The great thing about version 2 is that you’re not constantly pestered for a password each time.
In AxCrypt 1.7 you’d have to type in your password every single time you were encrypting and decrypting a file. If you’re like me and work with multiple encrypted files this soon becomes slow and inconvenient. I believe people were choosing shorter (less secure) passwords to save them hassle when being forced to type in their password each time. The other added risk in 1.7 was that you could forget to encrypt your file once you’d finished working with it.
Version 2 works slightly differently. You create one highly secure password and you use that to ‘login’ to the program. Only you know that password and AxCrypt can’t help you if your forget it! Once you’ve logged in to AxCrypt all your files are decrypted whenever you double-click on them (unlike 1.7). They’re automatically encrypted once you close them (unlike 1.7).
If other people share your computer, and you’re worried about them having access to your files, the best option is to have your own user account. If this is not convenient then just click FILE > SIGN OUT once you’ve finished working with your files! To gain access to your files again you’ll be required to login. This saves the hassle of typing associated with 1.7.
The other times that AxCrypt 2 will demand your password is if you lock your screen, when your screensaver kicks, when you log out of your account or when you restart/shutdown.
AxCrypt 2 is just as secure as 1.7 (if not more so) because it automates a repetitive task. Therefore your encryption password is your ‘login’ password but take special care not to forget it because it’s irrecoverable. If you do forget your password then all you can do is ‘reset’ it to start afresh but you’ll lose access to all of your encrypted files (which is what happened in 1.7.)
