I’ve been testing mobile broadband dongles all this week, so have been spending more time than is otherwise healthy delving around my wireless network settings (I know, the glamorous life I lead)

Yesterday, I came across a box that I had only given a cursory glance to before: the Preferred Networks settings, which can be found by clicking on Change Advanced Settings from your list of available wireless networks in Windows XP.

Stored in here was a list of all the wireless networks I’d hooked on to since I’ve had my laptop. The Wi-Fi hotspot at McCarran airport in Las Vegas used when I covered CES in January (OK, we do get a bit of glamour), the Pro Labs connection, the guest network at Microsoft’s offices. Anyone who rifled through my laptop would have a pretty good idea of where I’ve been for the past year. And what if a suspicious spouse stumbled across it and found a Wi-Fi hotspot at a hotel he/she didn’t remember you mentioning before?

How long before Windows is responsible for the first Wi-Fi divorce? I’ll give it six months.