About two months ago, my home computer decided to experience a fatal error, do a system dump and not reload again. It had been acting up for some time, being slow, disagreeable and just cranky in general; popping up with all kinds of sarcastic and cryptic error messages. I thought it was just old and uncooperative. I had been more than understanding; I made sure that I started it up early, giving it plenty of time to load, relax and think about working before I would actually put it through its paces.

So, I found myself facing everyone's worst nightmare... a blank canvas and having to recreate all of my favorites after getting the computer back. Have you ever needed to dig through a pile of papers or sticky notes that were strategically hidden around the office for usernames or passwords? Or have you ever wasted time looking up forgotten web addresses? Fortunately, my system restore issue was less inconvenient because I had just recently started collecting all my website information into one little book. Here are a few things that I found had worked for me:

• Take the time to document your "favorites" and most useful websites that you use. If you don't want to do this on hardcopy, you can also create an account with delicious.com and bookmark your favorite sites online - so that no matter what computer you are using, your favorites and bookmarks will be available to you.

• If you document your username and password, sometimes it's best to write down a hint of what your password is rather than writing both side by side. This way if you ever lose your book, someone won't be able to easily access all of your account information but you will be triggered to remember what your password is.

• Whichever system you document this information in, be sure that it is in as inconspicuous location as possible, but in a place where you won't forget where it is.

• Most important, be sure to backup important files including the "My Pictures" and "My Documents" sections of your computer - just in case your machine decides to act up. I was so happy that I didn't lose my favorite moments as a result of the crash. Even the best computer technicians might not be able to save some of those precious moments if a virus or "fatal error" takes hold of your machine.

One item that is offered by AT-A-GLANCE® is the web address book or password keeper. It has many features that make it handy and useful for this purpose. Check it out and let us know what you think about this idea.