I use Windows 8 on a standard non-touchscreen laptop.
There is an option to Create a picture password described as "a new way to help you protect your touchscreen PC" by drawing directly on the touchscreen using gestures such as drawing circles and straight lines and performing taps on the picture rather than entering a text password.
Is it possible to use picture passwords without a touch screen since I cannot draw with my finger or tap the screen?
Picture passwords can be used on a non-touchscreen enabled device by using the mouse in place of physically touching the screen.
Clicking and dragging the mouse in a straight or circular motion before releasing the mouse button translates to a 'draw' gesture. Clicking and releasing the mouse button in place translates to a 'tap' gesture.
It is a little awkward but there is a margin of error built into the detection so as long as your gestures are near the originals in terms of location and length they will be accepted.
One thing to note is that three separate gestures are required to constitute a single picture password, the awkwardness of entering three different gestures with a mouse every time you want to log into your machine makes picture passwords better suited to touchscreen-enalbed devices only in my opinion.
Picture password in Windows 8 is supported for all devices including non-touch screen. However, whenever you draw a gesture using your mouse on the screen Windows converts it into a touch gesture. Well it's quite difficult to set up a picture password on such devices. I would recommend setting up a 'PIN' password. It's 4 digit passcode and allows you to login fast.
