in successfully, go to Preferences and scroll to the bottom. There's a password changer down there.

Windows

To change a Windows password, log in as yourself and, once the desktop shows up, hit Control-Alt-Delete. One of the options in the resulting box will be something like "Change Password". Password strength requirements vary by the system or Domain on which you do this, but it's wise to keep them strong, as suggested in the email password section above.

Tigernet

To change a Tigernet password before mid-October 2006, hit Options on the left, then Password on the left. Once the new Tigernet appears, new directions will appear here.

Banner

If you'd like to change your Banner password more frequently than the system forces you to, just visit form "GUAPSWD".