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SHAREWARE NOTICE
All programs and accompanying files which constitute PC Padlock are
copyrighted software, to which Del Mar Software retains all ownership and
rights.
You may freely distribute this software, as long as all files are included and
free of modification. All copyright notices must remain intact.
It is being distributed here as shareware, and Del Mar Software grants you the
right to freely use it for a period of thirty (30) days. If after this trial
period you find it to be of value and wish to continue using it, you must
purchase a copy by registering your shareware.
Failure to abide by the above criteria is a violation of 17 United States Code
sections 101 through 810.
There are several additional benefits gained from registering. These include:
* A professionally printed and bound User's Manual.
* Free automatic updates for a period of six months on minor releases, with
reduced prices on major releases.
* Advance notice and reduced prices on new products.
* Unlimited free technical support via a toll-free telephone number.
Del Mar Software makes no warranties of any kind with regard to the program
or printed matter comprising the product. This includes, but is not limited
to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,
and any damages arising from the use of this product, whether consequential or
incidental.
PC PADLOCK REGISTRATION FORM
Your name : _________________________________________________________________
Company name : ______________________________________________________________
Address : ___________________________________________________________________
City : _____________________________ State : __________ Zip : _______________
Please send $20.00 in cash, check, or money order to :
Del Mar Software
1551 Old Mill Crossing
Marietta, GA 30062
Please specify which media you prefer :
[] 5 1/4" DD (360K)
[] 5 1/4" HD (1.2 Meg)
[] 3 1/2" HD (1.44 Meg)
PC PADLOCK (TM)
Copyright (c) 1992 Del Mar Software
USER'S MANUAL
PC PADLOCK (TM) is a trademark of Del Mar Software
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 2
INSTALLATION PROCEDURE 3
The installation directory 3
Copying files 3
Path statement 3
RUNNING PC PADLOCK 4
Using PC Padlock 4
Disk locking 5
Disk encryption 5
File encryption 6
Disk unlocking 6
Obtaining disk status 7
APPLYING PC PADLOCK 8
Maximum protection 8
Medium protection 8
Minimum protection 8
Special cases 8
Other uses 8
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES 9
PC Padlock command line switches 9
Automatic padlock 9
IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY 10
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for your purchase of PC Padlock from Del Mar Software. PC Padlock
provides the user with a floppy disk locking system for DOS-based computers.
Once locked, a disk's contents cannot be viewed, edited, deleted, or even
listed by any DOS command or application program. This is especially useful
in protecting data disks used for word processors, spreadsheets, desktop
publishers, financial software, and any other application that writes data to
a floppy. Any confidential information is safe from prying eyes with PC
Padlock.
In addition to locking, disks may also be encrypted, protecting them from all
disk repair utilities. Would-be thiefs and snoops with your disk, the
expertise, and time on their hands will never see your confidential data.
PC Padlock also includes file encryption, which makes text files unreadable
and program files unexecutable. Wildcards are accepted to allow encrypting
multiple files in one pass.
Although PC Padlock is a DOS application, it may be run as such from within
Microsoft Windows V3.0 or higher.
-1-
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
* Any IBM or 100% compatible machine.
* MS-DOS version 2.1 or higher.
* At least 64K of available (free) RAM memory.
* Any monitor, although color is supported if available.
* A drive with at least 70K of free disk space to hold the program.
-2-
INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
THE INSTALLATION DIRECTORY
First, decide in which directory you want to place the program file. It can
be an existing directory you have already set up for miscellaneous utility
files, or an entirely new one. If you decide to place the file in a new
directory, it is advisable to place it directly under root. For example, if
the name of this new directory is "pcpadlok", simply enter "mkdir \pcpadlok"
from the DOS command line.
COPYING FILES
You now need to copy the ".exe" file into the chosen directory. To do this,
first change to the directory where the program file is now. Then, use the
copy command from DOS to place it in the proper directory. For example, let's
say the program file is currently in a directory called "c:\download", and you
wish to copy it to the "c:\pcpadlok" directory. First, enter "chdir
\download" from DOS to change to the directory containing the file. Next,
enter "copy padlock.exe \pcpadlok" to copy the file.
PATH STATEMENT
The path is a list of directories which tells DOS where to search for programs
that aren't contained in the current directory. The path is usually defined
in your autoexec.bat file, which activates it every time you boot your
computer. Including the installation directory in your path enables you to
run the programs regardless of what directory you are currently in. If your
chosen installation directory is not in your current path, you will need to
add it to the path statement in your autoexec.bat file. Using your favorite
text editor, find the line in the file that begins with "path" or "path=".
