Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

Q. How do I reset my master password?
A. If you forget your master password, and cannot get in using the Master Password Recovery System (MPRS) because it's not set up, there is no way to access your password data. In these circumstances, you may wish to clear your password data and start fresh. To do this, quit PasswordVault (if it's running), locate your PasswordVault preferences folder (used the Q & A below) and move (or delete) the 'Prefs.txt' file found in the preferences folder. When you next run PasswordVault, your data will be cleared and you'll be able to enter a new master password. It's strongly recommended that you also set up the MPRS with clues and answers, to make it easy to recover if you forget your master password.

Q. Where is the 'PasswordVault' preferences folder?
A. The location of this folder depends on the operating system you are using. To open the PasswordVault preferences folder, simply hold down the Control (Ctrl) and Shift keys while selecting 'Preferences...' from the menu. You will then find a folder named 'com.lavasoftware.passwordvault' (on Macintosh) or 'PC-Mac PasswordVault v2.x' (on Windows and Linux) opened on the desktop.

If you can't get into PasswordVault to use the above method (for example, you need to clear your master password or clear your password data), you should directly locate the PasswordVault preferences folder. It's exact location depends on which operating system version you are using, but typical paths are shown below:

With the newest version of PasswordVault (v8.2.x), the preferences folder can be found at '<Username>/Library/Application Support/com.lavasoftware.passwordvault' (to conform to the requirements of MacOS X Lion and later releases). On older versions of MacOS X, the PasswordVault preferences folder is called 'PC-Mac PasswordVault v2.x' and can be found in '<Username>/Library/Preferences/' or '<Primary Hard Disk Name>/Library/Preferences/'. 

On Windows, the PasswordVault preferences folder may be found at any of the following locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application data\PC-Mac PasswordVault v2.x
C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\PC-Mac PasswordVault v2.x
C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\com.lavasoftware.passwordvault

Q. When I launch PasswordVault, it immediately makes a request to the Internet. Why?
A. In version 4.0, a news function was added to give users information about new version releases and other news. This can be disabled in the preferences.

Q. When the main window is a global floating window, I can't select any menu items. How do I get access to them?
A. Global floating windows are unusual in several ways and don't work the same way as normal windows. Change to the maximized view of the main window to be able to access the menu items.

Q. How do I remove a service category?
A. All unused categories are automatically removed when PasswordVault is launched.

Q. What files or folders do I need to backup to protect my PasswordVault data?
A. Just export your data in PasswordVault (PV data) file format, and backup this file.

Q. Where is the main PasswordVault data file stored?
A. On the desktop verson, the file is called 'Prefs.txt' and it is located in the 'PC-Mac PasswordVault 2.x' preferences folder. On the portable version, the file is called 'Prefs.txt' and it is located in the 'Data' folder inside the main PasswordVault application folder.

Q. How do I move my service information across to another computer?
A. Press the Export button and save your service data in a PasswordVault (PV data) format file. Then move this data file to the other computer, press the Import button on PasswordVault on the other computer, select the PasswordVault (PV data) file format and select the data file. Your service data will then be imported - any new services will be added, and any existing services will be updated (if a particular service's data is newer). This process works across all platform versions of PasswordVault.

Q. I launch PasswordVault, select a service and copy it's password to the clipboard. After quitting, the clipboard is empty and I can't paste it in. Why is that?
A. To enhance security, PasswordVault automatically clears the clipboard when it quits. Just lock PasswordVault, rather than quitting it, so you can use the password in the clipboard.

Q. I've just exported a PV data file, but when I double-click it, is doesn't load up in PasswordVault. What's going wrong?
A. The file association between PasswordVault data files (ie. .pve files) and the PasswordVault application is made in the Windows registry when PasswordVault is launched. Thus, you will probably need to restart your computer after running PasswordVault for the first time so that double-clicking a .pve file launches PasswordVault.

Revision history

KEY
[Opt] = Optimization
[Bug] = Bug Fix
[New] = New Feature
[Wrk] = WorkAround
[Note] = Application note

8.4.0 (7 January 2020)
[New] A 64-bit version of PasswordVault is now available for Windows users, in addition to the existing 32-bit version.
[Opt] If the Vandana font is available, it is now selected automatically on launch for the username and password text. This font shows clear distinctions between similar letters, such as l (lowercase L) and I (uppercase i), making it much easier for users to read and manually enter a username or password correctly into website (and other) logins.
[Opt] On Windows, the CPU load has been significantly reduced. In some circumstances it could rise above 25% over time, but now stays near 0%.
[Opt] When PasswordVault contained a very large number of services (eg. 5000), updating of popup menus could take several seconds, particular when the 'All' category was selected. The number of services displayed in the popups has now been limited to 200, ensuring very fast updates.
[Opt] All code signing certificates for the MacOS and Windows versions have been updated, to ensure maximum security when running the PasswordVault app.

8.3.0 (3 September 2018)
[Opt] The MacOS version has been upgraded to 64-bit, as required for app compatibility for the upcoming release of MacOS Mojave (MacOS 10.14).
[Opt] Network protocols have been updated to https (with TLS 1.2).

8.2.6 (5 January 2015)
[Bug] Fixed preset preference issues (auto-lock timeout, masked passwords) with custom build.

8.2.5 (15 November 2014)
[Opt] Improves preference data access when a user has recently upgraded from some older versions of MacOS X.

8.2.4 (30 October 2014)
[New] The MacOS X version has now been validated to work on MacOS X 10.10 (Yosemite).

8.2.3 (26 August 2014)
[Opt] Improved online and PV Server syncing when the user changes the master password.

