Tips, tricks, tools, and techniques for Microsoft Office

Some utilities make you wonder -- how did I ever get along without this? Everywhere I go on the Web these days, from uploading files to reading the latest news on sites that require you to register -- I need a password. I've been using RoboForm faithfully since the first day I loaded it (the original review, from October of last year, is at http://www.officeletter.com/blink/RoboForm.html).

At its core, RoboForm (free limited version, $29.99 Pro version) senses forms on Web pages and fills in your user name and password; at new registration sites it can fill in more -- your name and address, for example. It can manage credit card data, too, though I'm personally not comfortable storing credit card numbers on my system.

Version 6 has just been released. There are scores and scores of changes -- http://www.RoboForm.com/beta.html has the full list. Suffice it to say that while the toolbar and other GUI elements have changed, there are a few new features that stand out for their usefulness.

Among my favorites: a password generator -- you tell RoboForm whether it can use capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters, and the length of the password needed (up to 14 characters), and the program will generate one for you. You can even specify that the program exclude similar characters (so you don't have to distinguish between the letter O and the number 0). Very nice.

The more sites I visit, the more passwords I accumulate. A new search feature lets me find passwords (and more) when I need them. I can also enter a few characters from a site (office for the The Office Letter, for example), and RoboForm displays a list of possible actions (visit the Office Letter site, visit the Office Letter Web-based e-mail reader, and so on) -- all from actions I've defined within the program. You can also enter a term into the search box and find the term using Google, or look it up in a dictionary.

Each member of your family can keep his/her own set of passwords for their favorite sites. Furthermore, each user can have multiple sets of passwords -- I use one to store my real information and another for alternative data (for example, it stores my hotmail e-mail account -- a "throwaway" account I enter into forms when I don't want any follow-up messages from a site or fear they might sell my e-mail address).

Among other new features in version 6: the ability to segregate entries into folders, compatibility with Mozilla/Firefox, an ignore field command (it prevents RoboForm from automatically filling in a field), plus recognition of form fields in Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and ICW instant messenger programs.

In version 5, when you re-visited a protected site, RoboForm popped up a window with your information; you then clicked on "Fill" or "Fill and Submit" (the latter option populated the fields and then simulated pressing the "submit" or "go" button or whatever the form needed to "enter" the information). In Version 6, there are now options to simply automatically fill the form -- no more distracting pop-up window.

All in all, the upgrade is a nice-to-have, though not essential, improvement. If you are entering user IDs and passwords by hand, or entering your name and address frequently on Web forms, RoboForm should be on your system. Try the free version to get the hang of things; it may be all you need. The Pro version is more versatile, and you'll easily save the $30 price tag in time savings alone (and then there's the relief from no longer having to remember all those different usernames and passwords); a list of the differences between free and Pro versions can be found at http://www.roboform.com/why-pro.html.

-- James E. Powell

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