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JohnLondon001 · Jun 6, 2006, 07:06 PM

just trying to get used to my mac and all the forums i frequent on a daily basis. i find myself always having to request...lost password please send option. ....

MacManMikeOSX · Jun 6, 2006, 07:08 PM

The keychain, I say no more.

dreamryche · Jun 6, 2006, 07:15 PM

Keychain. It's a password-keeping function built into OS X.

What browser are you using? Some browsers (notably Firefox) don't utilize the Keychain. If you use Safari or Camino (which is a Mac-centric cousin of Firefox), the Keychain is integrated and you should get dialogs asking if you'd like to store your passwords.

TeamTC · Jun 6, 2006, 07:16 PM

To say just a weeeee bit more...

I'm not positive, but I don't think that Keychain stores Safari passwords by default. (Keychain being OS X's built in password-storing-organizing-whatever-utility).

You may need to go into Safari's Preferences and enable User Name/Passwords to be stored.

That is,

Safari>Preferences>Autofill>"User Names and Passwords" must be checked.

Chuckit · Jun 6, 2006, 07:16 PM

A lot of sites seem to have autocomplete disabled for their password fields. You can still manually store the passwords in your keychain, though. It's pretty handy.

monkeybrain · Jun 6, 2006, 07:17 PM

Doesn't Firefox also store passwords, but in its own database?

JohnLondon001 · Jun 6, 2006, 07:18 PM

hi thanks for the reply. i signed up for my free mac account, but how do i add new pw for all the websites i visit
?

Chuckit · Jun 6, 2006, 07:25 PM

As TeamTC said, go into Safari's preferences, click on the "Autofill" tab and turn on the "User Names and Passwords" checkbox.

jay3ld · Jun 6, 2006, 07:33 PM

Use keychain. I created a custom keychain for passwords that programs dont use keychain and store them there and get them when I need to and so It can be cleaned up and looks nice.

slugslugslug · Jun 6, 2006, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

A lot of sites seem to have autocomplete disabled for their password fields. You can still manually store the passwords in your keychain, though. It's pretty handy.

Saft allows you to turn autocomplete back on for sites that disable it, among a bajillion other little tweaks to Safari. There's at least one free program that does just the autocomple thing, but I forget what it is. Should be fairly easy to find via Google, VersionTracker, etc.

Whether you think using InputManagers like Saft or forcing Safari to ignore "autocomplete=off" attributes is a whole 'nother issue, but if you're okay with it, it's doable.

wataru · Jun 6, 2006, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by monkeybrain

Doesn't Firefox also store passwords, but in its own database?

Yes. And if you give it a "master password" (equivalent to the Keychain password) then it will encrypt all of your login data.

ghporter · Jun 7, 2006, 07:24 AM

I have a very nice little pocket notebook that I lock up in the file cabinet in my home office-that's where my master password list is. Keychain handles all the passwords the Mac needs to use on a regular basis. Firefox will store passwords for you, but they aren't secured, so someone with access to your computer can (theoretically) recover them; I don't have Firefox save any passwords for me.

From a computer security point of view, it's best to either memorize your passwords (which is difficult because good ones are complex and thus hard to memorize) or write them down and lock up the list. Saving passwords online risks compromising them, even with a good, reliable service like .Mac.

Big Mac · Jun 7, 2006, 07:28 AM

There's one huge limitation of Keychain that people should be aware of - anyone logged in as you can delete your keychain right in Keychain Access - even if you have it locked. I also think the Keychain Access interface is quite limited. I use the excellent Web Confidential as my master file and don't really worry about what the keychain has stored.

wataru · Jun 7, 2006, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Firefox will store passwords for you, but they aren't secured, so someone with access to your computer can (theoretically) recover them;

Wrong. Read my post.

Jellytussle · Jun 7, 2006, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

There's one huge limitation of Keychain that people should be aware of - anyone logged in as you can delete your keychain right in Keychain Access - even if you have it locked. I also think the Keychain Access interface is quite limited. I use the excellent Web Confidential as my master file and don't really worry about what the keychain has stored.

How is that a limitation? 'Anyone logged in as you' can delete your entire home directory. That's why you:
a) make regular backups.
b) don't leave your computer lying around logged in in untrusted places (duh!).

JKT · Jun 7, 2006, 04:15 PM

Ugh... stupid post by me, so deleted it.

RevEvs · Jun 7, 2006, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by baker

hi thanks for the reply. i signed up for my free mac account, but how do i add new pw for all the websites i visit
?

You dont need a .Mac account to use the Keychain.

TheIceMan · Jun 8, 2006, 12:39 AM

I use Wallet. Yes it's $14.95 but it's intuitive and has a beautiful interface. It's one of my favorite apps.

Brass · Jun 8, 2006, 01:12 AM

Originally Posted by baker

how do i add new pw for all the websites i visit
?

That's entirely dependant on what browser you use. If you use Safari, or Camino or another browser that is Keychain compliant, you can add each password to the keychain each time you are prompted for the password for a webpage (there will be a checkbox to "remember the password" or some such thing). The password is "remembered" in the keychain.

production_coordinator · Jun 8, 2006, 01:24 PM

4x6 Index Cards... Just kidding...

CatOne · Jun 8, 2006, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by baker

hi thanks for the reply. i signed up for my free mac account, but how do i add new pw for all the websites i visit
?

Use Keychain Access to store passwords, as was mentioned above.

kenazo · Jun 20, 2006, 02:05 PM

Can someone help me out with this? I want to have a password manager that I can enter passwords into and then it autofills logins in Firefox/Safari or whatever. However, I want that part to be public..i.e. someone could log in to the site with the password but wouldn't be able to know what that password is.

Is this possible? If I used Safari instead of Firefox and put the passwords in the keychain would it then autofill but the passwords themselves could be locked down by me and inaccessible to the logged in user?

shiff · Jun 20, 2006, 05:54 PM

I have used PGP for years. I have pretty much digitized my financial life for the past 10 years and store it on pgp disk images on flash drives.

For passwords I have a spreadsheet either pgp encrypted or inside a pgp encrypted disk. All passwords I have memorized, but I am getting old so occasionally need to check.

On my thumb drives there is a licensed copy of pgp for windows and mac so if a machine fails and I need to get to my files; I can on either platform.

My thumb drives are uploaded nightly to my .mac account for backup purposes. Since everything is stored in encrypted pgp disk images; my data is secure. I really have no worries of anyone being able to unencrypt my data as you would need years and extremely powerful machines to do it.

PGP is not a universal binary yet. As soon as it is; I will be buying a new mac. I really like the new intel machines.

teszeract · Jun 21, 2006, 04:05 PM

I have made a little filemaker database. I carry around with me on my ipod. It has password request on launch. At work, I have used this wonderful little tip that I saw on OSXHints. Create an encrypted dmg and store anything sensitive there.

Now that I think about it - you could even drop clippings or (with the "newfile" cmm create text documents on the spot) into an encrypted disk image and they would be safe. Now that's simple with no app needed. Hmm -- must think about this some more.