8.2.2 (21 August 2014)
[Opt] Improved network connection and data transfer reliability.
[Bug] When running on MacOS X 10.9 (Mavericks), the O/S's 'app nap' function could make PasswordVault sleep, preventing it's timed housekeeping functions from working, such as syncing.
[Bug] On the Enterprise Edition, data may not upload correctly to the PV Server during the first sync for a new user.
[Bug] On the Enterprise Edition, an upload of data to the PV Server could be automatically triggered by a service change (eg. a service update, adding a new service, etc).

8.2.1 (31 July 2014)
[New] The Enterprise Edition of PasswordVault was released, as well as the PasswordVault Server software with its integrated secure database.
[Opt] On the Windows version, syncing of services with names containing non-ASCII characters has been improved.

8.2.0 (18 November 2013)
[Opt] Refreshed Windows version to optimise performance on Windows 8.
[Opt] The default size of the news dialog has been increased, and it can now be resized.
[Opt] Changed the preference folder location to conform to new requirements of MacOS X Lion (10.7) and later releases.
[Opt] Speed improvements when selecting a category, and with other search filtering tasks
[Opt] Double-clicking the search textbox now clears it (this helps speed up searches by service name).
[Bug] Fixes for stability issues when running on newer versions of MacOS X including Lion, Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
[Bug] Fixed an issue with the 'Master Password Recovery System' (MPRS) for non-default users (clue questions and answers would not work correctly).
[Bug] 'Restore From Auto-Backup' function may sometimes not restore the selected file correctly.
[Bug] On the Windows version, clicking the service popup menu (so it remains open) and pressing a key would immediately update the service details, but then selecting a different service from the popup menu would leave the older service details displayed. Keyboard input whilst the service popup menu has focus has been disabled to correct this issue.
[Bug] When deleting a multi-user account via the Preferences dialog, the popup menu did not update to show the other accounts which still exist.

8.0.5 (22 November 2011)
[Bug] Fixes for issues when running on MacOS X Lion.

8.0.4 (31 July 2011)
[Bug] On Windows, when the 'Online Sync' option was disabled on custom builds, the online sync menu items could still be selected.

8.0.3 (20 July 2011)
[Opt] Minor optimizations.

8.0.2 (18 February 2011)
[Opt] Minor optimizations.

8.0.1 (21 September 2010)
[Opt] Previously the PasswordVault news was downloaded whenever a user logged in (ie. too often). Now it only does it after the first login after launch, and after every 8 or more hours (during a login).
[Bug] On Windows, sometimes when the Master Password Entry dialog is displayed during an auto-lock timeout, the dialog controls are not correctly refreshed and it looks like they are inactive.
[Bug] Some of the forced modes accessed via the Shift and Ctrl keys (ie. copy-to-clipboard, and drag-and-drop) didn't work in some instances on the Main Window and Global Floating Window.

8.0.0 (7 September 2010)
[New] Additional button sets can now be added easily to PasswordVault by placing them in the 'Button_Sets' folder, inside the 'Skins' folder.
[New] The 'Origami' button set has been added. This button set is much more complimentary to the graphical style of all the newest versions of supported computer platforms, and is the default on these platforms.
[New] The 'White Marble' backdrop has been added. This backdrop is much more complimentary to the graphical style of all the newest versions of supported computer platforms, and is the default on these platforms.
[Opt] Help text on the Username button has been updated to show that pressing it triggers a timed paste sequence, rather than just a username paste, when 'Timed Paste' mode is selected in the preferences.
[Opt] The URL Dropbox has been enlarged, making it easier to drop URLs and textclips.
[Opt] The URL Dropbox popup menu and dynamic help now indicate that textclips can be dropped.
[Opt] Button size and placement positions on the main and global floating windows have been improved.
[Opt] The delay when saving a new service has been significantly reduced.
[Bug] If a URL was dropped on the global floating window to add a service, after the service was saved, the window may not return to the global floating window form.
[Bug] When PasswordVault was run for the very first time and one or more services were added, they would not be saved out correctly. When run the second time, all saving would work correctly.
[Bug] Occasionally the MPRS data would not be saved correctly, making the MPRS unusable on those occasions.

7.4.3 (16 August 2010)
[Opt] The Textclip button now supports forced drag-and-drop (Ctrl-key) and forced copy-to-clipboard (Shift-key) modes, to better support technical IT specialists using textclips to store console commands.
[Bug] If a service in a category included in an auto-exporter set to export 'On Every Change' was renamed using the Edit Service dialog, it did not trigger an auto-export.
[Bug] Sometimes a NilObjectException error occurred when an export was triggered using the 'Export Now' button on the Auto-Distribution dialog. Generally, this error was only displayed once the dialog was closed.

7.4.2 (9 August 2010)
[Bug] When adding an Exporter on the Auto-Distribution dialog, sometimes the file path selected would not be saved automatically.

7.4.1 (26 July 2010)
[New] Pressing the 'Unmask Password' button again during the unmask timeout period will now mask the password immediately.
[Opt] When logging in using the Master Password Entry dialog, the "Status: Getting news from Internet..." message is now cleared automatically after a short delay, rather than being left on.
[Bug] Help tag text on the username and password buttons of the global floating window have been updated to match that of the main window.
[Bug] If a URL was dropped on the expanded form of the main window to add a service, after the service was saved, the window may incorrectly be changed to the compact form (ie. the global floating window).

