AllChars 
 

AllChars is a free application that occupies only 700KB of disk space and sits unobtrusively in the system tray for instant action when required. Just add it to your startup group. It uses no registry entries and it portable across disks and PCs including flash drives.

Its primary function, as its name implies, is the provision of special characters and accents not readily available through the keyboard.

Here is a sample of the Math functions available in the Arial font, and the font can be changed to any that you have installed on your PC. You can also view the entire character set for the chosen font in this window.

These characters are easily reached by using a control key as is plainly explained in the excellent HTML manual included in the setup file. 

My main interest in AllChars, however, is in its macro function. A macro is a shortcut key combination that allows you to hit one or more letters and and have it execute a few different commands, from a single password through a complex letter heading to a block of text.

Here is a sample of my macros. The first prints my address, with carriage returns after the Street and ACT. This is achieved with the \n code. The fourth is an easier way of typing my email address, and the other two are passwords for Ceedo and Google. But they are encrypted by AllChars to disguise the actual password. DO NOT BE MISLED. This encryption only exists in the AllChars database. AllChars only uses the 256 bits of the ASCII table and its extended codes; so any macro printed out to an ASCII editor like Notepad will reveal the true characters. So do NOT use it for sensitive passwords. The macro is executed by pressing the backslash key and then the relevant letters. The codes for carriage return, tab, etc. are provided in a table in the manual.

MS Word will produce macros as will other applications, but they are restricted to use within the application. AllChars works across almost any application or window that accepts text input. It is invaluable, and available from http://allchars.zwolnet.com/download/program.html 
 

PasswordSafe 

Anyone typing passwords into forms on the Internet, whether to eBay or their their home bank, risks giving that password to a snooper using a keylogger lurking on their PC. The risk is not great and I know of none of my acquaintances that have ever been caught. But the risk is there.

A safe and easy way to avoid this danger is to keep passwords in an encrypted file and copy and paste from that file to the Internet form. Keyloggers cannot read this. But this has its own danger, as your copied password will sit in your clipboard until erased or replaced, and can possibly be read from there by some type of trojan. There are a number of freely available clipboard extenders that save hundreds of clips, and if you use Internet cafes or other people's PCs you should be aware of this danger. I became aware of it when exploring the very popular PortableApps application on my flash drive and found my passwords preserved in my clipboard extender after I had closed down.

But if we are going to use an encrypted file we might as well put the passwords into a safe encrypted database in the first place, from where we could enter the password directly without the copy function. I have looked at a number of these and my pick is PasswordSafe.  

Creating a database is a simple procedure and here is a sample entry.

I have entered a simple password here of five characters, but the program can create passwords for you in amazing complexity. Read all about it in the help file.

Entering the URL enables a complete logon to the site and will enter the Username (\u), then tab  to the next entry in the form (\t), enter the Password (\p), then do a carriage return (\n). 

• \u is replaced by the username associated with the entry. 
• \p is replaced by the password associated with the entry. 
• \t is replaced by the Tab key, in effect skipping a field. 
• \n is replaced by the enter key, in effect pressing a button. 
• \\ is replaced by the backslash (\) key. 
• \dNNN sets the delay between characters to NNN milliseconds, instead of 10 (the default).

There is no copying to leave traces of your activity and the process is fast and easy.

 

Here is a small sample from my database. I have one file for all Internet related entries and another for software applications that I have bought.

Clicking P, U or N will copy the password, username or notes to the clipboard – which I do not recommend. Clicking B will browse to the URL. But clicking A, for Autotype,  is the process I recommend. Just ensure that you have entered the required codes into the Autotype field.  

PasswordSafe does not need the registry and can be copied to other PCs or flash drives after installation. It is a safe and easy way to ensure peace of mind, and is available from http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/. 

Enjoy your computing.    Terry Bibo

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