 System Requirements
Secret! Desktop runs on all Windows versions. You can use it as a standalone program, or you can synchronize the data with a handheld running Palm OS or Windows Mobile/Pocket PC. If you synchronize with a handheld, you need HotSync, ActiveSync, or Windows Mobile Device Center. Secret Viewers for other operating systems are also available. A Secret! version for Mac OS X is also available.
Installation And UpgradeDownload and run the self-extracting setup. The setup will automatically install Secret! Desktop and the HotSync or ActiveSync synchronization (if applicable). You can also install the Palm or Pocket PC program on your handheld. If you want to synchronize with a handheld, install Secret! first on the handheld, open it on the handheld (so that a new database is created), and synchronize with your PC. If Secret! data is not synchronized, please read the FAQ. You should always install newer versions of Secret! Desktop into the previous directory, without removing the previous installation. Your data and settings will be preserved.  How To Use Secret! Desktop
When you start Secret! Desktop, you must first enter your Secret! password. This is the same password that you use to encrypt your Secret! data on your handheld. It is not the registration key. If you have multiple users or handhelds, please make sure to select the correct user and handheld from the user dropdown list.
 You can create a new local Secret! data file or work with an existing file by selecting (Local File) from the user dropdown. The last used file is remembered.
 In the left part of the main window you will see a category pulldown and the list of the Secret! records in the choosen category. This list is sorted in alphabetical order. To the right you can view and edit the currently selected record. You can set a different text font in the Options dialog.
Through the Record menu, you can mark a record as read-only to prevent accidental changes. Read-only mode is indicated by a gray background. The Secret! Desktop window can be resized to adjust for the best view. You can also adjust the width of the text area by dragging the black line in the middle of the window. Most functions are available through the Record menu. You can add, rename, or delete records, or print a single record or all records. The standard popup menu (right mouse click) for cut/copy/paste is available in the right-hand text window. Tip: You can quickly close Secret! Desktop at any time by pressing the ESC key. All changes will be automatically encrypted and saved.
 Multiple Passwords
You can encrypt different records with different passwords. This could be useful if you want to protect some especially important records with an extra-long and complicated password, or if you want to share some information with others using a general password. Records that cannot be decrypted with the current password(s) will be marked with a hash sign (#) in the list. When you select such a record, Secret! Desktop will ask you for the password for that record. All passwords that you enter while you use Secret! Desktop are saved internally, so you do not need to enter them twice. To change the password for one record, all records in a given category, or all records, select File - Change Password. Note that changing the password for multiple records will only work for those records that can currently be decrypted (i.e. are not marked with a hash sign). The same applies to exporting of records.  Options
You can configure various options to increase security or usability by selecting Tools - Options from the menu. To get more help about a configuration option, click on the little question mark (?) button in the title bar, then on the option in question. A particularly useful option is Hide after copy. This will automatically put Secret! Desktop into the background whenever you select and copy some text. The previously active program (e.g. a web browser) is put back to the foreground to let you easily enter the copied text into a form. To avoid problems with copy/pasting within Secret! records this option will only work for read-only records.
 Record Import/Export
You can import and export records encrypted with a different password. This is useful e.g. if you want to send part of your Secret! data to someone else. To export a record and save it as a pdb file suitable for import into another Secret! Desktop or handheld, select Record - Export from the menu. You will be asked for a new password with which to encrypt the exported data. The data in Secret! Desktop will not be changed. To export all records in the currently displayed category, select File - Export from the menu and proceed as above. To import an encrypted Secret! file, select Record - Import from the menu and select the pdb file. Note: You can only import files created by Secret Desktop or Secret! on the handheld. You can also import/export all records as unencrypted plain text in CSV or XLS format for backup purposes. Be sure to store the unencrypted data in a safe place. Note that if you use multiple passwords, the only records that can currently be decrypted will be exported (those not marked with a hash sign #).
TAN/OTP Mode The TAN/OTP mode is useful when you use one-time passwords (OTPs) or transaction numbers (TANs) e.g. for online-banking. You can delete the respective first number of the TAN list by pushing the Use button. The TAN will be automatically copied into the Windows clipboard, so you can easily paste it into the browser form with Ctrl-V.
The number to the right of the TAN list shows the number of still available TANs. You can store additional information for this TAN list, e.g. bank number and PIN or password, in the area below the list. A new TAN list must be entered in standard mode (uncheck Record - TAN/OTP mode).
