Windows utilities

Password Depot 6 is a Windows-only solution that integrates into browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox only) on installation, as well as the option for an onscreen virtual keyboard, which is more of a malware issue, but still pertinent to password security generally. The interface offers a lot of power, but it’s not the simplest solution to get to grips with — many of the other password solutions we’ve looked at have interfaces that are friendlier to the novice user.

RoboForm offers a variety of packages, from desktop password applications to browser extensions and smartphone apps at a variety of price points, although that only covers Windows, not Mac, where it’s a browser extension-only option. The full client, RoboForm Everywhere, includes browser integration and an online backup service for your saved password file with the option for a local backup as well. Layout is logical for setting up saved passwords, application licences and contact details.

AgileBits' 1Password originates from the Mac platform, but the developers offer up the package across a variety of platforms, including the PC. It’s a visually very appealing application that makes setting up your master password and then any additional passwords quite simple. It’s not just a tool for password management; a 1Password database can comprise software licences, online banking details or even just secure notes. Backup to the cloud is supported via Dropbox and there’s a variety of extensions on offer for multiple browser clients.

KeePass has a number of positive attributes for budget-conscious password management users. For starters, it’s free, it’s open source and it’s available across multiple platforms. It also supports a number of extensions that allow you to hook it into your browser, import data files into KeePass and so on. Our only concern here is the teams that develop the extensions are separate to the team that develops KeePass, meaning you could inadvertently introduce a backdoor of sorts into your precious password data. KeePass is small and easy to use, with only a few predetermined fields.

With all the recent hacks and web security woes, now’s the time to make sure your passwords are secure. Here we review seven affordable or free password managers that can help. They do this by allowing you to use, but not have to remember, highly secure and different passwords for every account you log into, from your email login to web site registrations. The passwords are all encrypted on your system and you only need to remember one master password to use all your other passwords.

A good registry cleaner is worth installing on any Windows system. The trouble is there are so many to choose from and not all are good. For this reason, we tested six of the more popular products: iolo System Mechanic, CCleaner, PC Tools Registry Mechanic, Eusing Free Registry Cleaner, Lavasoft Registry Tuner and RegCure.

Given that RegCure appears to try to hide the fact that you have to actually pay for the software for it to work properly, we were quite leery of this product. It looked somewhat like one of the many ‘scam’ registry cleaners around. Fortunately, our fears mostly proved unfounded. It did quite a good job of picking up registry problems, missing none of the errors we induced. It doesn’t do a lot more than scan the registry for errors, however, making it no better than some of the free tools available.

It’s one of the more expensive tools around, but we have to hand it to iolo’s System Mechanic: it does a great job. It picked up all of the errors we induced and some more besides. It could perhaps be over-zealous (apparently it was unhappy with nearly 350 registry entries), but it certainly didn’t damage our system in any way. It also includes more utilities than any other program we’ve seen.

One of several free tools we tested, CCleaner is a very powerful registry and system cleaner, exceeding the likes of Lavasoft and RegCure in terms of its capabilities, if not in ease of use. As the name implies, CCleaner’s primary task is removing private information, along with any trace of what you’ve done and where you’ve been. It does that extremely well, even getting rid of crash memory dumps and thumbnail information. The built-in registry cleaner also does an excellent job.

Fixing every one of the errors we created in our Windows registry and a few more besides, Registry Mechanic certainly does its job well. It scanned our system quickly and provided a nice, plain English list of the problems found and then fixed them. It doesn’t have nearly the range of tools we saw in iolo System Mechanic, but it’s no slouch when it comes to extra features. There’s a performance monitor, history remover and file shredder, plus a very handy manager for services, allowing you to quickly turn off Windows services you’re not using, and explaining what you’re turning on and off.