7.4.0 (20 July 2010)
[New] The password data encryption method has been changed from 2 x 448-bit Blowfish to 2 x 256-bit AES, along with the existing layer of 128-bit AES applied to the online sync data. This provides exceptionally strong security for user data. AES is a more advanced encryption standard than Blowfish, and is the encryption standard adopted by the U.S. government.
[New] A new multi-user login scheme has been added. This scheme is suitable for general-use family computers which are set up with a single desktop admin account, where family members still need secure individual access to PasswordVault.
[New] An automatic backup of the 'Prefs.txt' file (the file that contains both preference and service data) is now made whenever PasswordVault is launched, and every two hours it is in operation. Backup files older than one week are automatically cleared.
[New] It is now easy to restore from an auto-backup, if necessary, using the 'Restore From Auto-Backup' menu item on the 'Backup' menu.
[New] An 'Activity Monitor' dialog has been added, which logs activities performed by PasswordVault in real-time, such as auto-distribution and online syncs. This can be used to verify and tweak the distribution of passwords and other actions in real time between multiple users. The activity monitor compliments the existing distribution log file.
[New] Copy-To-Clipboard mode can now be forced by holding down the 'Shift' key whilst clicking the 'Go To Web Address', 'Username' or 'Password' buttons on the main and global floating windows.
[Opt] An 'Unmask Password' button was added to the 'Desktop Installation Detected' dialog, and the password is now masked during entry.
[Opt] The backup file automatically created just before an import has had it's file name prefix changed from 'PV Backup' to 'Prefs Backup' to better indicate that it's simply a backup copy of the 'Prefs.txt' file (the file that contains both preference and service data).
[Opt] The 'Backup Service Data...' menu item on the 'Backup' menu has been reworded to 'Save Service Data To File...'.
[Opt] The auto-lock timer now works differently, such that it will timeout even if the computer is put to sleep.
[Opt] When starting up, a status message now shows when news is being downloaded from the Internet (ie. the Lava Software website). This is helpful if the Internet connection is slow and PasswordVault appears to be paused.
[Opt] The underscore character, "_", is now a reserved character in service names.
[Opt] The master password is now case sensitive eg. 'Harry12' is different to 'harry12'.
[Opt] When the Enter Runtime Key dialog is displayed, focus is now set on the input textbox.
[Opt] The tab order of the Add Service and Edit Service dialogs have been optimized.
[Opt] Control characters are now removed from web page titles extracted from downloaded web pages for use as service names when using the 'Paste URL' or 'Drag-and-Drop URL' functions.
[Opt] An alert is now displayed if the user triggers an online sync when the online sync username, password or encryption PIN are not set up correctly.
[Opt] When importing and exporting in 'PasswordVault (tab-text)' format, the 'Sub-Category', 'Use Count' and 'Last Use Time' values of each service are now also included. This format can now be used to do a full transfer of service data between installations of PasswordVault without encryption issues.
[Bug] On the MacOS X version, data files of some other applications with the same file type/creator as PasswordVault (iList Studio, Goldfish) would be opened by PasswordVault, a 'file corrupt' alert would be displayed, and the file set to zero size (thus erasing the previous file contents). The fix implemented ensures the file is no longer set to zero size - however, the file type/creator association is in the operating system, so the now harmless behavior (which is not an issue correctable in PasswordVault) remains.
[Bug] The 'Notes' text area on the Main Window could not display a note larger than 1000 characters (the size limit on notes was recently expanded to 5000 characters).
[Bug] When button style was set to 'Aqua' in the preferences, the 'Textclip' button on the global floating window did not display the correct icon when the button was pushed.
[Bug] When button style was set to 'Aqua' in the preferences, the 'Organize Services' button did not display the pressed icon when the button was pushed.
[Bug] The 'Unmask Password' button on the Import and Export dialogs did not work correctly.
[Bug] If an auto-distribution importer tried importing a file from a URL and the decryption of it failed, the online 'Sync Data Decryption Error' dialog would be improperly displayed.
[Bug] If PasswordVault is quit whilst the 'Desktop Installation Detected' dialog is displayed, a numeric alert is displayed before PasswordVault quits.
[Bug] When running PasswordVault2Go, portable and desktop services may be incorrectly reported to be added when none actually were. This appears to occur mainly with services containing non-ASCII characters in their names.
[Bug] When importing service data in 'PasswordVault (tab-text)' format, services are now updated if the service already exists, rather than being duplicated with a similar but unique service name.

7.1.4 (25 March 2010)
[New] A new style of runtime key has been created, to enable online resellers to issue runtime keys immediately after purchase.
[Opt] The 'Online Synchronization...' menu item on the 'Sync' menu has been reworded to 'Setup Online Sync...'.
[Opt] The 'Synchronize Now' menu item on the 'Sync' menu has been reworded to 'Do Online Sync Now'.
[Bug] On Windows, sometimes PasswordVault would inappropriately auto-quit, as it would incorrectly detect an instance was already running.
[Bug] If the 'Get Latest News On Launch' checkbox was set, this setting would not be retained in the preferences - the function would always remain switched off.
[Note] Issues with the Linux release have now been corrected, and it is again available.

7.1.3 (14 December 2009)
[New] If a data decryption error occurs when PasswordVault tries to perform an online sync, a detailed error message is now displayed, which includes information about how to correct the error.
[Opt] The height of the 'Organize Services' dialog has been reduced, to fit into the 600 pixel height of a standard netbook screen.
[Opt] The size of the notes text field has been increased from 1000 to 5000 characters, to allow for larger textclips.
[Opt] Export as 'Custom (tab-text)' now uses the RFC1123 Internet date format for service modification dates (which is human readable), rather than the previous default machine readable format.
[Opt] Services with duplicate names are now automatically eliminated when the preferences are loaded.
[Bug] On Windows, sometimes during launch PasswordVault would auto-quit incorrectly if none of the main windows was open.
[Wrk] On Linux, often when the category is changed, the service list does not update correctly. To trigger an update, select a service type (such as 'All') from service type filter (located on the left of the search textbox).

