Roboform Review in Writen and HD Video format.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Video Review HD

for the best looking picture click HD and view fullscreen.

http://www.roboform.com

For those of you who aren't to keen in watching video reviews, I thought I would also include a short write up in conjunction with the video review. For the video review please proceed to the bottom of the page.

It wasn't so long ago that I used the same password for almost every website. For a while I tried Leo's Leporte's method of hashing the site name to create a unique password, using a plug-in for Firefox called "Password Hasher". That worked great for the most part. The only problem I ran into was that I wouldn't always use it. So I lost track of which sites I used it with and which sites I didn't.

Then one day I was at a customer's house doing a computer repair. I asked him to log into his Hotmail account. He proceeded to click a button and type in a master password and then was automatically logged into his Hotmail account. I made a comment and asked him what he was using. He said "Roboform".

I had heard about Roboform before but had never used it. All I really knew about it was that you could use it to automatically fill in forms on a website. Boy was I missing out.

Yes, you can use it to fill out forms, but it also makes a fantastic, secure password manager. I know there are a BUNCH of free password managers on the web, but I feel this product has a few unique features that sets it apart from the rest.

First: there is a free version which lets you store 10 password. So if you have only 10 passwords, great. But I bet, like me, people on this forum have more than 10.

Unfortunately, if you want to store more than 10 passwords you have to pay for the pro version which is $40. But for me it was money well spent. Let me explain to you how it works.

When you first install Roboform it prompts you to create a master password. This will be the password you will use to access all of your stored passwords. I made my master password out of a sentence without spaces. Doing so gave me a password consisting of 22 characters which is also easy to remember.

You then proceed to sign in to your various websites. Each time, it is prompting you to save the password in Roboform.

It also has a feature that will automatically generate a random password for you. All you have to do is specify how long you want the password to be. Then roboform spits out a nice password filled with gibberish . You can then use that password to sign up for a new site or update the password of an excising one.

When you go to log back into a website that you've already stored in Roboform is when the magic happens.

Let's say you wake up in the morning and sit down at your computer to log into the New York times to check your morning news. You first launch your web browser (IE or Firefox). Then, in the drop down list of the roboform toolbar, you choose "New York Times". You are then prompted for your master password. Once entered, Roboform automatically takes you to the New York Times login page and puts your login credentials into the required fields and then it hits submit. All you had to do was select New York Times from the drop down list and Roboform did the rest.

You may be wondering, what happens if my computer crashes? What happens to all the random passwords you have created for all your various sites? Roboform gives you 3 ways to backup your passwords. Inside the "My Documents" folder there is a folder called "My Roboform Data". Inside that folder is a file representing each saved password. If one of those files is doubled clicked the master password is required. Backup that folder up and you are golden.

Roboform also has the option to print off a copy of all your passwords in a very well laid out format. You can then take that printout and put in a safety deposit box or safe.

The 3rd method is only available in the paid version. It gives you the option to sync your passwords to their server using a secure password. So if your computer were to crash, you would reinstall the software, reactivate the product, and type in your login credentials. It then downloads all of your saved passwords back on to your computer. I realize this goes against some peoples "Trust No One" policy. In that case, you can still use one of the other two methods mentioned above.

I hope this helps people on this forum generate and use more secure passwords

Now here is the video review

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

I need to clarify a few things that I may have misspoke about in the video

1) When I was talking about Identities I was referring to Profiles.

2) When I showed you the Roboform directory under my documents and you saw the file representing each password on my system. If you were were to double click each and try to open any of those passwords you would be prompted for the master passwords. So its not like someone could come over to your house, go in that directory and view your passwords. Just wanted to make that clear.

Edited August 17, 2009 by warwagon

[ROM3000]

Nice review warwagon. Very detailed. I myself use KeePass, but I like how RoboForm is integrated into your browser.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Written review also added

[deletedxyz]

Great review, warwagon. I never saw a more detailed review of a password manager. I wish there was a freeware alternative to this great piece of software.

[stevember]

Roboform has been on my must have list a long time.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I recently bought a fingerprint reader to replace having to enter a master password. I heard it works really well. I'll let you know how it works, it should arrive in a few days. This one is actually 64-bit compatible compared to what Microsoft offers.

[dmb219]

That's a very good review. I used Roboform Pro for years. A while back I tried LastPass and I like it better. It's easier, more user friendly and syncs passwords & data securely on a server. It's easy to re-install and get going again, also syncs 2 or more computers if you need. I know Roboform does that now but LastPass is a more streamlined program. It always seemed a challenge to get a new installation of Roboform running like the last one. Then there was the need to ask for more activations after a few formats.

[+Warwagon MVC]

That's a very good review. I used Roboform Pro for years. A while back I tried LastPass and I like it better. It's easier, more user friendly and syncs passwords & data securely on a server. It's easy to re-install and get going again, also syncs 2 or more computers if you need. I know Roboform does that now but LastPass is a more streamlined program. It always seemed a challenge to get a new installation of Roboform running like the last one. Then there was the need to ask for more activations after a few formats.

Does lastpass automatically take you to the site and log you in?

[dmb219]

You can set it to auto login or you can set it to fill in your info and you can login yourself. Each site is customizable in the "LastPass vault" as they call it.

[+Warwagon MVC]

You can set it to auto login or you can set it to fill in your info and you can login yourself. Each site is customizable in the "LastPass vault" as they call it.

I mean if i'm on neowin.net and drop down the list and chose amazon, will it automatically take me to amazon and log me in.

[fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj]

I mean if i'm on neowin.net and drop down the list and chose amazon, will it automatically take me to amazon and log me in.

Thats what the quick access bar at the top of most browsers is for.

[dmb219]

I mean if i'm on neowin.net and drop down the list and chose amazon, will it automatically take me to amazon and log me in.

Yes, it will do that when set to auto login.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Yes, the auto login is great.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I've been using roboform for years, love it.

nice review. I am more impressed by your review voice, lol, friendly, very easy to understand and learn from. - if that makes any sense.

Good job

edit: lol just noticed the dates on the topic, wow, nice revive.

Glad you liked it

I have a facebook group with all of my review videos (not split up either, or as I call them the director's cut edition) if you or anyone else is interested

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=130184507011136