Then, add ";c:\pcpadlok" to the end of this line. If no such line appears in
your file, or you have no such file in your root directory, insert the line
"path c:\pcpadlok", creating the file to hold it if necessary. If your chosen
installation directory is not "pcpadlok", substitute the correct name in the
above examples.
-3-
RUNNING PC PADLOCK
PC Padlock enables the user to lock floppy disks, preventing their contents
from being viewed, edited, deleted, or even listed. This is useful for data
disks used with word processors, spreadsheets, desktop publishers, or any
other application that writes data to a floppy. If these disks contain
confidential information, it can be safeguarded with a password to protect it
from curious or prying eyes.
Also, disk encryption may be used to safeguard every file on the disk - even
the deleted ones! This encryption may also be used on an unlocked disk to
protect any number of individual files from viewing.
For a brief description of the command, type padlock /? at the DOS prompt for
a help message.
The normal way to start PC Padlock is to simply enter "padlock a:" from DOS.
If the drive containing the disk to be locked is not in the A drive, replace
the "a:" with the appropriate drive letter followed by a colon.
NOTE
If you get a "Bad command or file name" error from DOS, it probably means that
you did not let the installation program modify your path to include the
installation directory, or you have not rebooted your computer since
installation to let the new path take effect. Refer to the INSTALLATION
chapter preceding this one for the importance of doing these things and the
consequences of not. If you find that you need to modify your path now, edit
your autoexec.bat file located in the hard disk's root directory. Find the
line that begins with "path " or "path=" and then add ";c:\pcpadlok" to the
end of the line. If no such line exists, add the line "path c:\pcpadlok" at
the top of the file. (If your installation directory is not "pcpadlok", enter
the correct directory in the preceding examples.)
USING PC PADLOCK
To run the program, enter "padlock a:" at the DOS prompt. If the floppy disk
is not in the A drive, replace the "a:" in the command with the correct drive
letter and a colon. If you enter a non-existent or hard drive letter, you
will be informed that locking this disk is not possible.
First, the disk is checked to see if it is unlocked. If it is, you are
presented with three choices - Disk locking, File encryption, or Quit. If you
choose disk locking, you will then be asked for permission to encrypt the
disk. If the disk was locked, you are asked for permission to unlock it (disk
decryption then starts automatically if needed).
NOTE
You may only use PC Padlock on disks that have the same density as the drive
itself. In other words, 360K floppies may not be padlocked in a 1.2 meg
drive, nor can 720K floppies be padlocked in a 1.44 meg drive. Attempts to
lock or use encryption on low density disks in a high density drive may result
in a loss of disk contents and integrity.
-4-
DISK LOCKING
If you lock the disk, you will be prompted for a password which cannot exceed
twelve characters in length. You will then be asked to re-enter the password,
to make sure you typed correctly the first time. Bear in mind that this
password is case sensitive. This means that lower case letters are considered
different from upper case ones - the word "safety" is not the same password as
"SAFETY".
NOTE
It is extremely important to remember the password you use for locking a
floppy disk. If there is any possibility of losing the password, you may want
to write it down somewhere in a safe place away from the computer. Once a
disk is locked, there is no way of determining what password was used. If you
should forget the password, your only recourse is to send the floppy disk to
Del Mar Software. We will unlock the disk and return it to you for a ten
dollar service charge.
DISK ENCRYPTION
After locking, you will be asked for permission to encrypt the disk. Although
this process may take a while, it is a good idea to encrypt a disk that may
fall into the hands of others for an extended period of time. Disks that will
be stored, transported, or otherwise left unattended for long periods fall
into this category.
You may ask, "Why encrypt the disk if the disk is locked?" The reason is
quite simple. Although a locked disk cannot be accessed by any DOS command or
application program, there are a few disk repair utilities on the market that
can "fix" the disk and make it readable to DOS once again. Although the disk
will not be returned to it's original condition, there is a possibility that
raw file data may still be viewed. No locking technology available today can
avoid this, as these utilities bypass DOS and talk directly to the disk. Disk
encryption ensures that if a would-be snoop has the time, expertise, and
resources to get that far, the data he views will be indecipherable.
Disk encryption may not be run on a disk that contains encrypted files with
their own individual passwords (see the following section in this chapter).
If the disk contains any encrypted files, you will be informed that disk
encryption is not possible.
