Pocket PC password manager: why your PDA needed one

By 2002-2003, nearly every web site, network and program you touched had a password. The Pocket PC was becoming a login device in its own right — and Password Juggler was the era's answer: a small, encrypted vault that traveled with you. Here is what a Pocket PC password manager did, and how it worked.

The password problem on a PDA

Carry a PDA and you carry a life of logins: your ISP's dial-up, the office network, banking web sites, software license keys, IP addresses, the wireless office portal, and — as the web matured — a new login for every service. In the pre-cloud days, there was no browser password manager on the device, and the built-in eWallets were heavy, awkward on a 240×320 screen, and oriented around "cards" rather than fast lookup.

A dedicated PDA password manager fixed that: one app, one encrypted database, instant lookup, copy-and-paste straight into the login box.

What Password Juggler did differently

Built by myPocket technologies starting in 2001, Password Juggler took the eWallet concept and stripped it down to what people actually needed:

Whole-database encryption — all information was encrypted, so no one but you could access it.
Secure login + auto shut-off — the app itself locked after a variable timer, so an unattended PDA wasn't a free pass to your accounts.
Categories and custom fields — organize by bank, office, vendor; store anything, not just username/password pairs.
Random password generation — strong, unique passwords before it was fashionable.
Notes on entries — security questions, expiry dates, that one weird rule the bank insists on.
Copy/paste — straight from the vault into any open field.
Desktop companion — the Windows version could search (word search from 3.1.0), print a hard-copy archive, and transfer the encrypted database back and forth with the PDA.

The result was what reviewers kept saying: simple, clean, quick and safe. All six published user reviews from 2001–2003 gave it five stars — a network admin in Houston called it "invaluable" for looking up network IDs away from the desktop, and a user in Utah noted the developer personally fixed a beta install problem overnight.

How a 2003 PDA vault protected you

At rest: the database file (e.g. PJ2002.cdb) was encrypted; without the login you had no readable passwords.
In use: the secure login and auto shut-off timer kept the app locked the moment you put the PDA down.
On the wire: the desktop transfer moved the encrypted database between PDA and PC, not a plaintext list.
For backups: the desktop version could print a hard copy — in 2003, paper was a first-class backup medium.

A 2025 perspective: the encryption and workflows of a 2003 app are not the standard today's security guidance expects. This page documents how the software worked in its era, not a current security recommendation.

Upgrading and keeping your data safe

Password Juggler ran from version 1.0 (2001) through the 2002 release, the 2003 release, and finally the NX revision in June 2003. The upgrade path was designed to be lossless: uninstall the old PDA app (your database stays), install the new version, and use File → Change Login → Locate Database → Convert Old Database. The FAQ documents every step, and the PX NX Data Converter 1.0.0 is still downloadable from this archive for database migration.

Frequently asked

QDoes a PDA password manager replace the desktop one?

For users in the 2002-2003 era, Password Juggler's strength was that it was one vault on both devices: the PDA app for on-the-go lookups, the desktop companion for bulk entry, printing and backups, with the encrypted database transferred between them.

QMy PDA says it needs the eMbedded Visual Basic Runtime — is that a security risk?

No — it is just the runtime the app was built on (most Pocket PC software of this era was eMbedded Visual Basic). If you have Pocket PC 4.20.1081 or above, install the runtime .cab from this archive on your PDA and you're set. Details are in the FAQ.

QWhat happened to the purchase links?

Full versions were sold through Handango.com and PocketGear.com in 2003. Both storefronts have closed, so the original purchase and demo links are inactive — see the Password Juggler product page for what remains available on this site.

A collector's aside (2026): the 2003 economy of small, well-made objects didn't die — it moved. The PDAs that ran apps like this one are collectibles now, and the same comparison habit that went into picking a $9.99 password manager goes into picking a watch today. I have spent an evening or two in the world of super clone watches, and the gap between a good copy and the original has closed more than most people expect.

See it in detail

For the full feature list, screenshots, manuals (PDA and desktop), original pricing, and all six user reviews, the product page has everything:

Password Juggler product page Password Juggler FAQ