Password Manager

[JCO]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is not
compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can use.
My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download. If that does not
work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password manager that
automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and options to what
credit card to use)

Thanks

 

[Ed Cryer]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is
not compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can
use. My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download. If that
does not work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password
manager that automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and
options to what credit card to use)

Thanks

No, no, no! Very dangerous! Leaves a lot open to simple hacking.

Don't be so damn lazy! And you'll be safer against identity fraud and
other ways of becoming poor very quickly.

Ed

 

[Antares 531]

No, no, no! Very dangerous! Leaves a lot open to simple hacking.

Don't be so damn lazy! And you'll be safer against identity fraud and
other ways of becoming poor very quickly.

Ed

I quite agree, Ed. The best method I've found for keeping my passwords
safe, yet easy for me to access is to use a familiar book for my
password characters. I prefer to use an old hymn book, then pick a
specific hymn for each site that requires a password. I use the page
number, the hymn number and the first letters of the chorus or
favorite verse. This can all be noted in a cryptic way such that no
intruder could figure out what it is all about, yet if I forget a
password I can look at this cryptic note and get enough of a hint to
lead me to the page/hymn number/verse that I had used. Then, it is
easy for me to refresh my memory and get the password information
right.

Gordon

 

[Bob]

IE Autocomplete

http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2007/02/15/configure-autocomplete-settings-in-ie-7/

 

[Bob Henson]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is
not
compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can
use.
My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download. If that does
not
work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password manager
that
automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and options to what
credit card to use)

Thanks

Roboform, assuming you're using IE or Firefox. The Free version only
does 10 passwords, but the paid one is not expensive. I wouldn't like to
be without it.

 

[JCO]

My only issue with this method is that every so often, you will decide to
clear everything stored. Then you loose everything. I guess, I keep
everything written down anyway....so it won't be a total loss.

Thanks (everyone) for the suggestions.

 

[Ed Cryer]

I quite agree, Ed. The best method I've found for keeping my passwords
safe, yet easy for me to access is to use a familiar book for my
password characters. I prefer to use an old hymn book, then pick a
specific hymn for each site that requires a password. I use the page
number, the hymn number and the first letters of the chorus or
favorite verse. This can all be noted in a cryptic way such that no
intruder could figure out what it is all about, yet if I forget a
password I can look at this cryptic note and get enough of a hint to
lead me to the page/hymn number/verse that I had used. Then, it is
easy for me to refresh my memory and get the password information
right.

Gordon

Nice one!
I feel like a beginner after reading this.
I have no trouble at all remembering PINs for bank accounts etc. But I
use the same password for quite a few things on the Net.


Ed

 

[Char Jackson]

Nice one!
I feel like a beginner after reading this.
I have no trouble at all remembering PINs for bank accounts etc. But I
use the same password for quite a few things on the Net.

Up above, you say that password managers are dangerous. (They're not,
when used as directed). And now here, you admit to using the same
password for multiple things, which is extremely dangerous. IMHO,
you've put yourself at an incredible disadvantage, security wise.

A much better game plan is to use a good password manager, (I use and
strongly recommend Roboform, which is excellent), and secure the whole
lot with a master password that only you know. Change the master
password often, but you'll need to remember it in order to access the
passwords stored within. Then, use the password manager's ability to
create strong passwords. Here again, Roboform shines with its ability
to create impossibly complex passwords that you don't need to write
down or remember because Roboform remembers them for you and offers to
fill in the blanks during future logins.

 

[Antares 531]

Up above, you say that password managers are dangerous. (They're not,
when used as directed). And now here, you admit to using the same
password for multiple things, which is extremely dangerous. IMHO,
you've put yourself at an incredible disadvantage, security wise.

A much better game plan is to use a good password manager, (I use and
strongly recommend Roboform, which is excellent), and secure the whole
lot with a master password that only you know. Change the master
password often, but you'll need to remember it in order to access the
passwords stored within. Then, use the password manager's ability to
create strong passwords. Here again, Roboform shines with its ability
to create impossibly complex passwords that you don't need to write
down or remember because Roboform remembers them for you and offers to
fill in the blanks during future logins.

This all makes sense up to the point where I begin to ponder the
problem of recovering from something like a hard drive failure that
lost all Roboform files and left me with no means for getting to any
of my password protected sites or files. How can one safeguard against
this?

Gordon

 

[Helmut Rohrbeck]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is
not compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can
use. My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download. If that
does not work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password
manager that automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and
options to what credit card to use)

No problem, you can safely use the Credential Manager in Windows itself
to store credentials, such as user names and passwords, in vaults so you
can easily log on to computers or websites. You cannot save data about
your credit card to use there, but you can normally read this on the
website after login, where you used your credit card before.

You will find "Windows Vault" in
"Control Panel => User Accounts => Your Account - in the left part of the
window, click "Manage your credentials".

Helmut [from Germany]

 

[Char Jackson]

This all makes sense up to the point where I begin to ponder the
problem of recovering from something like a hard drive failure that
lost all Roboform files and left me with no means for getting to any
of my password protected sites or files. How can one safeguard against
this?

Gordon

Simple! Just back up the Roboform password store. There are commands
to do it within the Roboform program itself, or you can just copy the
entire folder and put it somewhere safe. Other password managers
probably do about the same thing.

 

[Bob Henson]

This all makes sense up to the point where I begin to ponder the
problem of recovering from something like a hard drive failure that
lost all Roboform files and left me with no means for getting to any
of my password protected sites or files. How can one safeguard against
this?

Gordon

You can easily copy all Roboform's data files to any backup you like -
spare drive, USB stick - whatever. You can automate it with Synctoy
across a network even.