7.1.2 (6 September 2009)
[New] The 'PasswordVault Basic Tutorial One' video is now opened automatically when PasswordVault is launched for the first time, to provide the user with quickstart information about setting up and using PasswordVault. This online video is also available via the 'Help' menu.
[Opt] After an online sync occurs, the currently selected service is now retained (rather than being reset to the first service in the list).
[Opt] When a new service is added, the new service is selected on the main window and global floating window when it is saved out.
[Opt] When an existing service is edited, the edited service is selected on the main window and global floating window when it is updated.
[Bug] At times, the main window or global floating window may narrow inexplicably, making it impossible to access some controls on the right side of the window.
[Bug] Sometimes PasswordVault would inappropriately auto-quit if the main window, global floating window, or master password entry dialog were not visible.
[Bug] On the Linux version, some text messages didn't fit correctly in the space allocated to them.

7.1.1 (26 August 2009)
[Bug] On Windows, pressing the 'Unmask Password' button on various windows (eg. the 'Add Service' dialog) did not unmask the password.

7.1.0 (19 August 2009)
[New] Subcategories are now supported for all PasswordVault services. Previously, only web bookmarks supported subcategories.
[New] An import filter has been added to import 'Web Confidential' password manager data.
[New] An import filter has been added to import 'URL Manager Pro' web bookmark files.
[New] An import filter has been added for titled csv files. Columns can simply be titled with keywords such as 'Name', 'Username', 'Password', 'WebAddress', 'AddToNotes', etc. and the importer will correctly assign each column during the import.
[New] A link to the PasswordVault online tutorial videos was added to the 'Help' menu.
[New] An alert icon is now displayed when an error occurs during an online sync, to tell the user a problem occurred (previously it failed silently). An 'encryption PIN incorrect' error can be fixed by clearing the online file by pressing the 'Clear Online File' button on the 'Online Synchronization' dialog.
[New] Holding down the 'Ctrl' key whilst pressing the Username or Password buttons over-rides the set transfer mode, forcing it into Drag-And-Drop mode.
[Opt] The PasswordVault startup time has been further reduced.
[Opt] The note/textclip editing area has been substantially increased in height, thus making it easier to view and edit text.
[Opt] Added 'Show Logins' service type filter (services with a web address and a username and password). The 'Show Others' service type now includes only those services which are not logins, web bookmarks or textclips.
[Opt] Separated the service type filter popup from the subcategory filter popup (previously a combination system was used, based on the selected category).
[Opt] If the 'Auto-Enter Key Press' checkbox is set in the preferences, no terminating '#' character is now required after the username for a simple username/password timed paste sequence. This makes setting up auto-fill for simple username/password website logins easier for beginning PasswordVault users.
[Opt] The 'Quick Start' dialog has been updated to point new users to the online tutorial videos, rather than the user manual.
[Opt] The number of cached recently used subcategory names has been increased from 4 to 6, and is retained even if a new category is selected by the user (to allow the user to move back to the previous category and still quickly access the cached subcategory names).
[Opt] Slightly decreased time between pastes in timed paste sequence.
[Opt] When quitting PasswordVault2Go, if the 'Auto-Sync to Desktop' preference is set, password data is saved to both the portable storage device and the desktop. This ensures they remain in sync if any services are added, changed or removed during the PasswordVault2Go session.
[Opt] If online sync is enabled, a sync sequence is now performed shortly after PV is launched (in addition to the normal scheduled sync).
[Bug] The auto-distribution timer was left disabled after a data import/export.
[Bug] When the service sort method was changed, the service subsequently set may not have it's data displayed correctly on the main and global floating windows.

7.0.0 (24 July 2009)
[New] Right-clicking the 'Generate Password' button on the 'Add Service' and 'Edit Service' dialogs now allows users to select from a range of password types (ie. alphanumeric, numeric, special, hexadecimal) and sizes on the fly, as well as generate the default password type and size set in the preferences.
[New] Web bookmark files from Firefox, Internet Explorer and other web browsers can now be imported into PasswordVault. Duplicate bookmarks are automatically ignored, making it easy for users to collate all their bookmarks from all sources into one location.
[New] Bookmarks can now be subcategorized to 2 levels. This allows each bookmark to be placed in an appropriate category and thus effectively organized.
[New] Services can now be sorted alphabetically, by recently used, and by most used. This selection is made using an arrow on the right side of the service popup menu.
[New] A 'Textclip' function has been added. Textclips are snippets of text which can be used to quickly and easily construct standardized emails and text documents. Textclips can be synchronized across a group of users, in the same way as all other PasswordVault services.
[New] Particular types of services can now be filtered and displayed from the selected category, such as textclips, bookmarks, and others. This selection is made using an arrow on the right side of the category popup menu.
[New] An 'Organize Services' window has been added, which allows users to easily categorize services. New categories and subcategories can also be created and used. Instant searching is available, enabling services to be located quickly and easily.
[Opt] Vastly reduced startup time (especially for PasswordVault2Go), and added a new splash screen showing the progress of various startup processes.
[Opt] If the username is 'NoUsername' or the password is 'NoPassword' (ie. they are unset, as they are for bookmarks and cliptext), the respective representative buttons are not visible on the main window or global floating window.
[Opt] When adding a new service, the dialog is now closed when the service is saved, unless the 'Ctrl' key is held down when the 'Save' button is pressed. Previously, the dialog would remain open and be cleared of data.
[Opt] Import speed has been vastly increased when importing data during online sync, testing auto-distribution importers, etc.
[Opt] The positions of the buttons at the top of the main and global floating windows have been optimized, making it quicker and easier to select and trigger timed pastes. This helps particularly when using textclips in PasswordVault to construct standardized emails.
[Opt] If a file set for import by an auto-importer on the 'Auto-Distribution' dialog is found to be missing, an alert is now displayed.
[Opt] When the 'Backup Service Data...' menu item is selected, the file name saved out starts with 'Prefs' to indicate it is actually a date-stamped copy of the 'Prefs.txt' file (the main PasswordVault password data file, which is stored in the 'PC-Mac PasswordVault v2.x' preferences folder). This makes it clearer that the user should use this backup file to replace the 'Prefs.txt' file in the preferences folder, if a critical password data restore is required.
[Opt] Simplified and expanded the menus, making it easier to locate items.
[Opt] Updated and improved various help tags and help text.
[Opt] The number of characters supported by the 'Search' textbox has been increased from 6 to 8 characters.
[Bug] On Windows, sometimes after quitting PasswordVault by pressing the closebox, all windows are closed but the application process continues to run. If the PasswordVault application is relaunched when in this mode, the master password entry dialog momentarily flashes on and then disappears. This problem appears to occur mainly in Windows Vista.
[Bug] When importing files, the file may not be closed properly after the import completes. This may cause a problem when attempting to import a file a second time.
[Bug] After adding a new service, the service would not be shown immediately in the 'Service Selection' popup menu after the 'Add Service' dialog was closed.

