I would like to share with you my secret for never losing a User ID or Password on your computer - even if you suffer a hard drive crash.

It's true that many times you can retrieve you passwords or reset them, if you forget them.  But, it is time-consuming and frustrating to do so. 

Furthermore, if your hard drive crashes and you do not have your User IDs and passwords written down somewhere, you can lose access to some of your accounts forever. 

Just keeping passwords on a piece of paper somewhere is not good enough - it is too easy to lose it or accidentally throw it away.

That's why this system will save you both time and stress.  It is very simple and inexpensive to implement. 

All you need is a pack of 3" by 5" index cards and a rubber band.

Here's what you do:

Every time you sign up for a web site, pick up one of your index cards.

On the top line, write the address of the web site. 

On the next line, write down your User ID or the e-mail address you used to sign up.

Then write down your password.

If you want to be really organized, place the cards in a Rolodex file. 

This is a great way to store your sensitive passwords for your banks accounts and other sensitive information.