KEEPASS 0.93B (KP): 'Safe' is safe for all passwords

You are a computer user trying to memorize many different types of passwords, from user account login passwords in Windows, email accounts, FTP accounts to these types of services. Internet like payment or online shopping?

Unfortunately, for security purposes, you have used different passwords for each of these types of accounts.So, the worst thing could happen if you couldn't remember them.With KP, surely you will feel more secure in storing, managing and exploiting these kinds of priceless 'decisions' .

KP is a password manager of open source, allowing you to store passwords in the safest way. Its operating principle is simulated as a huge and secure safe so you can put all the passwords you are using. Every time you want to review them, you just need to use a unique password (key key) to open this safe. All data in the KP are encrypted using the most modern algorithms to avoid being "sniffed" and stolen by hackers.

With a small capacity and is ideal for downloading (only 550 KB), compatible on Windows operating systems like 9x / Me / NT / 2000 / XP, the completely free version of KP is available in the country. only: http://www.openwares.org/downloads/KPsetup.exe . The following is a suggestion on how to exploit key features in KP.

Once activated, the program's interactive interface will appear. Go to the File menu, select New Database to create a new database file that is used to store all your passwords in the future. The Create a new password database dialog box - the Enter master key will appear so you can initialize the master key for this upcoming database file. Please enter the desired password in the Enter Password box or use a password-protected disk in the Select password disk drive where the key will be stored and press the OK button to continue.

You should especially note that the password of this database file needs to be very strong to avoid hackers' hackers. Click Generate Random Password button to exploit the feature to automatically generate strong passwords for KP. The Password Generator dialog box will appear. Please check the options for setting up the password in the Password Generation Options area , specify the length for the password in the Number of characters box and press the Generate button to continue. The Get Random dialog box will appear. Click the As Random Source Use Mouse button and then randomly move the computer mouse cursor in the gray background until the clock below the Move item in the field above until this is full . Next, enter any number of characters in the Random keyboard input area and click the OK button to finish.

You will be taken back to the Password Generator dialog box. Look in the Your new password box to know your new password . Click the Accept button to accept this password or Cancel button to cancel and return to the dialog box Create a new password database - Enter master key to reset the password according to your wishes.

Next, the " Create master new password" dialog box will appear. Please enter the newly initialized password and then press the OK button to continue. You will be taken back to the main menu window in KP.

Immediately, the default group (default group) named General will be created in the form of a safe 'safe' so you can 'put' all the passwords in 5 sub-groups (subgroup) including Windows (the passwords you used in operating system-related applications), Network (the passwords you used in network-related applications), the Internet (the passwords that You used in Internet-related applications), email (the passwords you used in applications related to your email account) and Homebanking (the passwords you used in applications) credit-banking related applications). Click on the button with the + sign before the General group name in the upper left corner of the current window to expand and look through the 5 sub-groups as mentioned above.

To store one or more passwords in any of these subgroups, you need to create an entry for it by clicking on the desired group or sub-group name, accessing the menu Edit then select Add Entry . Add Entry dialog box will appear. Please make a proper and logical declaration of the required information such as the group or sub-group name for this record in the Group box, the icon representing the record in the Icon section (Pick One button), title for record (Title), computer user name (UserName), related Web site address (URL), password to be stored (Password), password re-enter (Repeat Password), records Other notes for the Notes, the date and password will expire (Expires) (if any) and the files you want to attach to this record (Attachment). Finally click the OK button to save the result.

To make some corrections to the created records, right-click on a record and perform the following operations:

a. Copy Password To Clipboard : Copy the password stored in the current record to the clipboard.
b. Copy UserName To Clipboard : Copy the user name stored in the current record to the clipboard.
c. Open URL : Open the Web page with the URL stored in the current record.
d. Save Attached File To : Save files attached to the current record to another location on the computer.
e. Add Entry : Create a new record for the password.
f. Edit / View Entry : Edit / Review the contents of the current record.
g. Duplicate Entry : 'Duplicate' current entry.
hour. Delete Entry : Delete the current record.
i. Mass Modify (All Selected) : Edit a series of records that you specify.
j. Find In Database : Allows the use of keywords to quickly search for records that have been stored in the current database file.
k. Find In This Group : Allows the use of keywords to quickly search for records stored within the current group.
l. Rearrange : Rearrange the current records in a specified order.

If you feel that the default General group is too small for the need to store a lot of passwords of all different categories, then create new groups by accessing the Edit menu and then selecting Add Password Group. . The Add Group dialog box will appear. Please enter the group name in the Group Name box, select an icon for the group in the Icon section (Pick One button) and then press the OK button to continue or the Cancel button to cancel.

To make some adjustments to newly created groups, right-click on any group and perform the following operations:

a. Add Password Group : Create a new password storage group.
b. Add Password Subgroup : Create a new sub-group of password archives.
c. Modify Password Group : Edit the current password storage group.
d. Delete Password Group : Delete the current password storage group.
e. Rearrange : Rearrange existing groups in a specific order.
f. Print Group : Print out the entire contents of the current password storage group.
g. Export Group To HTML : Export the entire contents of the current password storage group as an HTML file.
hour. Export Group To XML : Export the entire contents of the current password storage group as an XML file.
i. Export Group To CSV : Export the entire contents of the current password storage group as a CSV file.

In addition, users can set some other customizations in KP by accessing the Edit menu and then selecting Options. The Settings dialog box will appear and allow you to make the following changes.

a. Card Security (Lock workspace when minimizing the main windows): Remove the checkmark before this if you do not want the KP workspace to be locked every time you press the minimize the interactive interface window.

b. Interface Card (GUI): Select Font button: The font format is used to display the list of groups, sub-groups and records in KP.

c. Interface Card (GUI): Every second row has a different background color: Determine the background color used to display the line separator for each group, sub-group and record in KP.

d. Memory card : Clipboard item auto-clear time (seconds): Specify the time interval in seconds for KP to automatically delete all contents that are temporarily stored in the Clipboard.

On the next KP use, go to the File menu and select the Open Database item . The Open dialog box will appear. Please specify the path to the .kdb database file that has been created previously, click the Open button and then enter the corresponding 'master key' to start searching all the passwords again. It has been safely stored in this KP 'safe'.

The above is only a brief introduction of key features in KP. There are still many interesting things waiting for you to discover. Good luck.

Le Nguyen Bao Nguyen
(Member of Can Tho City Informatics Association)