eWallet unneeded?

[tah]

I've been using the trial version of eWallet and can't figure out why every review calls it a "must have". Sure it's got a slick interface and syncs with your home PC, but why not just enter all this data in Excel and password protect your iPAQ? Quite a bit cheaper too!

Can anyone tell me why this isn't a valid argument?

[Brad Adrian]

I personally believe that if you have a lot of passwords to store, you need some form of e-wallet. They not only help you organize your passwords, but they also provide an added level of security: the data is encrypted.

So, if you use one of the popular e-wallets, your passwords can be protected by three levels: Power-on password, password to open the wallet file and encryption of the data itself.

To each his own, but I perfer the organization and protection that I get from an e-wallet.

[Kati Compton]

I've been using the trial version of eWallet and can't figure out why every review calls it a "must have". Sure it's got a slick interface and syncs with your home PC, but why not just enter all this data in Excel and password protect your iPAQ? Quite a bit cheaper too!
If you're storing it in RAM you're probably okay... but I think I heard that some programs can cause havoc with the password protection of the devices, letting you cancel out of the password entry screen.

If you're storing it in the file store, someone can just hard-reset your PPC and get to the file that way. If you're storing it on a card, they only need to take the card out...

[Janak Parekh]

I personally believe that if you have a lot of passwords to store, you need some form of e-wallet. They not only help you organize your passwords, but they also provide an added level of security: the data is encrypted.
Just to add to this point -- the password protection on Office files is typically easy to crack. There's a ton of programs out there that do that (try a Google search). Commercial wallet programs use much tougher encryption.

--janak

[dean_shan]

I use KeePass (http://keepass.sourceforge.net/) for my password managment. It's free and has both Windows and PPC version.

[Rob Alexander]

You know, it's really all about what works for you. I've used eWallet for years now and it's one of my 'must have' applications. I have so much information in there that I almost never need (but is never easy to find when I do need) that you would probably think it was silly for me to take the time to enter it. But hardly a week goes by that I don't find the need for something I've tucked away in there. I love the look on someone's face when they say they need some obscure bit of information and tell me to email it to them, but instead I just open eWallet and give it to them right there. It's geeky, but I enjoy it.

For me, using this program is more about having my information organized in a way that makes sense to me than about security. Not that I don't care about security, but there are other ways to protect your information. And, yes, I could put the info in a spreadsheet, but then adding and removing individual entries would mean moving other things around... too much of a pain, and I'd never keep it up to date. I also like the way my information appears on the screen with eWallet. The cards are well-designed and you see what you were looking for at a glance. The design of a spreadsheet is great for storing a database record, but not really optimal for viewing a database record.

Then there are the little things. When I buy something online, I open the desktop eWallet and it has a nice little feature that lets you copy a single field (like the credit card number) to the clipboard for pasting into a web form. It even knows to take the spaces out of the card number for the paste. It just makes my life easier. Of course, I'm sure I'd also be happy with most of the alternative programs... this is was just the first one out and so I've never changed since buying it. So that's why I use it. But I still say, if a spreadsheet works for you, then save the money and use it. There's no point tossing your hard-earned cash away on something you don't value.

[Lex]

Tah, I've posted responses exactly like your question several times before; I happily used an Excel spreadsheet for all my passwords and account information and encrypted it with Resco Explorer. Each row was in alpha. order. (Tedious for entry of a new row.)

I switched to eWallet for two main reasons: I do like the interface better, and I can actually get to data faster with eWallet. This one surprised me but w/ Excel I had to remember how I entered a row. With eWallet (or its competitiors) if it's a bank account you open 'Accounts'; you don't have to remember that you called it 'My Account'. In Excel I'd have to scroll to the M's.