PassCrypt 2.1a

Overview

With all the passwords you have to remember nowadays and use in several different services, chances are that you’re going to mess them in your head and forget them sooner or later. PassCrypt is a solution to this problem, since it allows you to store your passwords and use them without even typing them! Your sensitive information will be safe in it, since it uses military grade encryption to protect your data.

Installation

PassCrypt’s installation procedure is no different from any other program’s installation. It has only basic configuration settings (installation directory, shortcuts) plus an option that asks you if you want PassCrypt files (.PC) to be associated with PassCrypt (it’s recommended that you enable this option). Then just wait for the main installation process to finish and you’re ready to use the program.

The setup package doesn't contain any malicious items or additional software (toolbars, etc.).

Supported operating systems are Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Interface

The program’s interface is simple and doesn’t confuse the user with irrelevant features and options. The welcome screen you see when you launch the software for the first time tells you that before you can start using the program you must create a master password that you’ll enter every time you want to access PassCrypt and a database (you can create many databases, each one having its own password). After creating the password you will be brought to the main window, where you can see a toolbar with a few buttons and 3 panes splitting the rest of the screen. The left pane holds password categories (Internet, Banking, Software, Email, etc.), the upper right pane lists all passwords in a category and the lower right pane lets you add comments. Between those two panes are two textboxes, one for entering URLs or program paths and launching them, and another one for sending email from your email client.

Pros

With PassCrypt you can create new databases that contain different sets of passwords. For example you can create a database for each member of the family, instead of having all of them in one database. Each database has a different password.

In a database, passwords are split in categories. The default categories are Internet, Banking, Software and Email. Each one includes different textboxes that better correspond to it; for instance, Internet category has 3 textboxes: Description, Username and Password, whilst Banking category has 6 textboxes: Description, Credit Card #, Bank, Account, Phone and Date Expires. You can create new categories or new textboxes in existing categories.

A built-in password generator is included that can create strong passwords for you. When using it you have the option to choose between two password types, secure and simple. In secure type you can define password length (and subsequently password strength), select what kind of characters should be used (letters, numbers and special characters), case (lower, upper or mixed) as well as add a text as a suffix, prefix or in the middle of the generated password. Simple type on the other hand is used for creating passwords that are easier to remember (words that include numbers).

Password information can be exported or imported.

Automatic form capture and fill-in are supported, but require an IE-based browser.

Cons

The main issue in the program is that it doesn't support any browsers other than Internet Explorer-based ones. This means that Chrome and Firefox users will not be able to use the automatic form capture and fill-in features. In fact, you can’t even download the program from the official website if you’re not using an IE-based browser.

Alternatives

Popular alternatives are KeyPass (paid), LastPass (freemium), 1Password (paid), Dashlane (freemium) and Clipperz (free, but not for long).

Conclusion

PassCrypt is a valuable software for storing passwords, but it definitely needs to be updated and support more browsers.