[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Best Password Managers: Top 4 Reviewed here

[dczh]

They all look complicated, as I have many passwords and sites.
I have an Excel sreadsheet of passwords that is nearly six pages long in landscape orientation. I would not want to retype them. I have them sorted by password and by site name. They are arranged in a matrix form. Along with the differing rules for the password--some can be almost anything, some coan only be eight characters, some cannot take special characters, some only certain special characters, etc. Some expire in 90 days, some in 180 days, some never. (PC World password--who knows when it was last changed?)

[rogerms]

I use KeePass on three Win7 computers and on a Droid X, and Dropbox to keep the encrypted password file synced between them. It works very well. I only view passwords on the Droid X, and update them on the PCs.

[nvnusman]

When I just clicked on the "sign in to post a comment" link here, LastPast automatically logged me in. (This is a user-determined option.)

If I had not had this site in my LastPass Vault, when the sign-in screen had loaded, LastPass would have popped up a bar at the top of the browser window telling me it had detected a fillable form and offering to fill the blanks from one of my profiles, which I could select from a drop-down menu.

If there was a blank password field shown, LastPass would offer to generate a secure password, with selectable encryption strength.

If, as sometimes happens, a form was present but not detected, I could right-click on an empty field and the contextual menu would include all of the many LastPass options.

The sheer number of options and abilities left me initially confused, but there are tutorials available that help greatly. Once I knew what to expect, I tailored LastPass's actions to my browsing style.

To dczh with all those passwords, I'd say that there's no need to devote a long session of entering all those sites and log-ins. Just browse as usual and the first time you encounter a passworded site, log in as usual and LastPass will ask you whether to save the information.

The best response at that point would be to agree, then go to the site's "new password" screen and let LastPass generate a stronger random password.

In the course of your normal browsing, you will soon added your most-used sites to the Vault ... and maybe you will discover some of the rest have outlived their usefulness, anyway.

As far are replacing expiring passwords go, I bet LastPass will generate more secure replacement sequences quicker than you can, with three preset security levels as well as a customizable level.

I see that LastPass now offers all users, including the freeloaders like me, a dual-layer of authentication, using a printable randomly generated matrix (grid) of three-letter codes.

You can decide that, for sites you select, you need not only do you need to be logged in to last pass to have log-ins completed, but must supply the codes from four requested cells from the grid: In other words, even with your password, someone else would have to physically possess that matrix to pose as you.

The system is a free alternative to employing a hardware key, as available in the paid version.

BTW, the only connection I have with LastPass is as a free user who previously used a single password to log into Everthing!!!

[ChrisLoz]

Call me biased, but I don't really agree with the 'cons' for LastPass.

I think using your e-mail address for login is a smarter way than messing around with nicknames - nicknames are just as easily guessed as email addresses, plus you're much more likely to forget a nickname than you are your e-mail address.

Lastly, I fail to see how the download options are 'complicated'? https://lastpass.com/download

But I'll be giving the others a shot, so thanks for bringing them to my attention.

[Stevee99]

dczh, on 18 October 2010 - 12:12 PM, said:

They all look complicated, as I have many passwords and sites.
I have an Excel sreadsheet of passwords that is nearly six pages long in landscape orientation. I would not want to retype them. I have them sorted by password and by site name. They are arranged in a matrix form. Along with the differing rules for the password--some can be almost anything, some coan only be eight characters, some cannot take special characters, some only certain special characters, etc. Some expire in 90 days, some in 180 days, some never. (PC World password--who knows when it was last changed?)

[MrQwerty]

Um... where's the review of Verisign's product?

Go to pip.verisignlabs.com

Personally, I like their solution. It's easy, fast, internet-based, encrypted, secure, and it comes from a trusted name in identity protection. If you're REALLY serious about security, it integrates with Verisign's third-factor authentication products (i.e. key generating fob).

[TKOP]

I use the Sxipper Firefox addon and it works great!

[BGG001]

Must be a slow day at PCWorld for this to be the headline in my e-mail...

[Lobo553]

BGG001, on 19 October 2010 - 03:39 PM, said:

Must be a slow day at PCWorld for this to be the headline in my e-mail...

Why the sarcasm? I for one appreciated the information. But then again, I'm probably not as smart as you. Then again, I hope I never get so high and mighty that I feel that all other people who read this and benefit from it are beneath my expertise in computing.
Thanks PCWorld for the information!

[campbell2644]

Last Pass has worked fine for me for a year or two now across various Pcs. I mainly use Firefox but it's worked fine on Chrome and Sea Monkey too.

[HeatherR]

I started using a new program called Password Genie that I'm loving. It was only released a couple months ago, but I'm finding it to be very intutitive. I'm not a MAC user, so 1Password is out for me, and the other password managers I've tried tend to feel cluttered for me. With Password Genie I just go to a login site and it asks me if I want to remember my login information and then it always remembers it. And if I type something wrong, it recognizes it and saves the correct information. It's fast, simple, efficient and great for someone like me with a busy life that doesn't want to spend a lot of time messing with programs that are supposed to help me. And there is a free 30-day trial!