6.2.1 (5 April 2009)
[New] Help text was added to the transparency slider control on the 'Preferences' dialog.
[New] A range of new custom build options have been added, including case-sensitivity when entering the master password on the master password entry dialog, storage of user preference information (including encrypted password files) on mapped network drive folders, fixed auto-lock time, fixed categories, fixed username-password transfer modes, etc. In addition, custom MSI installers are now available (for remote Windows deployment).
[Bug] The timed paste mode has been significantly improved, especially on slower computers - previously, sometimes spurious characters would be pasted in place of the password information.

6.2.0 (22 December 2008)
[New] A 'Synchronize Now' menu item has been added to the 'File' menu, allowing users to easily perform an online synchronization.
[New] Help text was added to the Web, Username and Password buttons on the global floating window (these are only displayed when the PasswordVault application is in the foreground).             
[Opt] Improved help text for the Web, Username and Password buttons on the main window.
[Opt] Some labels on the Auto-Distribution dialog have been updated.
[Opt] The 'Timed Paste' mode has been significantly improved, such that activation of keystrokes and pasting of clipboard text is smoother and more consistent.
[Opt] When adding or editing notes for a service, carraige returns are now inserted into notes, rather than activating the default 'Update' or 'Save' button.
[Bug] The position of the 'Lock' button moved vertically by one pixel when changing from the main window to the global floating window.
[Bug] On slower computers, sometimes buttons would appear to stick down.

6.1.0 (22 October 2008)
[New] Users can now manage their web browser bookmarks using PasswordVault, and can sync bookmarks between computers (Windows, MacOS X and Linux) over LANs and over the Internet, using the sync features in PasswordVault.
[New] A 'URL Dropbox' has been added to the global floating window and main window. URL text from a web browser address can be dragged and dropped onto the URL dropbox or pasted in by right-clicking the URL dropbox, and this opens the 'Add Service' dialog, fills the 'Web Address' textbox with the URL text, and sets the category to 'Bookmark'. The user can then enter the service name and press the 'Save' button, returning them again to the global floating window or main window showing the new service added. If the category is left as 'Bookmark', username and password information is automatically set to 'NoUsername' and 'NoPassword' respectively.
[New] The 'Starting Letter' popup menu has been replaced with a 'Search' textbox, allowing users to find services very quickly. Placing the wildcard character, '%', at the start of the search text will return all results which the substring matches eg. entering '%foru' will return all services containing the text 'foru' somewhere in their name, such as 'Kenbushi user forum', 'Yahoo forum', etc.
[New] Pressing the 'Print Details' button on the 'Online Synchronization' dialog prints the online sync username, password and encryption PIN. This information can then be used to set up synchronization on another computer, or used in case a hard disk failure occurs and the user needs to recover their password data using their online file.
[New] A 'Backup Service Data...' menu item has been added to the 'File' menu, allowing users to save their password data at any time in encrypted form (it's basically a copy of the 'Prefs.txt' file located in the PasswordVault preferences). Files are marked with a time/date stamp to ensure easy identification.
[New] Holding down the 'Ctrl' key whilst clicking the 'Go To Web Address' button will copy the web address to the clipboard (so you can subsequently paste it into a non-default web browser, or other application), rather than opening it with the default web browser.
[New] The 'Prefs.txt' file (containing the user's password data) is automatically backed up prior to a manual import. This ensures that if an import subsequently goes awry, the user can revert back to a known good 'Prefs.txt' file. Backup files are marked with a time/date stamp to ensure easy identification.
[New] A 'Clear Auto-Backup Files' command has been added to the 'File' menu. This clears backup files in the 'Backups' folder inside the PasswordVault preferences folder.
[Opt] Saving of preferences is now incredibly fast, even with a very large number of services.
[Opt] The master password entry textbox now gets focus as soon as PasswordVault is launched (you never need to click in this textbox to start entering your master password).
[Opt] The clipboard is now cleared immediately after any auto-paste sequence completes.
[Opt] When the PasswordVault application was not the front application, expanding the global floating window would result in the main window appearing behind the front application's window (usually a web browser window).
[Opt] The 'Add Service' and 'Edit Service' dialogs now appear slightly staggered to the main window for easier access.
[Opt] The number of services supported by the free Lite Edition has been increased to 25.
[Opt] Advanced help has been added to the 'Remove Service' button, and is visible when holding down Ctrl-Shift when mousing over the button. Pressing the button with Ctrl-Shift down flushes all services cached in the hidden 'Deleted' service category (this special caching is needed to ensure proper service deletion during multi-user sync).

