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How To Not Manage Serial Numbers On Your Mac.

LicenseKeeperLet’s face it, this digital age in which we live has some drawbacks that we have to think about and solve.

It’s tough to remember everything we need to remember, even to the point of remembering where we keep our software serial numbers, and licenses, not to mention login ID’s and passwords.

More than half of all Macs sold these days are notebooks, which means whatever you store could belong to someone else if your notebook is lost or stolen. Is that a thought that makes you sleep better at night?

Fortunately, Mac users have many choices when it comes to handy utilities to manage sensitive data that you don’t want to see fall into the wrong hands. It isn’t just about security, though. There’s an ease-of-use element that needs consideration.

For a few years I kept most of my login ID’s, passwords, and software serial numbers on Stickies. Shriek! How secure is that? As my software purchases grew, as updates became more frequent, and as serial numbers proliferated, I moved to an Excel spreadsheet.

Yes, that works, but not very well. I ended up with different versions floating between my Macs. No wonder the past couple of years have seen a proliferation of Mac utilities to manage important information, keeping it both secure and accessible at the same time.

Most of us at Mac360 have used the more popular and attractive utilities to manage serial numbers, login IDs and passwords. Ron and I have settled on Steel, but both agree that there are shortcomings for average Mac users.

Steel lets you customize categories and information by category, making it a little more complex for some users new to the Mac.

We came across LicenseKeeper and found it to be an attractive utility for new Mac users who’ve been prone to using Stickies or Word documents or Excel spreadsheets to track software license and serial number information, though it comes with some drawbacks.

LicenseKeeper stores Mac software serial numbers, license files, even receipts, and manages a purchase history which includes registration information (I store my numbers but don’t always bother to register my software with the publisher) in an odd way and without any security.

Most of the software I buy these days has serial numbers, many of which show up in an email receipt. LicenseKeeper scans your email, finds serial numbers, and makes it easy to keep in the data library (it imports and scans email from Mail, Entourage, and PowerMail).

LicenseKeeper even prints out lists of your software information in detail, lets you use Spotlight to search for it, and tracks the software purchases in different currencies. I’ve purchased some in Euros, some in Pounds, some in something else I wasn’t sure of, so this can be a handy feature for some.

Unfortunately, LicenseKeeper keeps copies of your emails with embedded license details in a proprietary library of information that is not encrypted. The publisher suggests that users who need that level of security use OS X’s FileVault to protect the contents of LicenseKeeper.

While LicenseKeeper is an attractive utility and simple enough to use, especially for users new to the Mac, it doesn’t go far enough and doesn’t compete well with other utilities we like.

Steel and Wallet, among others, including iSafe and Secret Book, do more for less, or about the same money. Steel is a bargain. Secret Book is the easiest to use.

Granted, having a license keeping utility scan your software may make it easier than cut and paste, but, in our opinion, not enough to justify the higher price and lower number of features, and no security.

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.

   • Article by Kate MacKenzie • Published on Friday, February 29, 2008
   • Category: Software • 5 Reader comment(s) • Email This • Digg This • Shop Now
  Page 1 of 1 Page(s) for this article.

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Readers Talk Back:
LunaMac says:

I still use Splash ID for serial numbers.  I also have 1 Password now, and while I like the ability to access it from the browser, the transfer of info from SplashID is very disappointing.  It doesn’t associate the domain names with the login info, so I find I have to re-save all my web log-ins in 1Password - very annoying.  I’d just as soon leave my serials numbers in Splash ID, which is not accessed as often.

   — Posted on Mon Mar 03 at 2:58 pm by LunaMac

WWeary says:

As a recent switcher I have found 1Password to be the perfect replacement for the windows application I was using.  In my mind, its what the keychain should have been all along.

   — Posted on Sat Mar 01 at 10:50 pm by WWeary

Mister Ron says:

Every time I get a new serial number I forward the email or send it if it’s from a box, say, to another one of my email addresses where I can access it anytime, from anywhere.

Comes in handy. I usually just search the mail for the product name, voila!

   — Posted on Sat Mar 01 at 9:49 am by Mister Ron

Ken says:

You forgot to mention Keychain Access, which comes with Mac OS X (it’s in the Utilities folder). You can create a “New Secure Note” to hold your serial numbers or other data snippets that need to be kept encrypted. Plus the Mac will sync items in your keychain between machines, which is handy.

   — Posted on Fri Feb 29 at 6:24 pm by Ken

Randall E. Leverette says:

You forgot to mention 1Password; it’s a really great program

   — Posted on Fri Feb 29 at 3:16 pm by Randall E. Leverette

  Page 1 of 1 Page(s) for Comments on this article.
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