Webkinz sign in help and troubleshooting

Webkinz pets are plush pets that come with a secret code that you can enter on webkinz.com to play with a virtual version of the pet online. Webkinz World is a highly popular Internet destination since 2005 in the US and in other countries where the pets are sold in.

To enter the code, a Webkinz online account is required. Registration is completely free, but accounts are initially restricted. The registration of a secret code or becoming a deluxe member resolves those limitations so that all functionality becomes available on the website.

Limitations of free accounts:

2 room limit per pet
Number of items that you can store in your dock is limited
No access to KinzChat Plus, trade rooms, discovery zone, signature safari questions
No option to turn of 3rd party ads
No option to send items via KinzPost
Limited access to Arcade and Tournament games, Daily activities, classes in Kinzville Academy, jobs in the Employment Office, friends list, selection of items in W Shop, KinzStyle Outlet and Curio Shop

To sign in to Webkinz World click on the Log In link on the homepage of the service. Please note that Adobe Flash is required for that. If it is not installed in the browser or disabled, you need to install or enable the plugin first before you can log in to the site.

Adobe Flash

If you are using Google Chrome or Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8, you are using a browser that is supporting Flash natively. For any other web browser, download the latest version of Flash Player from the Adobe website. The site should recognize the browser you are using automatically and provide you with the correct download link automatically.

Sign In

Click on the log in link on the homepage. This takes you to the following page were you need to enter your username and password before you can start playing. The page displays options to adopt a new pet or use the password recovery and change options.

If you have forgotten your password you can have it reset by clicking on the forget password link. Here you are asked to enter the username that you use to log in and the secret code of a registered pet to do so.

If you can’t remember your username either, visit the following page and click on “I forgot My User name” here.

Here you are asked to enter a bunch of information including your pet’s secret code, your first name, birthday, email address the account was registered with and a captcha.

Remember that you need the secret code if you want to reset your account password or retrieve your username. Make sure you keep it safe at home so that you have access to it whenever you need it.

The remaining options, to begin playing, adopt a new pet and change the password become only available when you enter your username and password first.

Page loading issues

Sometimes you may only get a blank screen when you try to open the Webkinz website, or the page may load only partially. The first thing that you may try when this is happening is to press Ctrl-F5 on your keyboard.

This forces a reload of the page bypassing the local cache. If that does not work, try clearing the cache of your browser. How that is done is explained on the Technical Issues page on the Webkinz site.

Add multiple accounts to Google’s sign in page

So you have multiple Google accounts that you work with on a regular basis? Maybe a Gmail account for work and one for private messaging? Or a work and home Google+ or YouTube account? Or maybe your whole family is using one PC and sharing a single account on that PC?

If that is the case you may appreciate the option to add multiple accounts to Google’s sign in page. When enabled, it lets you stay signed in to all accounts and displays a selection screen on the sign in page that basically lets you select the account that you want to log in with.

First thing that you need to do is enable the feature here on this official Google account page. It displays a list of all current accounts, and an add link to add another user account to Google. You can add as many Google accounts as you like to the service. Each time you do that, you are asked to enter the associated email address, e.g. the gmail address or the email from another service, and the password.

Once you are done you can click on the email address at the top right to switch between accounts. When you select sign out, you are logged out of every account. On the next log in, you are asked to pick one of the available accounts and enter the associated password to complete the sign in process and access that account’s information on services such as Gmail, Google+ or YouTube.

This works best for accounts that are all associated with you obviously, since you do not necessarily want friends or family to access your private or work related accounts when they use the computer. To avoid this, I suggest you create accounts for each user on the system.

If you do not want to use the multi sign-in option anymore, you can disable the account chooser again on this page to do just that.

You can alternatively remove accounts by clicking on the edit button in the account list to do so. This option is only available if you are not currently logged in.

There are situations where you should not mix your account with someone else’s. Say you are at a friend’s house and want to check your Gmail emails. Instead of joining your account with the Google account of your friend, you could do one of the following things instead:

Ask your friend to log out of Google so that you can log in. Or ask for permission to sign out of the account.
Use the web browser’s private browsing mode if your friend does not want to be logged out.
Use a different web browser, or a different operating system account if available.

Remember to log out of Google whenever you are finished working if you are not working on your own computer. Google notes that you may log into some of their services and third party services without the need to supply a password to do so. The only way to prevent your friends, family or co-workers from accessing your account accidentally or on purpose is to sign out whenever you are not working on the computer.