6.0.2 (13 October 2008)
[Opt] Improved GUI responsiveness whilst news is being downloaded.
[Bug] When launching PasswordVault on Windows without admin privileges, a registry exception may occur when 'pve' files are set to be associated with PasswordVault.
[Bug] When dragging and dropping the username from the global floating window, a hash character may be included in the dropped data.
[Bug] On Windows, usernames and passwords now paste in correctly on Firefox.
[Bug] If spaces were entered in place of a password on the 'Add Service' dialog, the service would subsequently be inaccessible. Spaces are now trimmed and an alert is displayed asking the user to enter a password.

6.0.1 (10 July 2007)
[New] The main window now has a minimize button, so can be minimized to the dock/taskbar.
[New] The 'Enter Master Password' dialog now supports transparency (like the global floating window), making it less conspicuous on screen.
[Opt] The 'Enter Master Password' dialog has been made smaller to take up less screen area.
[Opt] If the online synchronization download or upload took longer than 15 seconds (as may occur with slow Internet connections, such as dialup modems), there would be repeated automatic retries. This timeout has now been extended to 40 seconds.
[Opt] If the 'Sync Every Day At' checkbox is checked, a sync is triggered soon after (this trigger also occurs when the sync time is changed). A sync is then subsequently triggered daily at the set time.
[Bug] The online synchronization importer and exporter may be displayed on the 'Auto-Distribution' dialog.
[Bug] If online synchronization was manually triggered and a problem occurred during the upload sequence (eg. such that a timeout), control would not be correctly returned to the user.
[Bug] During synchronization, after the encryption PIN failed once to decrypt the downloaded data, a subsequent attempt would result in a data upload without first importing the downloaded data.

6.0.0 (2 July 2007)
[New] PasswordVault is now compatible with Windows Vista.
[New] On Windows 2000/XP/Vista and MacOS X, the global floating window can now be made up to 60% transparent, thus allowing the windows underneath it to be viewed. The floating window loses transparency when the mouse pointer passes across it, so that it can be used easily when needed.
[New] Online synchronization of password data now makes it easy to keep multiple computers up-to-date, and also provides effective password data backup. Data stored online is protected by a Username/Password login and an additional layer of 128-bit AES encryption applied on the user's computer (whose key is based on a unique 'Encryption PIN' entered by the user). Data is always encrypted with 896-bit double-Blowfish encryption before the additional layer of 128-bit AES encryption is applied, thus providing exceptional security.
[Opt] CPU utilization has been significantly reduced.
[Opt] Saving of preference information to disk has been made more robust.
[Opt] When adding a number of new services at one time, saving of each addition to disk has been improved.

5.2.1 (12 December 2006)
[Opt] An unmask password button was added to the import dialog on PasswordVault2Go.
[Bug] The unmask password buttons on the Import, Export and Auto-Distribution dialogs now use the selected button style.

5.2.0 (9 December 2006)
[New] Two new button styles were added: 'Aqua' and 'Sketch'.
[Opt] The Quick Start dialog now shows how to find setup information on auto-fill and two-click logins.
[Opt] A 'Quick Start' section was added to the top of the user manual for easy user access.
[Opt] Some screenshots from MacOS X were added to the user manual to assist MacOS X users.
[Opt] The speed of auto-pasting was increased.
[Bug] Sometimes auto-pasting would not paste in the password correctly.

5.1.1 (27 November 2006)
[Opt] The 'Latest News' dialog was increased in size to make the news easier to read.
[Opt] Some dynamic help messages were improved.

5.1.0 (19 November 2006)
[New] Comma Separated Files (.csv) can now be custom imported, allowing easier importation from other password managers.
[New] Verification of service data imported by the custom importer has been substantially improved.
[New] The custom importer can now import text files with a variety of field separators (';', ',', 'tab' and '|').
[New] A 'Password Depot' import filter has been added, which imports .csv files exported from 'Password Depot' v2.x and v3.x.
[New] Status messages are now displayed when testing auto-importers and auto-exporters to provide user feedback.
[New] An 'Add To Notes' item has been added to the custom import field list, to allow import fields which do not directly correlate with another field type to be added to the service notes. Thus, this data can now be effectively captured and retained.
[New] An 'Update Runtime Key...' menu item was added to the 'Help' menu, to allow users to crossgrade easily to the Professional Edition.
[Opt] Additional 'Blank' item have been added to the custom import and export field lists, providing better import and export control.
[Opt] There is now no delay between entry of the master password and display of the main window (previously, window controls were refreshed only after the latest news was downloaded).
[Bug] Service information imported from other password managers in early versions of PasswordVault were not displayed correctly in the service list in v5.0.
[Bug] If a service was removed on the Lite Edition, the service limit would never reach the maximum of 15.
[Bug] On Linux, the latest news was not downloaded and displayed correctly.
[Bug] On Linux, the 'Enable Auto-Distribution' and 'Get Latest News On Launch' checkbox values were not saved correctly in the preferences.
[Bug] Pressing the lock button on the global floating window now clears the clipboard.
[Bug] If a 'Last Modified' date was not included during the import of a 'tab-text' file, the imported service would not be visible.
[Bug] When an more than one import was performed, the description of the changes made was appended to existing text on the message window.

5.0.1 (6 November 2006)
[New] The function to get the latest news automatically can now be disabled by the user on the Quick Start dialog as well as in the preferences.
[Bug] On a small number of MacOS X systems (both PPC and Intel), a crash would occur on launch.
[Bug] Deleted services were not included in auto-exports, or manual exports of type 'PasswordVault (PV data)'. This prevented them from propagating correctly to other PasswordVault installations.
[Bug] Removing a service whose category was included in an auto-exporter set to 'On Every Change' would not trigger an auto-export.
[Bug] Ampersand characters ('&') were not correctly displayed in the service popup menu, and Username and Password text areas.
[Note] Information was added to the user manual about the automatic news system used in PasswordVault, in the 'Security considerations' section.

