Easy Password Keeper for Windows

As passwords have gotten more secure, they've also gotten increasingly complex and harder to remember. As a result, a crop of password-management programs has sprung up to help users keep track of their passwords without resorting to sticky notes on the sides of their monitors. Easy Password Keeper is a very simple, and not particularly intuitive, option for this task. It's not awful, but we've seen other programs that are both easier to use and more secure.

The program's interface is somewhat sparse, with a tree hierarchy down the left side with categories for passwords, Web sites, e-mail, credit cards, Internet banking, and mobile phones. We clicked on New Account and the program opened a wizard-style interface, asking us to select which kind of account we wanted to create and then asking us to enter the name, log-in information, and any additional comments. We were a little confused about what to do next; there was no OK button or other apparent way to proceed. We finally figured out that we were supposed to click the Apply button at the top of the screen. The program then asked us to create a password to protect all of the information we'd stored in it, and then we were prompted to select a location in which we wanted the data saved. Users can create numerous password files, making it easy for multiple people to use Easy Password Keeper. We do wish that the program had a Help file, and we were disappointed that it didn't provide any specifics about the type of encryption used to protect passwords. There's also no way to create customized account types, which could be a drawback for some users. Overall, Easy Password Keeper worked, but there are other programs we'd choose over this one.

Easy Password Keeper installs a desktop icon without asking but uninstalls cleanly.