Protected Storage PassView

Description
Protected Storage PassView is a small utility that reveals the passwords stored on your computer by Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and MSN Explorer. The passwords are revealed by reading the information from the Protected Storage.
Starting from version 1.60, this utility reveals all AutoComplete strings stored in Internet Explorer, not only the AutoComplete password, as in the previous versions.

This utility can show 4 types of passwords:

1. Outlook passwords: When you create a mail account in Outlook Express or a POP3 account in Microsoft Outlook, and you choose the "Remember password" option in the account properties, the password is saved in the Protected Storage, and this utility can instantly reveal it.
Be aware that if delete an existing Outlook Express account, the password won't be removed from the Protected Storage. In such a case, the utility won't be able to obtain the user-name of the deleted account, and only the password will be shown.
Starting from version 1.50, the passwords of Outlook Express identities are also displayed.
2. AutoComplete passwords in Internet Explorer: Many Web sites provides you a logon screen with user-name and password fields. When you log into the Web site, Internet Explorer may ask you if you want to remember the password for the next time that you log into this Web site. If choose to remember the password, the user-name and the password are saved in the Protected Storage, and thus they can be revealed by Protected Storage PassView.
In some circumstances, multiple pairs of user-name and passwords are stored for the same logon window. In such case, the additional passwords will be displayed as sub-items of the first user-password pair. In sub-items, the resource name is displayed as 3 dots ('...')
3. Password-protected sites in Internet Explorer: Some Web sites allows you to log on by using "Basic Authentication" or "Digest Access Authentication". When you enter the Web site, Internet Explorer displays a special logon dialog-box and asks you to enter your user-name and password. Internet Explorer also gives you the option to save the user-name/password pair for the next time you log-on. If you choose to save the logon data, the user-name and the password are saved in the Protected Storage, and thus they can be revealed by Protected Storage PassView.
In this category, you can also find the passwords of FTP servers.
4. MSN Explorer Passwords:
The MSN Explorer browser stores 2 types of passwords in the Protected Storage:
* Sign-up passwords
* AutoComplete passwords

By default, this utility shows all 4 types of passwords. You can select to show or hide a specific type of password, by choosing the right password type from the View menu.

This utility can only show the passwords of the current logged-on user. it cannot reveal the passwords of other users.

About The Protected Storage
The Protected Storage information is saved in a special location in the Registry. The base key of the Protected Storage is located under the following key:
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider"
You can browse the above key in the Registry Editor (RegEdit), but you won't be able to watch the passwords, because they are encrypted. Also, some passwords data are hidden by the operating system.

Known Problems
False Alert Problems: Some Antivirus programs detect Protected Storage PassView utility as infected with Trojan/Virus.
Recent update: Norton Antivirus detect Protected Storage Passview as an hack tool.

About Internet Explorer 7
In the new version 7.0 of Internet Explorer (IE7), the Protected Storage is not used for saving passwords anymore, and thus after installing IE7, this utility won't display new passwords that you type in IE7 browser.
For more information about passwords in Internet Explorer 7, read this.
A new utility that can extract the passwords of Internet Explorer 7: IE PassView
System Requirements

* Windows operating system: Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
* Internet Explorer, Versions 4.0 - 6.0