Windows manages a user’s login credentials through the Credential Manager. The Credential Manager in Windows stores login information for any servers, network locations, mapped drives, websites, and various other software that you may access during the day.  Follow these steps to access the Credential Manager and find out what user names and passwords Windows is currently storing for you.

Start the Credential Manager by opening the Control Panel and navigating to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Credential Manager.

Here you can see the locations that Windows had stored the login information for a couple of network shares I have connected to.

Expanding each entry shows more information about it.

You can edit an entry to change the user name or password.

Or alternatively, you can delete saved login information.

The Credential Manager also allows you to backup and restore your saved credentials.  Simply click the Back up Vault button to save your login information to a .crd file.  This same file can be used to restore your saved credentials in the event of a problem.

Another way to access the Credential Manager is through the command line.  This works with both Windows XP and Windows 7.

Start by opening  a command prompt.  Type the following into the command prompt window and press Enter.

[code lang=”shell”]
rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr
[/code]

The Stored User Names and Passwords window will open, allowing you to perform the same functions as the Credential Manager outlined in the above steps.

The post How to Manage Stored User Names and Passwords in Windows Credential Manager first appeared on Techerator.

The following applications and services are free, easy to use, and absolutely capable of protecting your sensitive data from peering eyes.

KeePassX

KeePassX is perhaps the most popular method of storing passwords and is an open-source application available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  It can store a variety of usernames, passwords, URLs and more in a single, encrypted database. Being compatible across multiple platforms, the database can be easily exported, moved, and imported into KeePassX on other computers.

Password Dragon

You may consider Password Dragon a lightweight version of KeePassX. Also open-source and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, Password Dragon stores all of your passwords in an BlowfishJ-encrypted database that you can access with a master password.  You can also bypass the GUI and access your passwords via command line.

PassPack

You may be a bit weary of the concept of storing passwords online, but this can be an excellent option for those that need to be able to access data from any location, on any device.  PassPack offers both free and professional accounts for individuals or businesses, and allows you to securely share your passwords with anyone you wish.  For the security-conscious, PassPack provides disposable logins for use on public computers and two-factor authentication with a virtual keyboard to deter keystroke-logging programs.

So now that you know that there are free applications out there dedicated to providing you with an easy, secure method of storing your passwords, stop using Notepad and put your Post-its away!

The post 3 Secure Ways to Store Your Passwords first appeared on Techerator.

There are very simple reasons why password security is so important:

1) We can now access most of our private, confidential information online (bank accounts, email, and social networks), and

2) We’re lazy.

I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad with that last point. I’m really lazy, too. For years, I used only a few passwords and rarely changed them. It doesn’t take a long explanation to illustrate how dangerous that can be. If someone figures out your Facebook password and you use the same password for your email, the intruder can now log into your email and reset passwords for things like your online banking. And if you’ve ever wondered how embarrassing emails from politicians and celebrities end up getting exposed online, this is how it’s usually done.

A few years ago, I started using LastPass to manage my passwords, and it dramatically improved my online security. Password management software like LastPass lets you generate complicated, random passwords for each website you visit, and all you need to do is remember a single main password to access all of them.

While I love the idea behind LastPass, I haven’t been entirely comfortable with its execution. I made the switch to 1Password when it became available for Windows last year, and I’ll explain why it is a great idea, if you haven’t already done so.

1Password vs. LastPass

Although it wasn’t available for Windows until 2010, Mac users have been familiar with 1Password for quite a while. This award-winning password management lets you create strong, unique passwords, and locks them with a master password so you only need to remember a single password. Unlike LastPass, 1Password doesn’t have a free version, so why would I want to switch?

1Password lets me store my passwords locally

One of LastPass’s best features is that it stores your passwords online, so you can access them from anywhere by logging into your LastPass account. But even with amazing security, I could never feel completely secure leaving all my passwords in someone else’s hands, which is one of the biggest reasons why I switched to 1Password.

I’m braver than most technically inclined people I know, partly because I spend so much time using new technology that I have built up some sort of mental callus to its inherent risk, and party because I want to believe that most of these companies aren’t looking to screw over their users. But my paranoid tech-savvy friends aren’t wrong – we’ve seen countless examples of how companies have sold their customer’s private data for personal gain. And even if the company is 100% ethical, all it takes is for an unethical giant to buy them out and make dramatic changes to their privacy policies.