Disk encryption may take less than two minutes or up to ten, depending upon
the size of the disk and the number of files it contains. The entire disk is
scanned, and all active files are encrypted. In addition, all deleted files
are cleared, because DOS V5.0 and some utility programs can "undelete" files,
making them accessible again. Clearing assures that no data will be made
available to someone who "repairs" a locked disk and then undeletes files.
Because of this clearing process, you must be sure there are no deleted files
you may want to undelete later. If there are, you must undelete the files
before starting disk encryption. If a file deleted before encryption is
undeleted after decryption, it's contents will only be a few stray characters,
NOT the original data.
-5-
As the disk is encrypted, a meter will appear on the screen to show you the
completion percentage of the process. Once one hundred percent has been
reached, a message informs you that the disk is locked and encrypted.
Note that if you ask DOS to give you a directory of a disk immediately after
locking, the files may list out, appearing as though the disk is not locked.
This is normal, and happens on systems which use some form of "directory
caching". These systems, to avoid taking up time re-reading a disk, will
store it's directory in RAM memory. If the computer knows you have not
removed or written to the disk since the last directory request, it will
merely take the information from RAM for faster response. To satisfy yourself
that the disk is indeed locked, you may open and close the disk door and then
ask for another directory listing of the floppy. This time, you will get a
DOS error instead of a file listing, which is the normal response from a
locked disk.
FILE ENCRYPTION
If you choose file encryption from the three choices presented for an unlocked
disk, you will then be asked to enter a file name. This file name may contain
wildcards, to allow encrypting more than one file at a time. For example, if
you wish to encrypt all files with an extension of ".txt", you should enter
"*.txt" for the file name. Consult your DOS manual if you need further
assistance using wildcards in file names.
For each file found, you will be asked to enter a password. It cannot exceed
eight characters in length, and like a disk locking password, it is case
sensitive.
If you are decrypting files, you will be given two chances to input the
correct password. After that, the program returns to DOS. If you have Menu
Pro installed on your computer, the presence of it's environment variable will
signal PC Padlock to store any failed attempts to decrypt a file. The next
time you run Menu Pro, you will be notified of these attempts.
Note that individual file encryption does not work like disk locking - the
file may still be viewed, edited, or even deleted. Viewing or editing will do
little good, however, as the data will bear no resemblance to the original and
be indecipherable to the user. You should only use individual file encryption
to prevent someone from seeing the contents of a file. If there is a chance
someone may delete the file, you should lock the disk instead.
DISK UNLOCKING
If you unlock the disk, you will be asked to input the password you used to
lock the disk. You will be given two chances to enter the correct password,
to allow for mistyping.
If you have Menu Pro installed on your computer, the presence of it's
environment variable will signal PC Padlock to store any failed attempts to
unlock a floppy disk. The next time you run Menu Pro, you will be notified of
these attempts.
-6-
If disk decryption is needed, a meter will appear on screen to display the
progress of the operation. When done, a message informs you that the disk is
unlocked and ready to use.
OBTAINING DISK STATUS
There may be times when you only need to know the status of a floppy disk -
whether it is locked or not, and what encrypted files it may contain. An
example of this would be if PC Padlock refused to encrypt a disk because it
contained encrypted files. You might want to know which files were encrypted,
so you could decrypt them and go back and encrypt the disk.
To obtain this status, enter "padlock a: /s" from the DOS command line. If
the disk is not in the A drive, replace the "a:" in the above command with the
proper drive letter followed by a colon.
If the disk is locked, you will be informed of that fact. If not, you will
also be given a list of all encrypted files on the disk, if any.
-7-
APPLYING PC PADLOCK
PC Padlock's features may be used individually or combined, tailoring it's use
to your particular needs. Here are a few suggestions :
MAXIMUM PROTECTION
You have a data disk which contains confidential company information - trade
secrets, formulas, patent information, software source code, or other such
data. It is not accessed on a daily basis, and therefore stored somewhere.
You should lock and encrypt the disk.
MEDIUM PROTECTION
You have a disk which contains company data - projections, sales, new product
information, or other similar data. It is accessed several times a day, but
never leaves your office. You are certain no unauthorized personnel will have
access to the disk for extended periods of time during the day. You should
keep the disk locked and encrypted overnight. During the day while it is
being used, however, you may only opt for locking alone.
MINIMUM PROTECTION
You have personal data on a disk at work or home which you wish to keep
private. It is accessed many times during the day, so you need a protection
scheme that is quick and easy. You only wish to keep the data safe from any
casual users who may inadvertently place the disk in your drive. In this
case, locking only should meet your needs.
SPECIAL CASES
You use a data disk that is used by others, and wish to keep your files on
that disk private. You should use file encryption on the desired files.
