Power Programmierung 2

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Text File | 1989-11-23 | 49.0 KB | 1,129 lines

EXERUN controls running .EXE softwares. version 1.0a (c) copy right 1989 All Rights Reserved Have you wondered if there is a way to prevent your softwares from running without the need for TSR utilities to prevent it? And do so without changing the size of your softwares? There are softwares with .COM extensions such as CHKDSK.COM which this cannot help. But for softwares which end with .EXE, such as WP.EXE or DBASE.EXE, this is it. This modifies your .EXE softwares so that they will not run, unless EXERUN.EXE is in memory. When in memory, this can 1) check if file size or date/time was changed by a virus 2) check above + if BIOS and DOS changed i.e. someone else is running your software in another computer. 3) request password. 4) check if other required softwares, such as TSR utilities were already ran. 5) need other types? Without this program in memory, or if the above criteria were not matched, then your .EXE software will abort. And because this does not change the .EXE software file size or date/time and does not depend on any file containing the list of files to protect, there is no trace left that the .EXE softwares were modified. This version corrects lock up with Turbo C programs and adds locking of passwords inside the program as well, so that there is no need to have a EXERUN file (no extension). Do not use this on copy protected .EXE softwares which you cannot back up, just in case anything happens. IF YOU USED VERSION 1.0, DELETE THE .EXE SOFTWARES WHICH YOU HAVE ALREADY MODIFIED AND USE A NEW COPY. (just in case) The set up of this document is as follows: Explanations of various in-line command parameters. How EXERUN works. Chat. Prompts and messages generated by EXERUN. Disclaimer, contribution $/address, info for sysops and shareware distributors. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you simply type EXERUN<ntr> then you get the help page built into this program for quick reference. The help page does not waste memory when this program becomes memory resident. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This discusses the P (protection) option as in EXERUN P DBASE ACD<ntr> Skim through rapidly before reading. Anything not explained or does not seem clear is explained right after the subject is discussed or mentioned. The document assumes that you want to protect a .EXE software called "DBASE.EXE", which happens to be a popular data base software. I hope that they consider this a free plug of an ad for their product and not a "look and feel" litigation case, again. A, B, C, D OF PROTECTION TYPES Before you modify your .EXE softwares, make sure that you backed them up so that you have copies of .EXE softwares which were not modified by this program. After this program modifies your .EXE softwares, it will not run unless this program is memory resident, and the .EXE softwares are NOT changed in file size or file date/time to indicate that they have been tampered with. And because this does NOT depend on the presence of a file containing the list of .EXE softwares to protect, there is way to determine which .EXE softwares were protected or not. This version has five types of protections which you can add to your .EXE softwares using the P option from the command line: Just enter the software name to prevent it from running unless this program is in memory, an Anti-virus feature to check software size/date/time, BIOS restriction computers this will work on, Confirmation of use via a password and finally, Dependency on TSRs before running. JUST MAKING SURE EXERUN.EXE IS IN MEMORY If you want to modify your DBASE.EXE softwares so that it will not run unless EXERUN.EXE is already in memory, type, EXERUN P DBASE<ntr> This only modified your DBASE.EXE software such that it will not run unless EXERUN.EXE is already in memory. If you run DBASE.EXE without EXERUN.EXE in memory, then DBASE.EXE will abort with a "divide overflow" message. ANTI-VIRUS ATTRIBUTE To protect your DBASE.EXE software by preventing it from running if the file size or date/time was changed by a virus or a plankster, EXERUN P DBASE A<ntr> This adds the anti-virus attribute to DBASE.EXE. With this feature, DBASE.EXE will be modified such that it will not run unless EXERUN.EXE is already in memory. When you run DBASE.EXE while EXERUN.EXE is in memory, before DOS can run DBASE.EXE, EXERUN.EXE will check to see if the present file size and file date/time of the present DBASE.EXE matches the recorded values or not. If no match occurs, or if EXERUN.EXE is not in memory, then DBASE.EXE will abort with a "divide overflow" message. The EXERUN file can be set so that EXERUN.EXE will display a message stating "Software changed!". Or you may choose not to display it and have the user guessing what went wrong. The sample EXERUN file, last line, has the "a" of "abcd" so that EXERUN.EXE will display the message. BIOS/DOS/equipment EXERUN PDBASE.EXE B<ntr> Adds the BIOS/DOS/equipment-list check as well as anti-virus attribute to DBASE.EXE. Note that the "P" in protect can be connected to the file name "DBASE.EXE" and you can type in the ".EXE" extension, if you want to. When you run DBASE.EXE while EXERUN.EXE is in memory, before DOS runs DBASE.EXE, EXERUN.EXE will check the file size, date/time and also checks to see if the BIOS chip, DOS version and equipment listing matches the recorded value or not. This is an anti-piracy feature to make your .EXE softwares run on only the specified computer, unless the person who pirates it also has the same computer BIOS version by the same manufacturer and the same peripherals and the same DOS version and also pirates this program as well. The equipment list checked is the standard one consisting of the number of serial ports, the number of parallel ports, the number of diskette drives, presence of game port and video card attached. The EXERUN file can be set so that EXERUN.EXE will display a message stating "Bad match!". The sample EXERUN file, last line, has the "b" of "abcd" so that EXERUN.EXE will display the message. If either of the A (anti-virus) or B (BIOS/DOS/eq.) was used with a short circuited EXERUN.EXE (option 0, see way below), your .EXE software must run with the short circuited EXERUN.EXE which gave it the protection, because not only will the .EXE software's file-size/date/time be checked, but the passwords/filenames from the EXERUN file stored inside EXERUN.EXE will also be checked as well) CONFIRMATION VIA A PASSWORD EXERUN PDBASE C<ntr> Before DOS runs DBASE.EXE, EXERUN.EXE will ask the user for a password to confirm authorization. The 26 passwords are stored in the EXERUN file (no extension), with different passwords for each .EXE software which begins with a different letter. With DBASE.EXE, the default password required is the small letter "x", followed by a <ntr>, because DBASE.EXE begins with the letter "D". (Look at the EXERUN file. After the version ID line, the next line has the pass for .EXE softwares which begin with "A", the next has the pass for those which begin with "B", "C" and then "D" as in DBASE.EXE) Each password can be up to ten characters long, including spaces and extended ascii chr$(1) - chr$(255), but excluding the chr$(13) and chr$(10), which are <ntr> and line feed, respectively. The passwords are case sensitive, meaning that capital letters are different from small letters, such that "passwd" does not match "PASSWD", "Passwd", "passwD" or "pass". However, you could have typed the above line as "exerun pdbase c<ntr>", since there is no need to be case sensitive when running it, of course. When typing the password, you cannot see what you type, but back space allows you to correct single character typing errors. If EXERUN file is set, EXERUN.EXE will display a message stating "Pass " with the cursor at the end. If not set, then it will appear as if DBASE.EXE has stopped working. After you type <ntr>, then it will exit via "divide overflow" message. The sample default EXERUN file, last line, has the "c" of "abcd" so that EXERUN.EXE will display the message. You can mix these options freely. DEPENDENCY ON TSRs EXERUN P DBASE D<ntr> Imposes a TSR dependent restriction: Right after EXERUN.EXE becomes memory resident, it remembers up to three .EXE or .COM softwares which were ran right after itself.(usually inside a batch file). If you want to run other memory resident utilities which must be in memory, then run then right after EXERUN.EXE. EXERUN.EXE will match the names of the utilities which were ran with the list which were in the EXERUN file, so that when you run DBASE.EXE, EXERUN.EXE will check to make sure that the TSR utilities are present before DBASE.EXE is allowed to run. The sample EXERUN file has one name "PRESET.COM" at the moment, but three names can be placed here. Remove this name from the file when using this option or your DBASE.EXE will not run. The name may be in capital or small letters, because there is no need to be case sensitive as was the case with passwords. This may not seem very useful to you, but if you have a program such as JLOCK.EXE (which can control which files can be read/written, renamed, ran, etc), then you would want to make sure that JLOCK.EXE is in memory. By having this name in the EXERUN file, EXERUN.EXE will not allow you to run DBASE.EXE unless JLOCK.EXE was also in memory and ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident. The EXERUN file has space for up to three such names which were ran