BackupIf you work most of the time with Secret! Desktop and not the handheld, it's a good idea to make extra backups of the Secret! Desktop data file. There's an option in Secret! Desktop to automatically create a backup of the original version whenever you change something. You can import such a backup via File - Import. The name and location of this file depends on whether you synchronize with a Palm or a Pocket PC handheld. If you synchronize with a Palm handheld, Secret! Desktop stores its data in a file secret.dat in the directory ...\palm\<Palm User Name>\secret (e.g. c:\program files\palm\LinkeS\secret.dat) If you synchronize with a Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) handheld, Secret! Desktop stores its data in a file <Partnership Name>-secret.dat (e.g. WM_HX2750-secret.dat) in the directory %AppData%\secret (which is usually c:\users\<Windows User Name>\AppData\secret or c:\users\<Windows User Name>\AppData\Roaming\secret on Vista) Note: You can change this location in the Secret! ActiveSync/Windows Mobile Device Center settings. Free Secret! Viewers For Other Platforms Secret viewers (no editing and no synchronization) are available free of charge for the following platforms. License Please purchase Secret! Desktop on our order page. To register your copy of Secret! Desktop, enter your Secret! password, then click on the Register button on the main screen. We offer attractive multi-user discounts and site licenses. Please contact us with the estimated number of users for details. Note: The license keys for Secret! Desktop and Secret! (Handheld) are different.  
Version History
- 5.1.1
- minor fixes - 5.1
- Option to keep up to 5 backups (one per day)
- Tools - Remove duplicates Edit button to easily edit entries from readonly/TAN mode
- Fix for WMDC 6.1 sync problem
- Fix: # of records in Secret! Desktop is no longer limited to 500 (only applied to Windows Mobile synchronized data)
- Various bug fixes - 5.0
- Support standalone usage: Create new data file and browse for data file
- Allow different passwords for records, e.g. a short one for general stuff, and a long and difficult one for extra secrecy
- Ability to link in an external (shared) file via command line option -l (see F1 help)
( Such a file can be created via Export... in pdb format, and can have an arbitrary password)
- Fix for resource problems or crashes on some machines
- Option to clear clipboard after 10 seconds
- Menu to number TANs automatically - 4.3
- Support for Windows Vista Mobile Device Center (aka ActiveSync)
- Online help files now compatible with Windows Vista
- Fixes for printing overlong lines and maintain order for printing all records
- Minor bug fixes - 4.2
- Option to mark current line in yellow
- Find now also searches record title
- Simplified usage on USB stick, command line options -f and -i no longer necessary:
use data file secret.dat if it exists in same directory as secret.exe
use settings file secret.ini if it exists in same directory as secret.exe
- Go To field in TAN mode if TANs can be removed in arbitrary order (iTAN) - 4.1.1
- Some bug fixes, more robust handling of corrupt records - 4.1
- Improved category handling, categories are now sync'ed with Secret! Pocket PC (1.1 or newer)
- Back/forward buttons for navigating opened records - 4.0
- Support for Pocket PC (ActiveSync) synchronization
- Clickable URLs (e.g. www.xyz.com)
- New option to clear clipboard from Secret! data at program exit
- New option to remove TANs in arbitrary order (iTAN scheme used by some banks)
- TANs are now always marked with a * internally and not really deleted - 3.3
- Enhanced password generator
- Option to always start with first record, to avoid accidentally showing sensitive information
- Optionally mark used TANs with asterisk (*) only rather than deleting them
- Improved handlig of invalid/corrupted databases - 3.2
- Copy on double-click option: double-clicking a word selects it, and automatically copies it to the clipboard. Especially useful together with the Hide After Clipboard Copy option
- Search now includes TAN info field below TAN/OTP list
- Increased single record size limit from 6,000 to 32,000 characters per record. Note: you must use the corresponding Secret! 3.2 or later on your handheld
- Word-wrapping when printing long lines
- Double-clicking a word now selects only the word, not the following spaces, useful when copy/pasting passwords
- 3.1 - Option to hide Secret! Desktop when copy/pasting data, or to always keep it in foreground, reorganized menu structure, toolbar, improved list popup menu
- 3.0 - Support for multiple records per category like memopad, improved printing (current/all records)
- 1.4 - Import and export of Secret data files, font selection for text field, allow TAB key in text field, option to erase all data after several wrong password attempts, rename categories, info area in TAN/OTP mode (contains all text after blank line), various smaller bug fixes
- 1.3 - More time-out options, option to always open first category, important bug fix that may have led to duplicated categories, bug fixes with printing in Secret! Desktop, improve TAN mode with Del/Copy to clipboard combined and Undo
- 1.2 - Auto-close option, resizable category area, minor bug fixes
- 1.1 - Search function, many bug fixes
- 1.0 - First public version
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