You are giving someone a test via floppy disk. The disk contains reference
material, the test itself, and the answers. You need to make sure the user
cannot read the file containing the answers until he has completed the test.
You should encrypt the answer file, and give the user the password when you
deem appropriate.
OTHER USES
With a little imagination, the uses for PC Padlock can be limitless. Always
bear in mind, though, that any disk that may fall into unfriendly hands for
extended periods of time needs to be encrypted for maximum protection.
-8-
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
This chapter is for users who are experienced with computers and software in
general, and who what to get the most possible out of PC Padlock. The casual
user may not utilize these techniques.
PC PADLOCK COMMAND LINE SWITCHES
/s - (status) causes PC Padlock to display the lock status of a disk. If
unlocked, it also lists all encrypted files contained on the disk.
/bZZ - (background) changes the background color of the input, error, and
message boxes to the specified value, where ZZ is the color number.
This switch is used by PC Padlock is to provide compatibility with Menu
Pro, and will probably not be very useful outside of that. Still, it
is listed here for your information, and you may utilize it if you find
a need for it. These color numbers are the same ones displayed by Menu
Pro's color palette box. They are listed below for your reference :
0 - black 8 - gray
1 - blue 9 - light blue
2 - green 10 - light green
3 - cyan 11 - light cyan
4 - red 12 - light red
5 - magenta 13 - light magenta
6 - brown 14 - yellow
7 - white 15 - bright white
AUTOMATIC PADLOCK
Many users will want to unlock their disk, run an application, and relock the
disk when done. Instead of entering three commands from DOS to do this, you
may create a batch file to accomplish the task. Let's say your drive
containing the data disk is the A drive, and you normally type in "spreadsheet
info.doc" to run your application. You may create the following batch file
called "spread" with any text editor :
padlock a:
spreadsheet info.doc
padlock a:
Now all you have to do is enter "spread" from DOS to unlock, use your
application, and relock the disk.
If the name of the data file you work on changes periodically, you may replace
the second line of the batch file with "spreadsheet %1". This allows you to
enter "spread filename" from DOS, where "filename" is the name of the desired
data file.
-9-
IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY
DOS GIVES A "Bad command or file name" ERROR WHEN I TRY TO RUN PC PADLOCK.
The directory which contains the program (the installation directory) is
probably not in your current path. To check this, type "path" from the DOS
prompt. If the installation directory does not appear in the list DOS
responds with, you need to add it to your path. Refer to the note at the
beginning of the RUNNING PC PADLOCK chapter on how to do this.
PC PADLOCK DOES NOT RUN, GIVING AN "Abnormal program termination" ERROR.
You may have entered an invalid path name or have a DOS version earlier than
V2.1. Less likely, you may be using a color video card that has insufficient
memory to support video paging.
PC PADLOCK WILL NOT RECOGNIZE MY PASSWORD, ALTHOUGH I AM SURE IT IS CORRECT.
All passwords used in PC Padlock are case sensitive. That means that lower
case letters, such as "abcdef", are considered different characters from upper
case ones, such as "ABCDEF". Hit the Caps Lock key and try your password
again. If this does not work, it is either the incorrect password, or you may
have mixed lower and upper case letters in the password (although this is
unlikely).
There is absolutely no method to view, edit, or delete the password. Please
refer to the note in the DISK LOCKING section of the RUNNING PC PADLOCK
chapter for more information.
PC PADLOCK GIVES A "cannot read disk" ERROR, BUT I AM SURE IT IS FORMATTED, IN
THE DRIVE, AND THE DRIVE DOOR IS CLOSED.
The floppy disk is probably not the correct density - double density drives
can only lock double density disks, and high density drives can only lock high
density disks. Attempts to lock low density disks in a high density drive may
result in a loss of disk contents and integrity.
I AM STILL UNABLE TO SOLVE MY PROBLEM. HOW MAY I RECEIVE TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE?
Simply call Del Mar Software at (404) 977-0419. Or, you may leave mail on
CompuServe to user ID # 76570,3342.
IS THIS VERSION OF PC PADLOCK COMPATIBLE WITH EARLIER VERSIONS?
Yes and no. This version, PC Padlock V1.3, will unlock disks locked with any
earlier version. However, disks locked with V1.3 cannot be unlocked by these
earlier versions. And of course, since earlier versions did not offer
encryption, you cannot decrypt files with them.
Your conversion from an earlier version is simple - merely unlock the old
disks with the new V1.3 and continue to use this version.
-10-
