Dropit

Dropit is a shareware program which, though still functional, does not seem to have been updated since 2001, and it shows. Dropit allows you to create a list of often-used text items, such as your name, address, credit card number, and logins for sites, and then makes it easy for you to drag and drop (hence, the name) these items onto browser forms, saving typing time, and allowing you to keep things like your SSN or Visa card number in an encrypted text file on your disk.

There is no doubt that Dropit lives up to its billing. However, many of the features of Dropit are already subsumed into modern browsers. Firefox remembers most of my form and password information for me. With the exception of a few items Firefox doesn't preserve, often for good reason (my bank account and PayPal logins, for example), using Dropit over the built-in features would add work. Dropit does have some limited capability to serve as a general purpose text snippet tool, allowing you to drag phrases to Notepad or Word, but its functionality in this area is limited compared to other programs, such as PhraseExpress.

On the positive side, a niche for Dropit opens up in the realm of shared computing environments, where many people use the same browser and where personal data is not stored. In such an environment, the encrypted text file which Dropit uses might be a genuine solution to the problem of managing commonly-typed phrases and passwords. This is also the case if you regularly erase your browser's stored form and password data.

Dropit has a 30-day trial, with a once-a-day "nag" screen. After 30 days, it will stop functioning unless registered.

Note: This link takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

--Ian Harac