The rest of the story
For those of you who don't want to use both a PC and PDA version, you can load the application directly onto your PDA (Pocket PC or Palm OS). The PC interface is not necessary. Entering the activation code on the PDA is a little cumbersome (especially for those like me who can't remember more than 4 numbers/letters at one time). Of course, this is security software and we wouldn't respect them if they only had 10 or 20 digits in their key. You will want to use the calibrate option when you set a password, especially if you decide to reduce your precision below 20 pixels. Otherwise you could have a hard time hitting the right spot on the picture.

Tech support is GREAT, and believe me I don't say that lightly. Having done some tech support myself, I'm very critical. While I didn't call Germany, I did post a few questions on their forum. All were answered within a few hours.

While I really love this product and highly recommend it, there were a few things missing for my particular needs. As I said at the beginning of the article, I have a large password database. Because it is so large, I frequently use the find function to locate the entry I need. visKeeper has no find or sort function.

I would also like to see the ability to create sub-categories. One answer to this is to have more than one safe. You could have a safe for all your financial information and there wouldn't be so much in one file to go through. I decided, for now, to put the information that needs to stay secure -- financial information, system logins for work, and so forth into two safes. I kept the numerous Web logins, where security didn't matter, in my original database which was unsecured.

Another problem I noticed was that the HotSync doesn't synchronize. That is going to come out in the next release. Until then, you need to change the custom setting in your HotSync program, and change the visKeeper setting to either have the desktop overwrite the PDA or the PDA overwrite the desktop.

This is a fairly new product; it just came out in April, 2004. Sfr is planning to add sort and find functionality in their next release, as well as the ability to drag and drop items between categories. This new release is due within a month.

They are still up in the air about sub-categories, but have said they will probably put in folders by the end of the year. I could happily settle for folders instead of sub-categories (where the attributes of the parents go down to the children). I just want to organize everything. When those changes come I will put everything into visKeeper and abandon my other database.

Summary
Here a the pros and cons of this product. First, the pros:

• Visual password. I love this. I can never remember more than a few numbers and letters, so clicking on several places on a picture is easier. Besides, it's so COOL.
• Availability of Windows version for data entry
• Flexibility. Each category can have different layouts.
• Price. $20 for all three formats.
• Excellent documentation.

And the cons are:

• Non-standard keyboard shortcuts;
• No sorting;
• No sub-categories;
• No search feature;
• No online help, and
• No true synchronization in the HotSync process.

Overall I would rate this product with a 4, only because it is missing several key features. Since most or all of those features are going to be incorporated in the next release, and since the next release is expected within a month, I would upgrade it to a 5 at that time.

OUR RATING: 4 of 5

Cynthia Green is a Senior Database Administrator working in Chicago who has been using Palm OS PDAs since they first came out. She is so dependent on her PDA that she's thinking of having it surgically attached so she'll never be without it. Her motto is "If I didn't write it down, it didn't happen." She can be reached at cpgreen@ameritech.net.