Having trouble organising the 'Mail' programme on my HP laptop which seems to be related to something very basic- my confusion about my password. I’ve worked out how to access it- from 'Manage Accounts'- and selecting an account to edit the settings. Selecting the Xtra account, brings up the Xtra Account Settings- including the password.
I also ensure that a list of my passwords is very carefully concealed behind stars/ symbols, etc instead of letters and easily recognisable words
This is where it gets murky as I'm left staring at a list of stars indicating the password- sixteen in total- but I have no idea where that password came from (I never use long passwords). Unfortunately, and unlike most sites I encounter, there’s no way of hovering over the stars to confirm the password is the same as the one I previously recorded.
By now of course, I'm thoroughly confused. Anyway, I deleted that password and instead used the one that I'd earlier devised and carefully recorded securely- but that didn't work! My question is whether the 'Mail' password relates at all to Xtra which seems to be implied by the ‘name’ of the password which was for ‘Xtra’.
I’m confused about the whole password issue- why is there no ‘hint’ phrase for instance to assist in situations such as I’m facing? Why no other way of solving the situation?
I will try and contact HP Monday tomorrow, but I suspect they will remind me that the warranty for the laptop and software (if that applies in this situation) was only for 12 months and that has now expired.
Any suggestions?

johnhb - 2020-12-06 18:25:00

try log into the xtra webmail to confirm the password is correct or not, you can also reset the password from there

https://webmail.xtra.co.nz/

The password is tied to the xtra email account, managed by Spark, so it must match the current password that Xtra/Spark have on file...

Edited by king1 at 6:38 pm, Sun 6 Dec

king1 - 2020-12-06 18:34:00

HP will not be interested. They made the computer and have nothing to do with your passwords or other issues. And it's completely irrelevant as any kind of warranty issue. So forget that avenue.

Can you access the Xtra mail account from this link ?

https://www.spark.co.nz/xtramail/signin

and if so does it sign in automatically without you having to type in a password ?

And if you can't then you can click the 'can't sign in' link and go from there........

nice_lady - 2020-12-06 18:38:00

Thanks for your suggestions but magic just happened and it came to its senses and just fixed itself. Thanks for your interest anyway.

johnhb - 2020-12-06 19:18:00

Hmm...

nice_lady - 2020-12-06 19:23:00

You can write down passwords in a notebook, as hackers can't access them, therefore are pretty secure.

tygertung - 2020-12-07 06:49:00

johnhb wrote:

I also ensure that a list of my passwords is very carefully concealed behind stars/ symbols,
This is where it gets murky as I'm left staring at a list of stars indicating the password- sixteen in total- but I have no idea where that password came from (I never use long passwords).

All software shows ***** by default when viewing logins.
Some have a "show password" feature - Thunderbird for instance....so it's not you.
Hardware manufacturers have zero interest in the O/S, software and the way you use it.
I suggest ditching Xtra (it's terrible) and using gmail instead.
And if you have trouble with remembering passwords, as has been suggested, use a notebook.

Don't have to write the entire thing...for instance someone I know uses one and has Uxxxxx3 written....because he knows whats between u and 3 I guess.
That way no-one can snoop through your notebook, or if it goes astray, no-one can use the passwords.

lythande1 - 2020-12-07 08:12:00

johnhb wrote:

I suspect they will remind me that the warranty for the laptop and software (if that applies in this situation) was only for 12 months and that has now expired.
Any suggestions?

As I said HP will not want to know. Warranty issues are rarely if ever applied to software and otherwise only applied to hardware - the physical bits of your computer. Also the manufacturer of the computer has no interest whatsoever in whether you're having troubles with passwords. It's completely not in their sphere of things they need to care about.

And also if you DO have an issue on ANY device or other product which MAY be covered by warranty don't just assume that because the warranty period has expired you can't claim. You need to do a bit of research on the CGA. Consumer Guarantees Act. Here in Nz, (and they have a similar one in Oz), this has great power to help you. We just got a full refund for a fitbit, (which carried a one year warranty), refunded under the CGA. It was almost two years old. Not the first time the CGA has helped us either.

nice_lady - 2020-12-07 08:41:00

johnhb wrote:

Thanks for your suggestions but magic just happened and it came to its senses and just fixed itself. Thanks for your interest anyway.

Y1u s3y p4n.

Edited by spyware at 8:55 am, Mon 7 Dec

spyware - 2020-12-07 08:54:00