The beauty of it is that you don't have to endure the drudgery that comes with most databases: data entry. Because 95 percent of the data you're likely to save in the ClipMate database is stuff you've been copying anyway, it's in the database automatically.

I use it to track the passwords, registration keys, license numbers and all the other codes I need when I inevitably have to reinstall every program on my hard drive. When I get a code, usually in an email, I copy it and paste it into the program waiting to be authenticated. Then a hot key opens ClipMate's database.

Ctrl+R lets me rename the code to the name of the program, and I slide it over to a database table I've named 'Registrations" from which no entries can be deleted unless I say OK. ClipMate is constantly backing itself up, and so I don't worry about crashed drives-at least not as far as passwords are concerned.

ClipMate also has tools for processing data. Separate clips can be joined together, or a single clip broken into many. It will not only strip away all those line breaks, codes and formatting that cause problems when you paste them into different programs, but it will check the spelling and capitalization while it's at it. With a little planning and choosing among options all this can be done automatically when you copy, cut, or paste. It speeds up, dresses up, and cuts down on your work without you giving it another thought.

--Ron White