right after EXERUN.EXE. The exact mechanism is explained later in this document. The EXERUN file can be set so that EXERUN.EXE will display a message stating "Missing softwares". If not set, then DBASE.EXE will only abort with "divide overflow". The sample EXERUN file, last line, has the "d" of "abcd" so that EXERUN.EXE will display the message. CHANGING PROTECTION OPTIONS The EXERUN.EXE as originally given to you can change the protection options attached to each .EXE software so that after you did EXERUN P DBASE A B<ntr> for anti-viracy and BIOS/DOS restriction, you can do EXERUN P DBASE AC<ntr> for anti-viracy and confirmation with a password, removing the machine dependency restriction of option B. To modify EXERUN.EXE with the "1" and "2" options, see below under "SHORT CIRCUIT" which will short circuit the ability to protect .EXE softwares or to modify a protected .EXE software. The "0" ooption will lock in the passwords, so that there is no need to have an EXERUN file which anyone can peek into. Note that the protection options A - D may be separated by spaces or stuck together. However, if you stuck it with the name of the software as in EXERUN PDBASEAC<ntr> then EXERUN.EXE will confuse this with a software name called DBASEAC.EXE. MISCELLANEOUS EXERUN.EXE will not automatically search the PATH for the name of your software if not in the default drive and subdirectory. This is to prevent you from accidentally changing the wrong copy of the same software in different subdirectories. To change DBASE.EXE in C:\SUBDIR\BRANCH\, EXERUN P C:\SUBDIR\BRANCH\DBASE A C<ntr> If you find it cumbersome to type the colon ":" and the backslash "\" is located far away on your AT or mislocated on your PS/2, you can also type EXERUN P C;/SUBDIR/BRANCH/DBASE A C<ntr> and EXERUN.EXE will automatically change all the regular slashes "/" with reverse (or back) slash "\" and replaces the semicolon ";" with colon ":". This option facilitates the use of batch files to change a large number of .EXE softwares, since EXERUN.EXE has no feature to use the wild card asterisk "*" to change all .EXE softwares in a diskette or a subdirectory. Note that if it did, EXERUN.EXE may accidentally change a software it should not have touched. The number of .EXE softwares which you can protect is not limited by anything. If EXERUN.EXE found any .EXE software which it cannot modify, then it will tell you so. This version does not work with Turbo Basic, though by the time you read this, we will soon have another version (used internally) which will work. We left it out because Turbo Basic will no longer be updated. No trouble seems to occur with Microsoft ones. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Even if you protected your .EXE softwares, someone else with another copy of EXERUN.EXE can remove all the protections "A" through "D". To prevent such tampering, once you are fixed on one set of protections for a given .EXE software, EXERUN [P] DBASE D<ntr> The square brackets surrounding the P option locks this so that neither your copy, nor anyone else's copy of EXERUN.EXE can change the protections you gave it. Since this DBASE.EXE has the "D" option, it is dependent on a set of other softwares which had to be ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident, before DBASE.EXE will run. If you want to short circuit your copy of EXERUN.EXE so that it will retain the ability to become memory resident, but looses the ability to understand the P option, read up later under "SHORT CIRCUIT". Remember to keep the original non-short circuited copy of EXERUN.EXE somewhere safe. Although you can run this program and the file off a floppy diskette and then store the diskette in a safe place, if you want to make the passwords permanent, such that it is incorporated into the program and there is no need to read the file, use the SHORT CIRCUIT "0" option. Once the passwords are permanently within the EXERUN.EXE program, EXERUN.EXE will write a code for the passwords to each .EXE software which it will now check. With this option, another person's EXERUN.EXE and a EXERUN file will not work. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To run this, simply type EXERUN RUN<ntr> and end it with an <ENTER> or <ntr> or <cr> or anything else you want to call the carriage return. All documents in my programs use the <ntr> format. You can type just the "R" in "RUN" to run EXERUN.EXE and may be in capital "R" or small letter "r". Any other line command after the "RUN" parameter is ignored, so if you want to mix other line commands, they must be placed before this. -------------------------------------------------------------- EXERUN.EXE itself and all programs hence forth lost the self-wipe feature, the ability to wipe any and all other memory resident programs loaded after this program. (unless I start hearing otherwise) -------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SHORT CIRCUIT LOCKING THE PASSWORDS INSIDE EXERUN.EXE (option 0) If you do not want a copy of the EXERUN file which someone can peek into, you can use the 0 option, which reads the EXERUN file into the EXERUN.EXE program and makes it a permanent part of the program itself. To do this EXERUN 0<ntr> This asks for a confirmation. Type "Y" or "y" to mean "Yes. I want the passwords in the EXERUN file incorporated into the program EXERUN.EXE so that I can erase the file. Once the passwords from the EXERUN file are incorporated within the EXERUN.EXE program itself, everytime you use the "P" or the "[P]" option to protect .EXE softwares with the A (anti-virus) or the B (BIOS/DOS/equip. match) not only will the software file-size/date/time be checked, but the password/filenames in the EXERUN at the time will also be checked. If you use the original EXERUN.EXE which you did not use 0 with, this EXERUN.EXE will read the slightly (or grossely) changed EXERUN, but because the software knows that you changed the EXERUN file, it will not run. (If you used "[P]", this .EXE software is lost unless you wrote the passes somewhere. If you used "P", then you can removing the A/B protections.) Remember, once you use the "0" option, all .EXE softwares which you now protect (with the "P" or "[P]" and the A/B) will be given a code describing what the EXERUN file (the copy stored inside EXERUN.EXE itself) was. Neither your original EXERUN.EXE nor anyone else's EXERUN.EXE will allow you to run your .EXE software. Only the "0" modified EXERUN.EXE has the code to run your software, if you should ever delete the EXERUN file on purpose or accidentally. (If you used P and A/B, you can remove the A/B options, but not if you used the [P] and A/B.) LOOSE ABILITY TO PROTECT SOFTWARES (option 1) As it stands, although the EXERUN file can be hidden in other subdirectories and protected with read-only or hidden attribute using programs such as CLEARFIL.EXE, anyone can use your EXERUN.EXE and remove any protection which you placed on each .EXE software by writing a new protection code over it. Note that you can lock .EXE softwares so that neither your, nor anyone else's EXERUN.EXE can change protections placed on your .EXE software using "[P]" above. To prevent it, EXERUN.EXE has an option to short circuit itself so that it can no longer protect .EXE software or change one set of protections with another set. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE YOUR ORIGINAL COPY OF EXERUN.EXE STORED SOMEWHERE ELSE! EXERUN 1<ntr> This short circuits the protection option so that it can only become memory resident and do the chores associated with whatever protections were required for each .EXE softwares. This EXERUN.EXE can no longer modify .EXE softwares. If you try to use the protect option with this copy of EXERUN.EXE, it will abort with a "divide overflow" error. LOOSE ABILITY TO CHANGE PROTECTION TYPES (option 2) EXERUN 2<ntr> This does a partial short circuit so that you can still continue to add the protection option to any .EXE software which has not yet been given EXERUN.EXE dependency yet. This copy of EXERUN.EXE can still modify .EXE softwares which were not modified by EXERUN.EXE yet, but any .EXE software which was already modified by EXERUN.EXE can no longer be modified by this EXERUN.EXE. Of course, if you protected a software with the "[P]" option, this cannot change or remove the protections. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= HOW EXERUN.EXE WORKS First, read on how to protect your .EXE softwares above and protect them, making sure that you have unaltered copies of your .EXE softwares kept in a far away place. To run EXERUN.EXE, type from the DOS prompt EXERUN RUN<ntr> The first thing EXERUN.EXE does is to check to see if another copy of EXERUN.EXE is already in memory or not. The program will abort if it is already in memory. Then it checks to see if a copy of your ascii text file EXERUN (no extension given) is in the diskette or subdirectory where you ran EXERUN.EXE. If a copy exists, then the passwords and lists are read to memory. If you like, use CLEARFIL.EXE, Norton Utilities etc to change the file to read-only and hidden and move it to a far away subdirectory (assuming that you have a hard disk). If a copy does not exist in the present diskette or subdirectory, then the PATH is searched to find out if the file can be found. If a copy exists, then the version identification value is checked to make sure that you have the correct version to work with this program. If no copy exists, then this program will abort with a message. The EXERUN file is read and checked for errors before