What's a Userid and a Password??? (2024)

A computer system uses userids and passwords together to grant access to the system. You need the correct combination of userid and password, to access your account.

So what's a userid?

The userid identifies you to the computer. Userids are typically some form of your name. (Your last name, for example). A userid must be unique throughout the computer system. This allows the computer to distinguish between you and some other person.One confusing issue is that different systems refer to a userid (the thing that identifies you to the computer) with different names. Some that you may run across are:

• Login ID
• Username
• Userid

But, they all refer to that special name that identifies you to that particular computer system.

Your userid is also used for communication with other people through electronic mail. Since the userid identifies you to the computer, it is natural for it to be used to identify you to other computer systems.

For example: The person Joe B. User could have this userid, "jbu3470". The userid is made up of the person's initials and the digits of some personal identification number.

So what's a password?

To prevent other people from using your account via your userid, you are required to have a password. A password allows you and only you to access the computer system through your userid. It basically proves to the computer system that you are who you say you are. So it should be obvious that you DO NOT GIVE YOUR PASSWORD TO ANYONE!!!