[dsscheibe]

I have been using RoboForm for a couple years now. I only use windows based systems and have Robform2go as well. It works well when I need to log into a site at work, I just plug in the USB drive and most of the time it automatically loads, some might have auto run turned off. My one complaint is for a program that started off as a form filler it does a poor job of recognizing a shipping address form. The ordinal form filler in Mozilla was the best one I've seen. I almost always ship things to work where I know someone will receive them. One thing the article didn't' mention is RoboForm uses another program called Goodsync to sync.
All total buying RoboForm, Robform2go on a drive and Goodsync cost me close to $90, though that was a one time fee and I've gotten free updates since I purchased it.
They also have an Online site which I haven't used.


I sync a copy to a NAS drive and sync my laptop from there. The USB drive I just need to pug it into the home system and update it from there. I don't find it that hard to use but I'm more of an advanced user. I'm the person that usually fixes other peoples minor computer problems at work, though that is not my job really.

[KristenSF]

dsscheibe, on 04 November 2010 - 08:47 PM, said:

I have been using RoboForm for a couple years now. I only use windows based systems and have Robform2go as well. It works well when I need to log into a site at work, I just plug in the USB drive and most of the time it automatically loads, some might have auto run turned off. My one complaint is for a program that started off as a form filler it does a poor job of recognizing a shipping address form. The ordinal form filler in Mozilla was the best one I've seen. I almost always ship things to work where I know someone will receive them. One thing the article didn't' mention is RoboForm uses another program called Goodsync to sync.
All total buying RoboForm, Robform2go on a drive and Goodsync cost me close to $90, though that was a one time fee and I've gotten free updates since I purchased it.
They also have an Online site which I haven't used.


I sync a copy to a NAS drive and sync my laptop from there. The USB drive I just need to pug it into the home system and update it from there. I don't find it that hard to use but I'm more of an advanced user. I'm the person that usually fixes other peoples minor computer problems at work, though that is not my job really.

dsscheibe,

FYI - Siber Systems is not rewriting their definition of a one time fee - and the new version 7 is considered a different app and they are charging existing Roboform Pro version 6 users a fee of $29.95 to upgrade (currently discounted by $10). I thought I had purchased a license that gave me lifetime upgrades - but that is not currently being honored by Siber Systems. I am switching over to LastPass - because of the mishandling of Roboform version 7. So, I am wondering about your opinion of Roboform in light of this change?

[Procky]

rogerms, on 18 October 2010 - 12:45 PM, said:

I use KeePass on three Win7 computers and on a Droid X, and Dropbox to keep the encrypted password file synced between them. It works very well. I only view passwords on the Droid X, and update them on the PCs.

I do the same and have recommended this approach to dozens of people and business clients over the years. The only complaint I know of is that one person said a KeePass installation >2.n crashed and was unrecoverable. I've used KeePass <2.n for over 10 years without incident.

My only reservation about KeePass is the inability to send a single record to another user.

[DogFather]

I have used eWallet by illium for a number of years. It was around before android phones and kept pace by producing a droid app soon after the droid smart phones hit the market which helped make my decision to go that way. eWallet does much more than passwords, it keeps track of credit cards, assets (serial numbers), email accounts, and more. Very flexible and secure; everything is encrypted. Generates passwords according following several criteria (you name it), which saves tons of time for us unimaginative perfectionists. Keeps in sync between computers and phone. And, the data isn't floating around on some server somewhere (India, China, who knows...). eWallet isn't free, like most good supported software, and illium has provided great support whenever needed.
Great reliable product, very surprised PCWorld didn't look at it. It would have displaced one of the "Top 4".

[graybeard47]

I was using lastPass until I ran across an article in the last 10 days that the program has a flaw in it that makes it very easy for a good hacker to crack: Sorry that I can't recall where I read it to post the referance.

[Themoulos]

KristenSF, on 03 January 2011 - 11:46 AM, said:

...
dsscheibe,

FYI - Siber Systems is not rewriting their definition of a one time fee - and the new version 7 is considered a different app and they are charging existing Roboform Pro version 6 users a fee of $29.95 to upgrade (currently discounted by $10). I thought I had purchased a license that gave me lifetime upgrades - but that is not currently being honored by Siber Systems. I am switching over to LastPass - because of the mishandling of Roboform version 7. So, I am wondering about your opinion of Roboform in light of this change?

Hi from Greece,

I have been using Roboform for around 4 years and I am very pleased with it's functionality. It was a disappointment to see that Siber Systems does not honour their agreement.
Pardon me if I am wrong, but I think the only REAL functionality they added is the synchronization (for which I already have GoodSync, also from Siber Systems and so don't actually need it as a feature of Roboform).
I will continue to use it (I have already paid for it...) but I am searching for a replacement. Therefore, this article was very usefull for me. Even more valuable are other users feedback. Thank you PC World!

This post has been edited by Themoulos: 10 March 2011 - 04:17 AM

[steve003]

I am iPad, Android, Windows and Mac user and I was in search of such a software that can serve me well on all these platforms AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IN MY BUDGET. 1Password is out as its very costly. I loved password Safe but there was no Sync. My search ended on WALLETX, which has everything in it and it serves me on all platforms. Thank you Sinew....