continuing. If there are errors, then EXERUN.EXE will exit with an error message. Now the environment area which has the PATH data is no longer needed, so the area is deallocated and EXERUN.EXE becomes memory resident. Most softwares which show a map of the system memory used will know that something is in memory, but not what it is. Right after EXERUN.EXE becomes memory resident, it will note the names of, and the order of up to three softwares which were ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident. (you can use a batch file to automate this). These may be .COM or .EXE softwares. If any protected .EXE software depended on such softwares be ran first, EXERUN.EXE will check them. The sample EXERUN file has "PRESET.COM". If you want to use the Dependency on TSRs option, replace it with your software names. Now try running a protected .EXE software. It will not run without EXERUN.EXE in memory and it meets the protection criteria you assigned to the .EXE software. Try experimenting with protection options until you found one combination which suits your need for the particular .EXE software. Now use the "[P]" option to lock it. EXERUN FILE REQUIREMENTS You can read the explanation in the EXERUN file for a quick explanation. Here is more detailed explanation. The first line must have the numbers "00" on the very first left column. This indicates the version number of this EXERUN file for compatibility with any future version of this program. This program looks for this to see if the file which you have will run correctly with the program or not. Attempt to change the version number with any other valid values may cause some strange results, including corruption of your disk or worse. On the next 26 lines, the first TEN characters on each line is the password to be used for all .EXE softwares which require them (by running with the "EXERUN Pprogram.exe C<ntr>" for Confirmation of pass). If your .EXE software is called ZIWRITE.EXE, then the EXERUN file has the letter "z" at the moment, so that you must type "z" followed by <ntr> to run your software. If the EXERUN file had the letters "z ", then you must type "z " followed by <ntr>. Capitals and small letters are unique and individual, "Z" is not the proper password for "z". If your software is called "ABC.EXE", then because it begins with the letter "A" of "ABC.EXE", the first row after the version number has all softwares which begin with the letter A uses password "all softwa"<ntr> on one line. The first TEN characters or until a <ntr> is the password for this software. Here, the first ten characters is "all softwa", so it becomes the password. Similarly, if you software is called "DYE.EXE", it uses the fourth row (after the verision number row) as the password, which is "x". If you rename the software to "CYE.EXE", then the third row's password is used, which is "SOFT "<ntr>. The next three lines contain the names of up to three softwares (usually terminate but stay resident utilities [TSRs]) which must be ran right after EXERUN.EXE. In these three lines, place the names of up to three softwares, both .COM and .EXE types. You must specify the ".COM" or ".EXE" yourself. If a line begins with a space, then it is considered the same as a blank comment. If it ends with a space, then anything afterwards is considered a blank comment as well. If it begins with a space, then it is a comment also. The sample EXERUN file has PRESET.COM is simply one of our programs used in a MAKE-like file found in C environment. It is not included in here. Right after EXERUN.EXE itself becomes memory resident, it will record the names of up to three softwares which runs. If you had used "EXERUN PDBASE D" protection option to Protect DBASE.EXE with Dependency on TSRs, then DBASE.EXE will not run unless PRESET.COM (in this case) was ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident. The order in which the three names are in the EXERUN file must be the order in which the three softwares are ran right after EXERUN.EXE becomes memory resident: If you had PRESET.COM JLOCK.EXE SK.COM in EXERUN file, but you did not run all of them or ran them in a different order, then your DBASE.EXE will not run at all. The next line in EXERUN has the letters "abcd" at the moment. If you used "EXERUN P DBASE A" to add the anti-virus attribute to DBASE.EXE and EXERUN.EXE found that DBASE.EXE's file size or date/time was changed, then the presence of the letter "a" in the EXERUN file above causes EXERUN.EXE to produce the message "Software changed!". If the letter "a" was not in the EXERUN file, then no message will appear before DBASE.EXE aborts. If you used "EXERUN P DBASE B" to add the BIOS/DOS restriction to DBASE.EXE and EXERUN.EXE found that DBASE.EXE's file size, date/time or BIOS/DOS/equipment