5.0.0 (29 October 2006)
[New] Auto-distribution of passwords (automatic import from a web page URL or file, and automatic export to a file) has been added.
[New] On MacOS X and Windows, multiple text fields on Web forms, etc. can be filled and submitted with two clicks using timed paste mode.
[New] The Username, Password and Lock buttons have been increased in size to make them easier to press.
[New] Services can now be filtered by their first letter, making it easy to find a specific service alphabetically (particularly when the 'All' category is selected).
[New] After a synchronization is complete, the count of deleted services is also displayed.
[New] After a synchronization is complete, all changes made on the desktop and portable versions are listed and date-stamped. These changes can be copied to the clipboard and subsequently pasted into a text document for later reference.
[New] After importing password data from a file, detailed information about the services added and updated is now displayed. These changes can be copied to the clipboard and subsequently pasted into a text document for later reference.
[New] Deleting a service now marks the service as 'deletable' and clears username, password, etc. information, rather than actually removing it permanently. This ensures that synchronizing services with another installation of PasswordVault (eg. a USB flash drive) does not cause the service to be repeatedly restored.
[Opt] The title of the preferences dialog was changed from 'General Preferences' to 'Preferences'.
[Opt] When an alphanumeric password is generated, the last character is always a random number (to guarantee at least one number is included in the password).
[Opt] Launch time has been substantially reduced.
[Opt] CPU utilization has been substantially reduced.
[Opt] The help text for the category groupbox on the Add Service and Edit Service dialogs was improved as some users didn't realize they could type a new category name into the groupbox directly (they thought it was a simple popup menu and no new categories could be created).
[Opt] The font size on the main window and the global floating window has been increased to make labels easier to read.
[Opt] The time to save out the preferences to disk has been substantially reduced when there are a large number of services, substantially reducing the quit time, the time to save new or edited services, and the time to save values changed on the Preferences dialog.
[Opt] The 'Notes' text label on the main window was removed as it was superfluous (the dynamic help system describes the note area already).
[Opt] The maximum category name length has been increased from 15 to 30 characters.
[Opt] The dynamic help information displayed for the Username and Password buttons on the Main Window is now specific to the Username/Password Transfer mode selected, thus providing better information to the user.
[Opt] The sound played when new news was found has been removed, as it may disturb personnel in a corporate environment.
[Opt] Dynamic help information for various controls has been improved.
[Bug] The help text shown on the preferences dialog for the timed paste textbox was corrected.
[Bug] All service removals had to be performed on the portable version, and then on the desktop version, to prevent the next synchronization restoring a removed service.
[Bug] If master password recovery questions were added (when there were previously none) and the 'Lock' button pressed, the 'Enter Master Password' dialog did not display the 'Recovery' button. The button was only displayed the next time PasswordVault was launched.
[Note] PC-Mac PasswordVault has been renamed to 'PasswordVault'.

4.3.0 (4 August 2005)
[New] Additional username and password transfer options have been added to the existing 'Copy To Clipboard' mode: 'Drag And Drop' and 'Timed Paste'.
[Bug] The service data is now saved to disk every time the data is updated, rather than only when the application is quit. Thus, any changes are always saved immediately.
[Bug] Sometimes when the application was quit during a shutdown, a code 10 error message would be incorrectly displayed.
[Bug] When importing PVE data, a master password mismatch alert would sometimes be displayed when there was no actual mismatch.
[Bug] On MacOS X 10.4, there were some reports of problems launching the application.

4.2.0 (7 March 2005)
[New] When the portable version of PC-Mac PasswordVault is synchronized with the desktop version, a window displays details about any additions and/or updates made during the synchronization process. This window is only displayed if changes were detected.
[Bug] A message reading 'NewsDialog.saveNewsFile' was displayed if PC-Mac PasswordVault was launched under a non-administrator login account.

4.1.0 (21 February 2005)
[New] The application icon and PVE document icons have been updated.
[New] On Windows, the 'Enter Master Password' dialog now has a minimize control.
[New] If the Ctrl key is held down while the add or edit service buttons is pressed, the password is unmasked for 15 seconds. This provides full feedback to the user entering or changing the service password.
[New] A menu item has been added to the help menu, allowing the user to easily subscribe to the Lava Software Newletter.
[Opt] The control order (ie. tab order) of textboxes on the 'Add Service' dialog has been streamlined.
[Opt] Buttons have been increased in height so they display correctly on Fedora 3 Linux.

4.0.0 (24 January 2005)
[New] Button graphics on the main window have been updated.
[New] The main window has been reduced in size, and various specialized button functions have been relocated to the menubar to simplify operation.
[Opt] When the main window is locked, the master password entry textbox is placed in focus to streamline entry.
[New] A password unmask button has been added to the main window.
[Opt] The space available for password storage has been increased from 100 to 1000 characters in size.
[New] The password generater can be customized to generate either alphanumeric, numeric or hexadecimal passwords up to 1000 characters in length.
[New] Random encryption keys can be generated by the password generator, containing up to 4000 bits (1000 hexadecimal characters).
[New] The password on the export dialog is now masked.
[New] A password unmask button has been added to the export dialog.
[New] A blank field can now be included when setting up custom password data import and export.
[New] When launched, PC-Mac PasswordVault downloads the latest news from the Lava Software web server, so users can stay informed about software updates, special offers, etc.
[New] The latest news can be displayed by selecting 'Get Latest News...' from the 'Help' menu.
[Opt] On the Linux version, the main window minimize and maximize operations have been improved.
[New] An 'Email Lava Software...' function has been added to the 'Help' menu to make it easier for users to contact Lava Software customer support via email.
[Opt] The 'Auto-Sync To Desktop' checkbox is enabled by default when PC-Mac PasswordVault2Go initially detects a desktop installation.

