Matching settings between pc and laptop

[Paul Croft]

After the TalkTalk fiasco here in the UK I have finally got around to investigating password managers and KeyPass 2.3 suits my purposes admirably.

I installed it on my pc and my laptop, I configured it to suit on my pc, then copied the database and config file (from appdata>roaming>keypass) to the laptop. This almost worked, but my auto-type settings for target windows and custom sequences did not transfer across. Is there another config file somewhere I missed which holds this data, or have I got to set the laptop up separately?

Many thanks,
Paul

[wellread1]

If you transferred the password database (default extension .kdbx) you will have access to your passwords and the auto-type sequences (including custom sequences) because the sequences are stored in the database.

To verify that you are opening a copy of the same database on both computers carefully compare entries in both databases to ensure that they are identical. Checking the 'Last Modified Time' is a quick check because it is unlikely that different versions of the same entry will have the same modification time. If you find entries with different last modified times carefully compare the entries contents. If you find that you are using different versions of the same database you can synchronize them using KeePass Synchronization

If the database copies are identical, carefully check that Window Titles are identical on your PC and laptop. For example, if you use different browsers on the devices, and you have included the browser name as part of each entry's target window title of the auto-type sequence, then a sequence that works on one device will fail on the other.

[Paul Croft]

Thanks wellread1 - my mistake, my age is catching up with me :-) The drive on which the database is stored on the laptop has a different drive letter from that on the pc and I managed to open the wrong database.

I did initially try to match them using the synchronize command but, when I did this, all the password groups on both databases were deleted other than the active one which is why I ended up copying the database across manually. Obviously synchronize would be a better and quicker option, but not if it deletes groups. Any idea what I might be doing wrong to cause this to happen?

[Paul]

The folders were deleted because both databases were originally copies and you have since deleted most of the entries in one copy. Sync correctly updated both copies to reflect that.

cheers, Paul

[Paul Croft]

both databases were originally copies <<

OK, not sure I understand this to be honest. What difference does it make if both were copies?. If I make changes to the database on the pc, by changing, e.g., a setting in an entry's auto-type, then close KeePass, the database updates properly and this is confirmed by the date of the file in the file manager updating.

If I then re-start KeePass on the desktop and ask to synchronize this database with the database on the laptop, and they both have the same, identical 5 groups and 40 odd entries, I am expecting the database on the laptop to be updated to reflect the change on the pc's database. However, running synchronise from the pc deletes all groups in both databases other than the active one on the pc and if that group has just one entry, as one does, I am left with just one entry in both databases :-(

I'm not sure this is what's meant to happen.

[wellread1]

OK, not sure I understand this [synchronization behavior of deleted entries] to be honest.

KeePass synchronizes entries based on the entry's UUID (universally unique identifier) not whether the entries appear identical to the user. KeePass also maintains, in each database, a list of entry UUIDs that have been deleted in that database so that the deleted entries will remain deleted, when deletion is the most recent "edit" of an entry, and different copies of the same database are synchronized.

Hence if a user makes a copy of a database, deletes half of the entries in one database and deletes the other half of entries in the other database, then immediately synchronizes the two databases, the resulting synchronized database will be empty because the most recent edit to all entries was a deletion.

This deleted entry synchronization behavior has to be kept in mind when databases that originated from the same database have been separately and extensively modified and are subsequently synchronized.

There is a database tool (in "Tools>Database Tools>Database Maintenance>Deleted objects information(section)") that can remove the deletion records from a database. If the tool is applied to both copies of a database prior to synchronization, then a synchronization will reinstate entries that have been deleted in only one database.

[Paul Croft]

Wellread1,

I had never given much thought to synchronization before but, having read (3 or 4 times) your comprehensive explanation of exactly what's happening 'under the hood', I am now much better informed and the process is finally working for me.

Many thanks for taking the time to educate me.