of the computer was changed, then the presence of the letter "b" in the EXERUN file above causes EXERUN.EXE to produce the message "Bad match!". If the letter "b" was not in the EXERUN file, then no message will appear before DBASE.EXE aborts. If you used "EXERUN P DBASE C" to add confirmation of a password, then before DBASE.EXE runs, you will get the prompt "Pass "<-cursor here to indicate that a password is being expected now. If the letter "c" is not in the EXERUN file, then you get no warning that a password is being expected. If you used "EXERUN P DBASE D" to add dependency on TSRs and the list of softwares which you ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident does not match the order or the number stored in the EXERUN file, then you will get the message "Missing softwares" to tell you that required softwares were not ran. If the letter was not present, then you get no warning before DBASE.EXE aborts. If you have any other letters, other than spaces, then you will get an error message that EXERUN had an error and EXERUN.EXE will not become memory resident. The letters were typed as "abcd", but they could have been "ABCD" or "aBcD" or any other combinations of capital and small letters, because unlike passwords, there is no need to be picky about it. FOOTNOTE Does this program guarantee absolute safety? No. As Adobe, Lotus and others have found out, any determined person with a good knowledge of assembly can hack his or her way through any software or even hardware conceived by anyone else. But it will act as a good barrier for most of us who do not have both an evil intentions AND a good knowledge of assembly. Remember, new laws coming into being make intentional act of vandalism on any software a criminal offense. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CHAT in a HAT Sure we do consultation, from simple training to big projects, which don't mean much: There are people who don't know much about PC, writing newspaper columns and (non- computer) magazine articles about PC. Can't their editors find people who know about PC, or they just want to keep you ignorant? My offer to be a writer for one still stands anyone, irregardless of how big or small a newspaper or magazine, whether you're the editor or a guy who decided to apply me to the personnel office of a publisher. I dare it. (I'm sure & safe in saying that it'll fall on deaf ears.) The HDTV is a Jpns project which the Am./Euro. are copying (A is using 1050 line mode, which J abandoned). The genome project is a J thing which A/E are copying w/more $. Plastic conductors (made accidentally in J, and the related super- conductors) is what A is copying. Since J did so great improving upon things started by others (like Thomas Edison who improved on [not discovered] phonograph, etc), will A/E do just as well on things started by J? There is a talk about how the powerlines may cause leukemia. Many years ago, I published a paper on how plain visible light can be harmful to life. I never published the results of the experiment using the effect of electric wires because preliminary results were inconclusive. Darn. Have you seen Houston, Texas? BIG city blocks and lots of BIG parked cars, but NO people 7 days a week, except for a mugger or three on the street (I was very too far away to help the muggees). A better name may be Ghoston. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= PROMPTS AND MESSAGES WHEN RUNNING THE PROGRAM =-=-= Oh oh. Compilation error found =-=-= This program was not compiled properly. The short circuit options will not work. Notify us if this happens. =-=-= Unknown parameter on the command line =-=-= Something not recognized was found on the line when you ran the program. If you ran this program from a batch command file, error messages are followed by errorlevel = 1 so that you can have your batch file take appropriate actions. =-=-= You don't have to do it, EXERUN is already in memory =-=-= You tried to run EXERUN.EXE when a copy was already in memory. =-=-= The EXERUN file not found anywhere. =-=-= The file was not in default or accessible through PATH. =-=-= EXERUN exists but I cannot open it. =-=-= The file was found, but something prevented it from being read. Do you have some read-prevention utility? =-=-= I was not allowed to read EXERUN =-=-= The file with the passwords and file names could not be was found, but some reason other than not being able to open it prevented it from being read. =-=-= The EXERUN file is less than 100 bytes in length =-=-= The file is too short to have useful data. Try typing it to screen and see what it contains. =-=-= Incorrect version number of EXERUN =-=-= The EXERUN file's version number was tampered or is not compatible with the EXERUN.EXE which you are using. =-=-= The