Tip of the week # 534
10 February 2018


Trick to remember you changed your password (Microsoft Windows) *

Do you work somewhere where your password expires after a certain number of days? If so, you might habitually enter the old password for the next couple of days. Obviously that won't cause any issues, but you might find it annoying. So if you want to stop yourself in your tracks, why not change the picture on the Start menu and Welcome screen. This way, every time you press CTRL+ALT+ENTER to unlock your computer you will see that new picture, reminding you that you changed your password. It does the trick for me.

Here's how:

  1. Click on the Start button or press the Windows (WIN) key and type account picture in the Search box.
  2. Click on the Change your account picture link (or simply press ENTER if the link is highlighted).
  3. Select the picture you want to use, and then click Change Picture. If you want to use your own picture, click Browse for more pictures, navigate to and double-click the picture you want to use. (You can use a picture of any size, but it must have .jpg, .png, .bmp, or .gif as the file name extension.)

I had to change my password where I worked last Wednesday and my picture is now Ricky Gervais' quote "Be happy. It really annoys negative people."

Related tips:
1. Tip 456: Change your picture on the Start menu and Welcome screen (tip_456.php)
2. Tip 210: WIN is for shortcut (tip_210.php)

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* Unless stated otherwise, these tips were written for Microsoft Office 2010.