Only The Best

Enough was enough. Between home and work, so many passwords, so many different criteria, just gets to be too much to remember. After reaching the breaking point, I went searching for a good password manager. What I found, was Multi-Pass. Note that there is a version 2.2 available, which some people may prefer. After using 1.2 and moving to 2.2, I immediately went back to 1.2. The newest version seems to be missing some key features, one of which being minimizing to the tray.

I didn’t really have any requirements when I began looking for a good password manager, and Multi-Pass has some features I never even knew I wanted. Multi-Pass has all of the required ones, as well as some features that set it apart from other password managers.

One of the best features of Multi-Pass is that passwords are never displayed. The app sits idly by as a tray icon which when double clicked prompts the user to enter a master password. After doing so, you are able to set program options and manage account credentials. There is an All Accounts submenu on the context menu that in my opinion could use some kind of organizational system. There is also a recent items list with a configurable number of entries. Selecting an entry from either list will cause the username to be displayed in a balloon while the password is copied to the clipboard. Initially this was an instant deal breaker. What kind of security can there be if passwords are just sitting in the clipboard?? This was answered 30 seconds later when a second balloon appeared reassuring me that the password had been ‘forgotten’. Sure enough, an attempt to paste resulted in nothing.

By default, the app will lock itself 3 minutes after use, after which the master password would need to be entered the next time you wanted to use it. This, as well as the duration before forgetting a password are configurable in the options. You may enter a URL for each entry stored with Multi-Pass. If the Activate account link option is set, when an entry with a URL entered is clicked, the URL will open in the default browser. Additional options include toggling the username and ‘forgot password’ balloons, and Drag & Login feature which I have not attempted to use yet. Enabling it causes a small target to be displayed. If a target is defined, presumably dragging the target to the window will have the same effect as selecting the entry from the tray menu.

The last options are toggling and length of the recent passwords list, and the master password. By default this is blank. Don’t forget to set it!

The version 2.2 mentioned previously is available here but this company does not appear to be affiliated with the author of 1.2. The design is very similar and it is likely this ‘2.2′ is a clone. Use it at your own risk.

For most applications, Multi-Pass is the perfect tool. But for some situations it just is not a good idea. One example, unfortunately my situation at work, is if you are using a clipboard recorder. I use a utility that records the last 20 items copied. Even though it is cleared from the clipboard after 30 seconds, the passwords remain in plain view if the history menu is visible. This program is good enough that I am going to see how much of a pain it is to clear my history after each use. This does give me an idea for a similar application but using a method other than the clipboard. Watch for it in the future!

I have not found an actual site for the author or this program. Currently the download link will take you to MajorGeeks.com.

Version 1.2 Download Page - Majorgeeks

Filed under: Security