Outlook.com Sign In Troubleshooting

Microsoft some days ago published a new mail interface on outlook.com that is said to replace the company’s own Hotmail email service in the long run. Existing Hotmail and Windows Live users can sign in to outlook.com with their old credentials, with Hotmail users currently having options to switch completely to the new email interface or to keep using the old interface for the time being.

Users may run into login issues when they try to sign in to their account on the new Outlook website. This guide looks at the most common causes, and provides fixes for these situations so that you can start using your Outlook.com account again.

Outlook.com sign in issues

Lets talk about the basics for a moment. When you load http://www.outlook.com/ in the browser of choice you will notice that it redirects to https://login.live.com/.. That’s perfectly natural and should not raise any concerns.

A Microsoft account is required to log in to outlook.com. Microsoft recently made a name change from Windows Live account to Microsoft account. It is only a name change though, and your Windows Live ID and password will just work fine on Outlook.

The page may sometimes not load correctly. You may see a blank page, a connection error, or a page that is not fully loaded. Sometimes, the sign in button may not work correctly as well.

Your best bet is to clear the cache of your browser to see if it resolves the issue. You can forcefully request to load the web page anew from Microsoft using the Ctrl-F5 shortcut. If you prefer to clear the complete cache, check out our web browser maintenance guide for instructions on how to do that.

If the page loads but you can’t sign in, you first need to find out why that is the case:

Can you remember the username and password, or have you forgotten both or one?
Do you get an error when you try to sign in to outlook.com?

After making sure that you are entering the correct credentials and noticing that they do not work, you should click on the can’t access your account link which opens a troubleshooting page that you can use to recover your password information and resolve your signing in problems. The first screen asks you to identify the sign in issues that you are experiencing.

What problem are you having signing in?

I forgot my password
I know my password and Microsoft account, but can’t sign in
I think someone else is using my Microsoft account

If you have forgot your outlook.com password you can use the first option to request a password reset.

If you are sure that you know your password and Microsoft account but can’t sign in Microsoft recommends to make sure that the caps lock key is not active by accident. If it is not, it recommends to reset the password and try again.

If your account has been hacked, or if you are suspecting that it has been, Microsoft recommends to first reset the password, and then select a strong secure password. The company furthermore recommends to turn on Windows Update if Windows is the operating system used, and to install up to date antivirus software on the system.

Signing in with a single-use code

A single-use code is a random code that is working once before it expires. The idea here is to use these codes to sign in when you are in public locations or on computer systems that you do not own and maintain. This may protect against keyloggers and network sniffers in these places, and is highly recommended to protect the account.

You first need to add a mobile phone number to your Microsoft account. Under Password and security info click the edit security info link, and click the Add button on the next page.

Please note that the mobile phone number you enter needs to be verified first before it becomes an active phone number in the account. This is done via an SMS message that you will receive on the phone. The message contains a code that you need to enter to complete the verification process.

Once done, you can always use the get a single-use code to sign in with option on Outlook.com and other Microsoft Account web pages to sign in using your mobile phone number and a one-use code.

Sign-in Tips

If you can’t sign in on the Outlook website, you may want to try signing in on another Microsoft Account website first. This can be helpful if the Outlook sign in form is not loading properly. Just head over to http://login.live.com/ and sign in there. Once done, try loading outlook.com again to see if it is now loading the mail interface skipping the login form.

Microsoft Account Sign In and Account changes

Microsoft is currently preparing the release of its Windows 8 operating system. If you have followed the news, you may notice that it will ship with a new start page that is fundamentally different from what you have been working with before.

One additional change is the integration of the Microsoft Account in the operating system. Microsoft Account is the new name for your Windows Live login. Windows 8 users can either sign in locally into the operating system or use their Microsoft Account to do so. If they select the latter, they benefit from cloud synchronization features that allow them to use their preferences and settings on all systems running Windows 8, even if they have never worked with a particular computer before.

Changes are not only coming to the SkyDrive or Hotmail sign in screens, but also to the account security as well.

Windows Live users previously were allowed to use passwords that had to have a minimum length of six characters. This has now been changed to a minimum length of eight characters which improves the security of the account.

Keep in mind that this does not affect existing passwords, but only new users who sign up for the first time and users who want to change their Microsoft Account password.

The change is currently underway and depending on your location in the world you may still see the old log in screens on login.live.com and not the new screens and account requirements. It is likely that the update is currently being tested and rolled out at a later time. It is almost certain that Microsoft will update the pages before the October release of the Windows 8 operating system.

