Comments by "David M" (@DavidM2002) on "Ask Leo!"
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And, in a somewhat related thought, why do Windows apps have to store program files in different places ? Program Files, Program Files (x86), ProgramData, AppData, etc ? I'm not sure that I would call the DOS days as the "good old days", but if you wanted to move your program files, you just moved them. Today, if you even think about it, something will break. The worst part is that some, such as certain email programs, will store part of your data in one location, and other parts elsewhere. I don't always want to backup my entire drive, but if I don't, I might miss something important like my contacts which might be in Appdata.
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Start by never providing your Social Security number unless legally required. In Canada, we are not legally required to provide our Social Insurance number to anyone except employers, banks, investment brokers, or anyone who might be paying us a wage, dividends, interest, etc. There are a few government exceptions. But, many organizations continue to use it as a form of identification. I just refuse. I also, whenever possible, do not provide my date of birth. And, if I need to provide my DOB in order to complete an online form, I enter January 1, 1900 and have never been challenged. Obscure what you can so you cannot be easily cross referenced.
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Leo, the most difficult discussion that I used to have in my professional life was making my clients face their own mortality. Young or old. Getting people to plan for the inevitable is extremely difficult. I think you handled it beautifully. Now, if only people will take it to heart. More recently, I am currently executor for an old friend. She knew that her illness was terminal and I spent plenty of time with her counselling her on various matters including giving her a method to give me a list of all of her user ID's and passwords. She kept telling me how organized she was but never showed me the product of that work; I found it after she was gone. One person's best state of organization can be another person's total mess. This was somewhere in between. The one thing that I told her was to not only compile the password list but to test them. I think her idea of testing was her browser's internal database of user names and passwords because "they always worked in the past." Well, then didn't all work and I spent hours combing through some large inconsistent lists of passwords. For some, I never was able to find the correct login details. It could have been so much easier. So, make that list, test them, keep it updated, and review it with your executor. And, wouldn't it be great if browsers had a method of printing out a hard copy or PDF of that detail.
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Such an important topic. I normally do not backup my entire PC routinely. I have a couple of ways of backing up only my data to my NAS every day but backup the entire PC less frequently. And this means needing to know where your email is store on your computer ( assuming that's where it is.) I normally use Microsoft Outlook desktop version and have tested Thunderbird. In one or both cases ( I've long forgotten which ) it doesn't store the email in the Documents folder; it is stored in the Appdata folder. So, if you backup only your Documents folder, you're likely not backing up your email. I moved all of my email storage to my general data storage folder by re-configuring my email apps; the process can be a bit challenging. Also, be careful that you are backing up your contacts / address book because that is stored in a separate file. I will often back those up using the apps' internal backup function.
And speaking of backing up Leo, a worthwhile video to make would be on backing up various device configuration files. For example, I backup the config files for my various bits of network hardware that most of us have - routers, Network Attached Storage devices (NAS), etc. Also, many apps allow you to backup your configurations. For example, how many of us change the layout of our email programs, Excel, Word, etc. Those layouts can usually be backed up separately. Doing this has saved my bacon on far too many occasions. I back this up often. So often that I wish most devices and apps would allow us to schedule regular config backups.
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Most passwords have absolutely no value to anyone but me; passwords to Youtube, my various motorcycle forums, home workshop forums. Yes, I use the same password without a care in the world. Beside, who will be able to connect on forum account to another ? Anything financially related like my bank, Amazon, Paypal, get their own passwords. I've eliminated 90% of the passwords I might otherwise use. Also, you can use a two part password; for example ABC123-amazon, ABC123-paypal, ABC123-bank. Now you can be reasonably safe using that same password root across many accounts. Perfect ? No. But if any one account got hacked, I can change all of the others in pretty short order. Plus, all of my financial accounts send me an email any time I have a transaction and any time any of my profile details are attempted to be changed.
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