EXERUN file does not have all the lines needed =-=-= While parsing (checking) through the file, it was found that it did not contain enough lines of passwords or names to satisfy the requirements. =-=-= Bad request types for message: A - D allowed =-=-= The EXERUN file last line should have "A" - "D" for allowing messages in case of error in running your .EXE software. You had something else on the line, other than spaces. WHEN READING A .EXE SOFTWARE TO ADD/CHANGE PROTECTION =-=-= No such software found. =-=-= The .EXE software was not found. =-=-= This is not a real .EXE software =-=-= A software with the .EXE extension was found, but it did not have a .EXE signature, indicating that it is something else renamed to have a .EXE extension only. =-=-= The software exists, but there is no read/write access. =-=-= Do you have your .EXE software set for read only? Use Norton Utilities, CLEARFIL.EXE etc to change it to regular file attribute. =-=-= Unknown error. Software cannot be read. =-=-= The .EXE to protect was found but some unknown cause prevents it from being read. =-=-= Sorry. This software has no place for EXERUN.EXE. =-=-= There was no space in this .EXE software for EXERUN.EXE, or this was locked to prevent changing the protection options. =-=-= I need the name of a .EXE software =-=-= You used the Protect option as in EXERUN P<ntr> when you should have had something like EXERUN P dbase<ntr> since this option is designed to change the .EXE software into something which will not run without EXERUN.EXE. This option does not search the PATH to locate the .EXE software. This is not a bug. It was designed this way so that if you have multiple copies of a .EXE software, it does not modify the first such software on PATH. To modify DBASE.EXE in C:\LEVEL1\LEVEL2, either type EXERUN P C:\LEVEL1\LEVEL2\DBASE<ntr> or EXERUN P C;/LEVEL1/LEVEL2/DBASE<ntr> EXERUN.EXE will translate any semicolon ";" to a colon":", and a regular slash "/" to a back (or reverse) slash "\". =-=-= The software was modified. =-=-= The .EXE software was protected or changed protection type. =-=-= LOCKED! =-=-= You used the "EXERUN [P]DBASE BC" locking protection to prevent changes to the protection types "bc", in this case. =-=-= Bad coding type: The allowed types are A to check Attributes filesize, date/time B to check "A" plus BIOS and equipment match C to request password Check D Detect if other softwares (e.g. TSR) already ran =-=-= You followed the P option and .EXE software name with something other than A - D. =-=-= Changing existing settings =-=-= Former protection options are replaced by new ones. This is a warning that there was protection options already set for this software from another time. =-=-= A newer, later version of EXERUN.EXE is needed to change this =-=-= The .EXE software was changed by a later version of EXERUN.EXE than this and is not compatible. WHEN CHANGING PROTECTION =-=-= Already has short circuit 0 in effect =-=-= The passwords are already inside the program. To change the passwords, you must use a copy of the program which was not yet changed. =-=-= CHANGED! Passwords included =-=-= The passwords are inside the program. Now everytime you protect a software, the code for the passwords is also included and EXERUN.EXE will check to see if it matches the one it has. =-=-= Change this so that passwords are locked? (Y/N) =-=-= You requested short circuit type 0 to lock the passwords in the program itself. Type "Y" or "y" to mean "Yes. I want it done." Anything else is taken as "NO. I didn't mean to do this.". Once the passwords are inside the program, EXERUN.EXE will load a code for this passwords into each .EXE software you use "P" or "[P]" on, so that another EXERUN.EXE and its passwords in its EXERUN file will not affect this. =-=-= Change this so that no protection feature possible? (Y/N) =-=-= You requested that short circuit type 1 to remove all protection be removed so that EXERUN.EXE can only become memory resident. Type "Y" or "y" to mean "Yes. I want it done." Anything else is taken as "NO. I didn't mean to do this.". =-=-= Change this so that protected .EXE cannot be changed? (Y/N) =-=-= You requested that short circuit type 2 to remove the ability to change a .EXE which was already protected. Type "Y" or "y" to short circuit the EXERUN.EXE. To prevent neither your original or anyone else's original copy of EXERUN.EXE from changing the protection options, use the "EXERUN [P]filename". =-=-= Not changed. =-=-= At either of the above prompts, you type something other than "Y" or "y" so that EXERUN.EXE aborted without doing anything. =-=-= EXERUN.EXE is not here =-=-= You used the short circuit option 1 or 2, but you ran EXERUN.EXE by letting DOS find it through the PATH, so the program was not in the default