So, basically you will see new sign in pages for Windows Live services like Hotmail or SkyDrive, and improved password rules when you change passwords or create a new account.

Things to do when your online account has been hacked

Up until now we have covered site-specific login guides and login related security tips here on the site. You find a selection of popular posts in the sidebar, for instance our Security 101 guide or how you verify that you are on the right website.

What we have not talked about yet is what you need to do when your online account got hacked. This does not necessarily have been your fault, as servers and databases can get hacked as well. Depending on how the passwords were protected and the password that you have used on the site, it may as simply as copying and pasting the password for the attacker, or near impossible to get hold of it.

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How To Configure Automatic Login into Windows 7

Automatic logins can speed up a system’s or website’s log in process significantly. You do however need to remember that it can also be a security risk, for instance if the computer is shared with multiple family members, accessible by others in an office, or if there is the chance that it gets stolen or lost.

If you are using a computer running Windows 7 on your own, you may prefer to automatically log in to the operating system instead of having to enter your account password all the time. This is first a manual task that slows down the login, and second something that is not really protecting your data from being accessed by third parties, as there are none who may take advantage of it.

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Facebook Security Settings Explained

If you are a regular reader of Loginhelper you know that security does not end with the selection of a strong account password. The password may be the most important aspect, but there are other factors to consider. This includes making sure you are on the right site before you key in your login name and password, or protecting your email account that is connected to Facebook.

Facebook’s Security Settings can further improve your security when interacting with the social networking site. This short guide looks at all available options, and explains how to best configure the settings to protect your Facebook account.

You can load this page or click on the down arrow, select Account Settings and then Security to open the settings page.

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Why You Should Enable 2-Factor Authentication Whenever Possible

We have seen many attacks on user account information in the past years. These kind of attacks have increased as the Internet moved forward to become everyone’s favorite pasttime, and even more than that. Attackers are still making use of phishing attacks, mostly by sending out mass mails, to steal login, financial and identity related information. A second group has moved on though and started to hack the servers and websites directly to download their databases.

With part of the user base selecting weak passwords, it is easy to parse through the database to get a list of working passwords in record time.

Good security begins with a strong password. Opinions differ a lot when it comes to the definition of strong. Most agree that users should not pick dictionary words (like apple), first or last names, teams, brands or other words that may make their way on a word list. If you are asking me, I’d say your password should at least have 12 characters, and if possible at least one upper char, one lower char, one number and one special char. Tgo5ggg3dc_rr4 would be a strong password.

Strong passwords are just the beginning though. Some websites for instance may save your password in plain text. It is a security taboo, as it provides attackers who download the site’s database with all the information they need to wreak maximum havoc on the site and its users.

That’s one of the reasons why 2-factor authentication is so important. This basically adds another log in layer to the login process. Facebook and Google make use of 2-factor authentication.

2-factor authentication

With 2-factor authentication enabled, you will receive a code on your mobile phone or device that you need to enter to complete the login process. An attacker who managed to steal your username and password, for instance with a keylogger, would not be able to log in to the site if the additional authentication step had been enabled previously.

Google users can enable 2-step verification in their Google account. This link opens the Account Settings page on the Google website

You need to click on the edit link next to 2-step verification to configure the security layer. Please note that you need to enter a mobile phone number during setup. This is the number that Google will send the codes to whenever they are needed.

I suggest you open the official announcement post over at the official Google blog site to read up on the instructions.

Facebook’s 2-factor authentication system works slightly different than Google’s. It only asks for a code if a user tries to log in from a new device. It is still important to activate it to improve the account security.

You can configure the feature here on Facebook’s Security Settings page.

Please note that you need to have a mobile phone number configured in your account to complete the setup.

Taking The Facebook Security Quiz

Are you worried about the security of your Facebook account? That someone might guess or steal your login for instance? We have covered all the need to knows in our Facebook Login Guide that details how you can make your account more secure, and how to recover it if you have forgotten your sign in information or if someone else managed to get into your account without your approval.

The Facebook Security Quit is a short quiz to raise awareness for security related issues on the popular social networking site.

Users of the social networking site can access the quiz on this page.

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Improve Your Sign In Security With Https Everywhere

One of the things that Internet users can do to improve their sign in security is to make sure that the sites that they connect to is offering connections via https. Why is that important? Because it encrypts the data transfer between the user’s computer and the server they are connecting to.

This protects the traffic from network snooping, for instance on public computer networks, by the Internet Service Provider or the government, as well as from attempts to tamper with the data that is send and received. HTTPS does not conceal the site urls that you access in the browser on the other hand.

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