RoboForm: Efficient and Convenient Password Management and More Installation and Setup Joseph Moran
Installation and Setup
Installing Pass2Go simply involves inserting a USB Flash drive (or similar media) and running the executable file. Because it doesn't actually install on a client computer, Pass2Go can run on systems where the user privileges preclude the installation of any software.
The first step after installation is to create an identity and enter all the personal profile information, which can range from mundane stuff like address and phone number to more sensitive data like credit card and bank account numbers. (All data stored by Pass2Go can be password protected and encrypted via DES or 3DES.) Thankfully, Pass2Go supports multiple identities and lets you easily switch between them, which is handy if, like many people, you access various web sites under a variety of pseudonyms and passwords in an attempt to keep spammers and crackers at bay.
Thanks to a rather quirky interface and some not-so-helpful help dialogs, the utility does take some getting used to, so expect to tackle a slight learning curve before being able to take full advantage of the Pass2Go features. And because it's never installed on a host machine, the utility isn't an official BHO (browser helper object) and thus can't integrate itself into the browser quite as neatly as similar utilities (including the conventional Roboform software). For example, whereas the RoboForm browser toolbar takes its place among others at the top of the browser, the Pass2Go toolbar must attach itself like a remora to the bottom of the browser window.
You can also access Pass2Go via a tray icon, but this method's command list layout is significantly different than that of the browser toolbar, making it tougher to easily locate functions if you are often switching between tray icon and the toolbar access (and occasionally the toolbar doesn't appear with or may disappear from a browser window).
As previously mentioned, the overall UI design is somewhat unintuitive and can at times be a bit confusing. Interface elements like buttons and fields don't follow the customary layout, and some functions are only vaguely described. A case in point is one dialog box that offers adjacent buttons labeled 'Never' and 'More' (shades of Edgar Allen Poe)? The product manual is somewhat helpful, but it doesn't adequately explain all the product features, and you must also be online to view the manual, which is available only in HMTL format.