 

[Antares 531]

You can easily copy all Roboform's data files to any backup you like -
spare drive, USB stick - whatever. You can automate it with Synctoy
across a network even.

Now, this sparks another question! Could some intruder or hacker
somehow get to my computer and make a "backup" copy of my Roboform's
data file, then take this backup copy to a super computer and do some
master hacking that would reveal the entire group of passwords?

Gordon

 

[Bob Henson]

Now, this sparks another question! Could some intruder or hacker
somehow get to my computer and make a "backup" copy of my Roboform's
data file, then take this backup copy to a super computer and do some
master hacking that would reveal the entire group of passwords?

It uses AES 256 encryption which can't be cracked - if there is a weak
link it is your master password. You can make that as secure as you
like, but if you got Roboform to generate one for you, say, 32 random
mixed characters long and kept it somewhere safe ( assuming you can't
remember it) the probability of anyone getting at the rest is
non-existent - unless they beat the password out of you (known as
rubber-hose decryption ). In practice, I doubt anyone could crack a
much shorter, more memorable one without a Cray.

 

[Ed Cryer]

It uses AES 256 encryption which can't be cracked - if there is a weak
link it is your master password. You can make that as secure as you
like, but if you got Roboform to generate one for you, say, 32 random
mixed characters long and kept it somewhere safe ( assuming you can't
remember it) the probability of anyone getting at the rest is
non-existent - unless they beat the password out of you (known as
rubber-hose decryption ). In practice, I doubt anyone could crack a
much shorter, more memorable one without a Cray.

--

Regards,

Bob

Anyone with a long jumbled password will have to write it down
somewhere; and there's the leaky cauldron!
Now then, where does Jimbo always look before logging into .....?

Ed, on the other hand, carries his in his head. And that marvellous
combination of dendrites & synaptic gaps that the human cerebellum uses
is far superior to even AES 256 encryption, which will be open to brute
force attempts.

Ed

 

[Char Jackson]

Anyone with a long jumbled password will have to write it down
somewhere; and there's the leaky cauldron!
Now then, where does Jimbo always look before logging into .....?

Fine, then make it something that only you know and can easily
remember. How about the second letter of each word in the phrase "Ed
Cryer was born and raised in the south of Wales in 03 04 62 and
graduated from high school in 1980", resulting in a password of
'draonanhofan342nrricn9'. Hard for me to remember, but easy for you to
remember, if it were true. There are also other ways of generating
easy to remember (but hard to guess) passwords, built up from 3-6
shorter words. The beauty of password managers such as Roboform is
that you only need to remember a single password, the one that
protects the vault containing all of the other passwords.

Ed, on the other hand, carries his in his head. And that marvellous
combination of dendrites & synaptic gaps that the human cerebellum uses
is far superior to even AES 256 encryption, which will be open to brute
force attempts.

Negative, Hoss. The human factor is definitely the weakest link.
For most people, if it's strong enough to avoid being easily guessed,
it's too hard to remember, and vice versa.

A friend and I walked through the cube farm at work one day a few
years ago, (part of a security sweep, sanctioned by the boss),
counting the number of computer monitors with a yellow sticky note
hanging on the side with, you guessed it, the user's network password.
We didn't lift keyboards or open drawers, but I have no doubt we would
have found dozens more if we had. People, by far, are the weakest link
when it comes to computer security.

Having said that, though, the worst thing 'Ed' is doing is using the
same password over and over again at different sites. That raises the
odds significantly that eventually there will be a compromise, and if
it happens, the damage will not be contained.

 

[Stan Brown]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is not
compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can use.
My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download.

I strongly recommend KeePass (or KeepAss, as I like to pronounce it).
It stores user names, passwords, URLs, and any text you like. It can
automatically fill this stuff in when you hit a designated key
combination. It works out of the box with most sites, where username
[Tab] password [Enter], is the right thing, and you can customize the
sequence for the odd exception. Yes, it's 100% free.

http://keepass.info/

I learned about it through Lifehacker.com. I have a copy on my USB
stick, so that I can have my passwords for use on other computers.
(Yes, the database is encrypted, so even if I lose the USB stick
others can't access my bank accounts.)

 

[peter]

?Try Roboform..
not quite automatic you need to click the approriate
account/setting to let it do its job.
You will need to remember the Password to access Roboform though.

peter



If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate
"JCO" wrote in message
Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is not
compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can use.
My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download. If that does not
work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password manager that
automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and options to what
credit card to use)

Thanks

 

[Ken Blake]

I strongly recommend KeePass (or KeepAss, as I like to pronounce it).
It stores user names, passwords, URLs, and any text you like. It can
automatically fill this stuff in when you hit a designated key
combination. It works out of the box with most sites, where username
[Tab] password [Enter], is the right thing, and you can customize the
sequence for the odd exception. Yes, it's 100% free.

I use KeePass and like it too. I strongly second your recommendation.

 

[Lewis]

Using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits

I use to use Norton's Password Manager when running Windows XP but it is not
compatible for Windows 7. I was wondering if anybody know what I can use.

1Password. Might still be in beta for windows, but pretty sure it works
in W7-64.

My preference is to find a FREE one that I can download.

1Password is not free. I found it well worth the cost of two licenses,
however, which I then combined into a family license. They are having a
special right now, I think, 40% off.

If that does not
work, I'm not against purchasing one. I would like a password manager that
automatically fills in the Form (with name address, and options to what
credit card to use)

1Password does all that. It also integrates brilliantly with DropBox,
allows multiple "Identities" for auto filling, and works with all the
major browsers.