User IDs and Passwords

January 20, 2005 2:37 PM

I have kind of a n00b question here...I want to format my hd and reinstall everything. How do I save my autofill userids and passwords? I find it a pain when I reinstall IE (or now Firefox) and have to start all those logins from scratch.
posted by zardoz to computers & internet (8 comments total)

For Firefox, you should have a profile directory like this, but with your userid instead of Administrator:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\something

Just backup all the files in there.
posted by smackfu at 2:41 PM on January 20, 2005

In that directory, the files:

signons.txt
key3.db

...contain the form values and passwords.

See more here.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:47 PM on January 20, 2005

smakfu and Civil, thanx much!
posted by zardoz at 5:00 PM on January 20, 2005

OK, slap me for being offtopic, but this is potentially important. Realize that all stored userids/passwords are recoverable by anyone who has access to your computer (either physical or, in some cases, across the wire). I've seen too many compromised systems with stored credentials for online banking, email, you-name-it to recommend to ANYONE that they use this feature.

If you need a place to store passwords securely, check out Bruce Schneier's password safe program.

Also - if you use the same password across multiple systems, realize that the first thing attackers will try, assuming they can get one password, is to use that password in other places they know you've been.

Again, apologies for not answering your specific question, but you did self-identify as a n00b, so I figured this information might be helpful.
posted by aberrant at 5:37 PM on January 20, 2005

Windows XP has an 'Export files and settings' wizard (I forget where at the moment, and I'm on a Korean language version at work right now, but in Accessories folder, maybe).

This should do the trick, if I'm not mistaken. You'll just need to backup the output of the wizard to a CD or something, then reimport when you've got the new OS ready.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:27 PM on January 20, 2005

Here you go.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:29 PM on January 20, 2005

Protected Storage PassView will instantly reveal all the passwords and autofills stored by IE, and lets you export and import them.
posted by llamateur at 9:40 PM on January 20, 2005

(Actually, this is a better link for PSPV, straight to the author's site.)
posted by llamateur at 9:45 PM on January 20, 2005