QuoteTracker stores all your data, including personal information such as connection settings, login/account information and holdings in four files (PORT.XML, ALERTS.DAT, STOCKS.INI and CHARTS.INI) in the QuoteTracker folder.  Although the login passwords are encrypted in the file if you select to save the passwords when you set up your accounts in Data Sources, any of these files can easily be viewed in any text editor or by simply starting the QuoteTracker program, by anyone who has access to your computer.

 

This Security feature, accessed from the File Menu allows you to encrypt these files and assign a password to them rendering them un-viewable and requiring a password to start the program:

 

 

The first time you call up this screen (or if the files are not encrypted), the Password box will say *** Not Encrypted ***.  To encrypt the files, enter a password (use at least four characters) in the New Password box and again in the Repeat to make  sure box (the program will verify these are the same, so there is no error in your typing of your selected password).  You can optionally enter a Reminder Phrase, to give you a "hint" in case you forget it.  When you click OK, a message will appear confirming that your files are now encrypted.

 

You can recall this screen by selecting Setup File Security from the File menu.  If encrypted, you will have to enter your password in the Password box.  Click on the ? button to display the Reminder Phrase, if you need a "hint" and you entered one when you encrypted the files.  You now have the option to either Decrypt all files and turning Security off (by checking the box) or changing your Password and/or Reminder Phrase.  Click OK for the changes to take effect.  If you select to Decrypt all, a message will appear confirming this action.

 

Once encrypted, this screen will come up automatically every time you start the QuoteTracker program.  The program will not load until you enter the correct password in the Password box.  At this point, you will also have the opportunity to turn encryption off or change your password , as above.

 

Notes:  Select a password that you will remember and record it in a safe place.  If you forget your password, we may not be able to help you gain access to the files and you would have to delete the files and re-establish them again.

 

The same password is assigned to all the files.  If you restore the files and somehow end up with different passwords, the program will recognize this and you will have to enter the different passwords for the files and then re-select a single password for all the files.

 

The four files listed above are your data files.  As with all important files kept on your computer, it is a good idea to back up these files often.  These are also the files you will need if you re-install or install the program on a different computer.  For the complete list of the data files used by QT and what they contain, please see the FAQ section.