3.2.0 (16 July 2004)
[New] Clipboard cleared when quitting.
[Bug] On the Windows version, copying and pasting text didn't work on some dialogs.

3.1.0 (11 June 2004)
[New] Linux version released.
[New] 'Set All' and 'Clear All' buttons have been added to the export dialog.
[Opt] The category selection menu and its related textbox on the 'Add Service' dialog has been replaced with a combobox.
[Opt] On the MacOS X version, the text font used on the main window has been increased in size.
[Bug] Each time the export dialog was displayed, the service category listbox would have a repeated set of categories added.

3.0.0 (10 May 2004)
[New] Release of PC-Mac PasswordVault2Go. This new edition is designed specifically for use on portable media such as USB drives, Zip disks, iPods, etc. and can automatically sync service data with desktop installations of PC-Mac PasswordVault.
[New] Any combination of service type labels can now be mixed. For example, the 'Username' label can be 'Username', 'Name', 'Account No' or 'Access No', whilst the 'Password' label can be 'Password', 'Serial No', 'Runtime Key', 'PIN' or  'Code'.
[New] A quick start window is displayed when no services have yet been added to PC-Mac PasswordVault.
[New] Random password generator added.
[New] Imports and exports data files in PasswordWallet format.
[New] Exports service data as a text file for printing, backup, etc.
[New] Specific categories can be exported as encrypted data, giving organizations the ability to easily and securely distribute and update collections of service data to a number of users. Since this service data file is strongly encrypted, it can even be emailed to remote users as an email attachment.
[New] An 'All' category displays all services, irrespective of their categories.
[New] The 'Last Modified' date is displayed when service data is edited.
[New] Displayed passwords can be masked.
[New] A 'General Preferences' dialog has been added.
[New] Service data can be imported and exported in any custom tab-delimited format.
[New] Encrypted service data files can now be saved to any location, and loaded by double-clicking them. This allows these files to be stored on disk images, floppy disks, USB drives, etc. and easily loaded and updated.
[New] Service categories can be added and changed.
[New] If no master password is entered, the 'Master Password Preferences' dialog is displayed. On this dialog, you can enter the master password and master password recovery questions and answers.
[New] Auto-lock timer added. After the lockout timer period has elapsed, the main window is hidden, the 'Enter Master Password' dialog is displayed, and the clipboard is cleared.
[Opt] Unused service categories are automatically eliminated.
[Opt] Service type titles (eg. 'Username', 'Password') are now not reset after each service entry using the 'Add Service' dialog.
[Opt] The text font on most windows has been increased in size to make labels easier to read.
[Opt] On Windows, if another instance of PC-Mac PasswordVault is launched whilst the software is already running, the main window is simply brought to the front.
[Bug] Text style information is now not included in text pasted into the 'Add Service' dialog.
[Bug] If a service category was selected which contained no services, and the service edit button or service remove button was pressed, an out of bounds error would occur.
[Bug] On Windows, if there were new line characters in the notes section, notes were truncated at the first new line character.
[Bug] When a new service was added and then saved, the web address was not cleared automatically.
[Bug] On MacOS Classic, the global floating window did not work correctly. This window has been changed to a normal application window on MacOS Classic, so it moves into the background when another application's window is selected.
[Bug] On MacOS Classic, sometimes a type 2 error would be displayed when PC-Mac PasswordVault was quit.

2.1.0 (10 February 2004)
[Opt] The username and password field sizes have been increased to 100 characters.
[Opt] The web address field size has been increased to 500 characters.
[Bug] In MacOS X Panther (10.3), the notes field did not update correctly when a new service was selected.
[Bug] When editing a service, the notes textbox did not correctly display any new lines in the text.
[Bug] Pressing the quit button on the master password entry dialog when the compact main window was displayed didn't quit the application.

2.0.0 (28 January 2004)
[New] Importing of service data has been added.
[New] Exporting of service data as an unencrypted text file has been added.
[New] The master password textbox has been moved to the 'Master Password Recovery' dialog to hide it from casual viewing.
[New] A fast lockout button has been added.
[New] A web address button has been added.
[New] Services can now be sorted into categories.
[New] Services are sorted alphabetically within categories.
[New] When the main window is minimized, it now floats above all other windows on the screen.
[New] A button has been added which displays the PC-Mac PasswordVault user manual when it is pressed.
[New] A Lite Edition has been introduced which replaces the demo version. The Lite Edition includes master password recovery as well as the ability to store up to 10 services.
[New] Five additional skins have been added: Water, Ice Wall, Necromancer, Red Rivers and Wellworn Thatch.

1.1.0
[New] A selection of 6 attractive 'skins' have been made available to customize the main window.
[New] Additional service types have been added: 'Name/Serial No' and 'Access No/Code'.
[New] On Windows, the main PC-Mac PasswordVault window can now be minimized.
[Opt] The 'Save' button on the 'Add Service' dialog has been made the default button.
[Opt] The font used for all windows has been increased to 10-point to make titles, etc. more legible, especially in MacOS X.
[Opt] The dynamic help system now displays the help text of enabled controls in black and disabled controls in red.
[Opt] When adding or updating clues in the master password recovery system, pressing the 'Save' button without fully completing the clue add/update process displays a confirmation dialog asking if the user wants the clue added/updated before saving the clue list.
[Opt] If the main window is off-screen at launch, it is moved to a default position on the top left side of the screen.
[Bug] Running the demo version of PC-Mac PasswordVault using preferences for the full version would truncate the user's data so it had a maximum of 3 services.

1.0.0 (initial release)