How to change your MSN Hotmail password (updated)

Your Dad's right: security experts recommend that you change your password periodically for accounts that you want to keep secure. If you use a Hotmail account as a secondary e-mail address, and you don't think it's likely that someone would break into your account and you wouldn't care very much if they did, then you probably don't need to change it often.

On the other hand, if you use your Hotmail account as your main point of contact, and if you have any enemies that you think might be trying to break into your account, it's a good idea to change your password periodically. If you think someone has gained unauthorized access to your account, the first thing you should do is change your password.

To set an auto-reply for your Hotmail account, first sign in to Hotmail, and then click "Options" in the upper-right corner, and beneath that click "More Options":

On that page, click the link titled "View and edit your personal information":

This will bring up the Windows Live "Account" page:

(I've blurred out my birthdate and secret question in the image, so as not to make it easier for people reading this page to break into my account -- I may not change my password much, but I am a little more careful than that ;-) ) In the "Password:" line, click the "Change" link, to bring up the change password page:

First, you have to enter your current password in the "Old password:" box. (This is to prevent someone from sitting down at your computer while you've stepped away for a moment, and locking you out of your account by clicking on the "change password" page and changing your password! By asking for your existing password first, Hotmail prevents people from changing your password this way.)

Then, type and re-type your new password in the spaces provided. Hotmail will ensure that your password meets their requirements (at least six characters, cannot be the same as your username/e-mail address, etc.).

The checkbox at the bottom, "Make my password expire every 72 days", may seem confusing. This doesn't actually achieve anything that you couldn't do yourself; it just means that after 72 days, Hotmail will force you to change your password, but of course you could do that yourself anyway if you remembered. This is for people who care about their account security and believe that it's wise to change your password, but don't trust themselves to have the self-discipline to go through the inconvenience of a password change 10 weeks from now. It's a bit like setting your alarm and then putting the alarm clock in the closet so that when it goes off the next morning, you'll have to get out of bed and walk across the room to turn it off, instead of just hitting the snooze button. Check that box if you think you need it!

After all that, click the "Save" button at the bottom to make your password change permanent. And don't forget it!

Bennett Haselton is a technology and political blogger who can also tell you how to bypass the 8e6 R3000 Enterprise Filter blocking program.