Roboform

It’s a pain to have to remember passwords for websites, but most modern internet browsers have tools that will automatically save your passwords so that you don’t have to recall them each time.

Roboform does the same thing: it overrides the password manager in Internet Explorer and Firefox to take care of passwords and other login details. When you enter a protected site the program will prompt you to save the password, although unlike in Firefox’s own manager, it doesn’t wait to find out whether you have entered the correct password first.

The program’s one-click login worked well: click the Roboform icon in the browser, select a website from the list and it will take you there in the browser window, fill in the required details and click Submit, taking you into the protected area. However, it had a tendency to log us out of sites into which we had logged in, which was irritating.

Also, it attempts by default to fill in fields on internet banking sites, for instance, where different parts of the password are required each time. It can be set to ignore these fields using the password editor, but that process was fiddly and confusing.

Roboform can also be used to fill in forms, taking care of address and payment details. The same can be accomplished using the Google Toolbar, but Roboform does provide a more comprehensive set of fields to fill in, and you can choose from several users and profiles, which is handy if several people use the computer or if you have alternate addresses for internet shopping.

Another clever touch is that the program can generate a random, secure password for you using a button, although again this is something anyone can do given a little time. It did handle a few sites for which Firefox wasn’t able to save the password, too.

That said, the program doesn’t add a great deal to justify spending £20 on it, unless internet passwords are the worst thing in your life and Firefox or Internet Explorer’s built-in tools aren’t enough.