Windows 10 How to Securely Manage and Backup Passwords Without Writing Them Down

[lorenkjr1]

I am getting to the age where I am forgetting passwords or logins sometimes to easily. Writing them down is not a great option because of lousy handwriting. Is there a way I could automatically save what I change, when I make a change so that I have a current dated backup or something like that? I have been using lastpass but, that may not be the best option for me. Appreciate any suggestions thank you.

 

[kemical]

Hi Lorenkjr1,
great to see you in the forum as always and just wondered if this was any help?:
Manage Stored User Names and Passwords in Windows 10

 

[lorenkjr1]

Thank you,
if I do not have another sort of stroke again, I hope to be back more often.

 

[pnamajck]

i had tried lastpass (lastpass.com/) in the past … but have stuck with password-safe (pwsafe.org/) for 10+ years. the software is user-friendly … crammed with options (additional versatility) for the advanced user … comes in different flavors … and seems fairly tight.

lose the pen/pad, lorenkjr1 … forget about notepad files … and, if i were you, i'd caution against storing passwords.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

You might try the free S10 password saver. It's local only, on your computer and not some Cloud-account somewhere on the Internet. I've been using it for about 5 years. I've got about 70 passwords for various websites I use stored in there. It's save me many many times logging into various websites when I really needed something. Oh, and you can export a copy of all your websites and passwords along with your notes to a notepad file and then printout a hardcopy. I do this once a year now, and keep a paper hardcopy of all my passwords from the S10 program in my safe, just in case my computer ever gets stolen, or catches on fire or some other natural disaster occurs. You can then delete the exported text file from your computer's hard drive and store that on a disc or usb stick in a drawer or the safe also; in this way no one can hack into your computer and get to the clear-text version of your password file. This goes along with what pnamajck said. And so far, knock on wood no one has yet hacked my S10 password program!

Best of luck to you,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I just do it the simple way, I created a document a long time ago, and put down every thing I log into in this format.

Example.

Lord of the Rings Online
JustJack
nodbucker1139

That's

Title of web page or software
My Login ID
My Password

I put them in alphabetical order.

It takes a little while to type it up originally, but then when I update or create a new account I just open the document and update it.
I save it in an inconspicuous location and I don't title it My Passwords and User IDs. LOL

I can remember what it's called and where it's at.

I don't put things like my bank information and things of a serious nature in it, those I print out and save in a location outside of my computer.

I'm 77, I need to use the list a lot.

It now consists of 2, 2 Column 8.5 by 11 pages.

Mike

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

I'm not personally comfortable with having any kind of document on my computer that has all this information stored in Clear-Text or even in a Word type document. There are search-bots out there that look for this type of file in Text files, RTF-WordPad files, Word Docs, or Excel Docs. It's unlikely that someone would get into Mike's or my computer network since they have been security hardened by years of experience in protecting our computers; but not necessarily so with the average home user's computer. During my teaching days, I was able to connect into home student's computers *with their written permission* to do a security breach check and was able to find online banking passwords, and remotely login that student's bank remotely, and throw it up onto an overhead projector screen in the classroom to demonstrate the possibility of this being done. That student and the rest of my class were completely flabbergasted at my ability to do this! This was an Advanced Computer Forensics & Security Class, so that was an appropriate demonstration. Most people have read about this sort of thing or seen it on TV. It's much more difficult than it appears to be, nevertheless, a skilled hacker or computer professional can do it, so you need to know about that.

I prefer to use programs that encrypt & password protect that type of information. That's just me. It's also a good idea as Mike says to keep really critical information off of your computer; but many people forget about doing this, say while they are on a Government site such as Social Security and save an online form that of course contains their Social Security number, and don't even realize that the form got saved to their computer after it was submitted to the Social Security people! It's still there on their computer, and they don't even know it. This is another good reason to have your computer gone over once a year by a computer professional to find stuff just like this, and remove it.

My 2 cents.
Cheers!
BBJ

 

[lko123]

Hi Lorenkjr1,
great to see you in the forum as always and just wondered if this automatic password to be madewas any help?:
Manage Stored User Names and Passwords in Windows 10

I found credentials are getting much better. I guess it's not that easy program because many programs allow for and thats not really a good idea at all. Be good, say Hi to Mike!