diskette or subdirectory where you typed it. EXERUN.EXE will not search the PATH when short circuiting itself, so you must run this while EXERUN.EXE is in the default working diskette or subdirectory. =-=-= EXERUN.EXE cannot be read/written =-=-= You probably had a read only setting on EXERUN.EXE so that it cannot be written. Use CLEARFIL.EXE or others to remove the setting. =-=-= I cannot read EXERUN.EXE =-=-= Something unknown is preventing EXERUN.EXE from being read for short circuiting. =-=-= CHANGED! No more protection option. =-=-= Short circuit 1 to remove EXERUN.EXE's ability to protect .EXE softwares or change protection was implimented. =-=-= CHANGED! No more changing protected .EXEs =-=-= Short circuit 2 to remove EXERUN.EXE's ability to change protection options was implimented. This EXERUN.EXE can still protect .EXE softwares which were never touched by EXERUN.EXE. =-=-= Already changed =-=-= The short circuiting was already done. WHEN RUNNING YOUR .EXE SOFTWARE =-=-= Software changed! =-=-= The file length or date/time of the .EXE software was changed by something. Your EXERUN file's last line has the letter "a" of "abcd" to indicate that you want a message in case something like this happens. =-=-= Bad match! =-=-= The file length or date/time of the .EXE software was changed or the BIOS/DOS/equipment listings no longer match. Usually, this means that you tried to run your .EXE software on a computer other than the one you gave it protection on. Your EXERUN file's last line has the letter "b" of "abcd" to indicate that you want a message in case something like this happens. =-=-= Pass =-=-= A password is required. The EXERUN file's last line has the letter "c" of "abcd" to indicate that you want this prompt to appear. Otherwise, there is no prompt to indicate that a password is being requested. =-=-= Missing softwares =-=-= The EXERUN file had a list of softwares (usually TSRs) which should have been ran right after EXERUN.EXE became memory resident (usually inside a batch file). The EXERUN file's last line has the letter "d" of "abcd" to indicate that you want this prompt to appear. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= All products and names mentioned are Trademarks or Registered Trademarks of their respective corporations or companies. That includes my group or any other group's programs, of course. Some products may have patent protections as well. All enclosed programs, documents and other files are provided AS IS, without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. A contribution of $10 US/Canadian is appreciated if you find this useful, or $20 for an improved one as it comes out. ($20 Cdn if you're in Canada and $20 U.S. for U.S & others,) Unless you specify otherwise, you will get a 5-1/4" 360 kb diskette. And if you only specify 3-1/2", it will be formatted as 360kb/720kb on a 720kb or a 1.44Mb drive. The above statement may not apply in some countries if there is a local dealer who handles such things as a non-shareware. NAME OF THE PROGRAM: EXERUN.EXE ($10-$20) PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM: This modifies your .EXE softwares so that they will not run, unless EXERUN.EXE is in memory. When in memory, this can 1) check if file size or date/time was changed. 2) check above + if BIOS and DOS changed. 3) request password. 4) check if other required softwares, such as TSR utilities were already ran. my old forwarding address was Dr. Masaaki Sawada University of Waterloo, Faculty of Science Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Now, contact c/o Dr. Masaaki Sawada LCS P.O. Box 956 Outremont, Quebec Canada H2V 4R8 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ----------------end-of-author's-documentation--------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of The Public (Software) Library We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution. Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about this program to the author of the program, whose name appears elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with the author, we will do whatever we can to help you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do run. To report problems, please use the form that is in the file PROBLEM.DOC on many of our disks or in other written for- mat with screen printouts, if possible. The P(s)L cannot de- bug programs over the telephone. Disks in the P(s)L are updated monthly, so if you did not get this disk directly from the P(s)L, you should be aware that the files in this set may no longer be the current versions. For a copy of the latest monthly software library newsletter and a list of the 2,000+ disks in the library, call or write The Public (Software) Library P.O.Box 35705 - F Houston, TX 77235-5705 (713) 665-7017