The problem with passwords

[AirGibson]

My problem with passwords is that, as all good geeks should, I'd prefer to use random passwords with a mix of letters and number while having a different one for every case where a password is needed (even forums like this).

In reality, there's no way I'd be able to remember them all. I still practice the cardinal sin of writing down several of my passwords simply because I can't memorize all of them or even using the same password for multiple programs / sites.

I've heard the suggestion of "Use a poetry book and take the first letter of each word from one line to use as a password. Then just use different lines for different passwords." That still leaves having to remember which line is used for which password and having to sift through a book every damn time you need your password.

I've heard the suggestion of downloading a password manager, but I haven't tried it, nor does such a thing help me when I'm on a different computer.

I've heard the suggestion of "Use a basic password for unimportant stuff, and then use random passwords for the important sites such as your bank, PayPal, etc..." but that's the problem. I've got too many "special" things to worry about with online banking with multiple banks, online investing, paypal, ebay, windows, network admin, etc...

What's a truly good solution to the age of 100 passwords (secure + convenient)?

 

[Calin]

A single password :|

 

[TrentSteel]

link

This is what I use.

I used to use FlexWallet, by Two Peaks Software, on my PDA (there is a desktop version bundled with it), but my PDA was stolen. Not my passwords, though! Ha ha! What I liked about keeping everything exclusively on my PDA is that access to it was so incredibly restricted, so at the very least I felt more secure (don't know if I actually was).

 

[AirGibson]

Yeah, I may try one of those programs. But since I don't carry a PDA, I picture myself sitting down to a friends computer and needing to access my webmail and not being able to recall the password since I don't have the said password storage program on that machine.

 

[TrentSteel]

Just buy a cheap flash drive and put it on there. That's what I do for when I'm not at home. It works great.

Crucial.com is selling 128MB drives for $17.99 shipped free. It's not the best price you'll find, but if you click through one of the ads here at Anandtech, you'll be contributing to the livelihood of the site. There are no rebates involved either.

 

[boomerang]

I used Password Safe for years until I ran across Personal Vault.

I warn you though it's not free. :shocked:

You can enter the URL of the website related to the password. I usually click on the password to copy it to the clipboard, click on the URL and click again to paste.

You can set up categories. For instance I have;
General
Financial
Shopping
Utilities
ISP
Travel and Software

I have about 200 passwords and the categories feature is a lifesaver for me as far as organizing them.

You can also have numerous databases. So you can hide the data for sites or what not that you may not want others to see. It opens in the default database, so it is easy to conceal the others. You can set up different login passwords for each DB, for more protection.

I heartily second the USB thumb drive and especially the Crucial. It has an area on the drive where you can securely store data. The perfect place to store the password program.

 

[dexmanone]

agree the thumbdrive approach, not to mention you can carry other items there as well. as Trentsteel said, support Anandatech if you can, but if you must be REALLY safe you can always get a thumbdrive with the fingerprint secrure stuff.

here's an example
THUMBDRIVE

 

[FlyingPenguin]

All my passwords and client passwords are in text files that I keep in an encrypted ZIP file on a pen drive.

No need for special software. I can read it from any computer that has a USB port and Winzip or XP's native Zip de-archiver.

 

[lansalot]

http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

Free. Open source. Secure. Keep it on your keyring, and copy it over to your HD every time you change something. Don't use the keyring itself as a pass-disk, choose a decent phrase instead.

 

[mauiblue]

I've been using Password Manager from Norton SystemWorks. It is very convenient and I don't have to remember all those passwords becuase it recognizes the sites that you have to input these passwords and enters them automatically. You can even backup the Password Manger file and restore it if you ever needed to reinstall windows.

 

[montag451]

Or....
Switch to Opera.

Stores your passwords safely, and is easy to access when you need it.
Make sure, if you do decide on Opera, to use different profiles for different users when you install

 

[pkypkypky]

whisper32 is what I use. Nice simple interface. Encrypts and saves usernames and pws into a file. If you're going to use a thumbdrive, I would suggest saving another backup elsewhere since flash drives get lost and do fail sometimes. I'd be interested to hear any comparisons on whisper and the above suggested software

 

[phatrabt]

Originally posted by: lansalot
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

Free. Open source. Secure. Keep it on your keyring, and copy it over to your HD every time you change something. Don't use the keyring itself as a pass-disk, choose a decent phrase instead.

^^^^^^

What he\she said!!!