With 1Password, I can store my passwords locally on my computer so I never have to worry about a hacker breaking into a massive storage server somewhere in the world and potentially getting my information. This means I also need to be careful with how I store this information, but since 1Password encrypts everything it makes it pretty easy to keep your passwords safe. I love having total control over my data.

What if you need to access your passwords on multiple computers? This is a very realistic problem for almost all of us, and there are a few easy solutions with 1Password. You can use Dropbox, a super-easy file sharing program, to keep your passwords synced across multiple computers. And if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can simply save your 1Password files to a USB flash drive or portable hard drive to always have them handy.

Passwords stored with 1Password are already securely encrypted, but you can use a free application like TrueCrypt to ensure your passwords are inaccessible. The 1Password team wrote a great article about password security in cloud-based storage systems.

Great browser integration with hotkeys

This might seem a bit fickle, but I don’t think I could really get in the habit of using password management software that didn’t have an easy way to access my passwords and automatically insert them into my browser. 1Password has great browser plugins for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer, so I can log into my accounts effortlessly.

The best way to access your 1Password passwords in a browser is to use the hotkey CTRL + \.  When you press this key combination, a window will automatically appear prompting you to unlock your 1Password data, and after doing that you’ll see a list of any accounts available for the website you’re viewing.

When creating an account on any website, you should always use a unique, complex password. 1Password makes this very easy with their Generator option, where you can pick the password’s length and complexity. Since you don’t have to memorize it, why not make it as complicated as possible?

One of my favorite features of 1Password’s password generator is its Pronounceable option. This lets you create a password that is easily pronounced phonetically (and thus easier to remember), which is great for using services like Twitter when you need to log into mobile apps.

I’d rather pay for important software I’ll use every day

First off, LastPass does have a premium version that gives you access to mobile apps and better features. But it’s a subscription-based service, so this means you’ll have to keep paying for it as long as you want access to these features. If you ask me, I’m subscribed to way more services than I already want to be (Netflix, Audible, my mobile phone plan), and I really don’t feel like adding another monthly subscription.

1Password costs $49.99 (for Windows) which you pay once to completely own the software and receive all updates. And you know what? It’s completely worth it.

I use the same logic when explaining why it makes sense to pay for your operating system – this is software you’ll use every day, it will improve your life (I’m guessing you would be negatively affected if someone hacked your bank account because you were using insecure passwords), and its price is validated by 1Password’s high quality. I pride myself on supporting things I enjoy and improve my life, and I’d rather use the buy-it-once 1Password than a free version of LastPass.

1Password also has apps for Android, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad, so you can always access your passwords on-the-go. The 1Password mobile apps also support Dropbox, making it easy to keep your passwords synchronized on your mobile device.

Image courtesy: mbrand

The post Why I Left LastPass for 1Password first appeared on Techerator.

A feature that was added in the Firefox 3 release is the ability to update saved passwords for sites you visit.  This removed the problem of having duplicate usernames with different passwords.

But what if your username for a site changes? Without the ability to update the saved username, multiple entries are shown when logging in to a site.

Removing this old login information is easily done by following the guide below.

Instructions

Step 1: Open Firefox and navigate to Tools > Options.

Step 2: Click the Security icon.

Step 3: Click Saved Passwords… to open the Saved Passwords dialog box.

Step 4: Find the site you wish to remove by using the search bar at the top of the dialog or by using the scroll bar on the right side.

Step 5: Once you have found the site username and password you wish to remove, select it and click the Remove button.

Step 6 (Optional): In the event that you wish to remove all saved usernames and passwords, you can click the Remove All button to do so.

Step 7: Close the Saved Passwords dialog and click OK.

The removed username and password is not shown the next time you visit the site it was removed from.

Be sure to checkout the rest of our articles about Firefox!

The post How To Remove Saved Usernames and Passwords from Firefox first appeared on Techerator.

“This seems far too simple…something’s not right.”

Wrong.  The website is entirely safe to use, for your personal benefit only.  The creator, Mark Wales, assures you won’t be in any trouble in using the site – and he confirms your safety with the same light humor that the base page gives off.

It’s not hard to find anything you might be concerned about, it’s all below the text box when the field is empty.  The source code is also provided as a little bonus, so feel free to check it out! (Also notice how similar his favicon is to Techerator’s. Great minds think alike?)

Click here to read his rather funny FAQ.  And please, use his link below (or here) for Choosing A Secure Password if you’re given this notice:

The post How Secure is Your Password? first appeared on Techerator.