Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/virus/pcpl25.zip/ADDENDUM.DOC

Text File | 1993-08-30 | 8KB | 147 lines

                ADDENDUM TO PC PADLOCK MANUAL FOR VERSION 2.4

Several new features have been added to PC Padlock V2.4 that were unable to be
included in the printed manual.  They are the monochrome mode, activity
logging, drive/disk changing, corruption protection, and master password.
Please read this document in it's entirety, especially if you desire logging
or are a network user.  Here is how to operate these new functions :

MONOCHROME MODE

A new command line switch, "/m", will cause PC Padlock to come up in black and
white (monochrome) mode.  This is useful for mono monitors, as well as laptop
and notebook computers.  To use this feature, simply type "padlock a: /m" from
the DOS command line, or see the section on ALTERNATIVES TO COMMAND LINE
SWITCHES later in this document.

ACTIVITY LOGGING

Another command line switch causes PC Padlock to log all successful locking,
unlocking, clearing, encryption, decryption, and purging to a text file.  This
file will contain one line for each entry, with the date and time it occurred.
To log all activity for a session, type "padlock a: /l" from the DOS command
line, or see the ALTERNATIVES TO COMMAND LINE SWITCHES section.  Unless the
environment variable mentioned in this section is used, this file will be
named "pcpl0000.log" by default.  It may be viewed, edited, deleted, or
printed.

DRIVE/DISK CHANGING

You no longer have to enter the drive letter from the command line when using
PC Padlock.  Merely type "padlock", and when the program comes up, it will
prompt you to select a drive letter.  You may do this either by hitting the A
or B keyboard keys, or clicking the mouse over the A: or B: blocks located in
the DISK INFORMATION header.  Also, you may change disks in a drive while the
program is running, or select a new drive letter altogether.  Just select the
new disk or drive as before, once the desired disk is in the drive.

                                  NOTE

Do not remove a disk while PC Padlock is performing any of it's functions such
as locking or encrypting.  Your disk may be permanently damaged.

ALTERNATIVES TO COMMAND LINE SWITCHES

The command line can get somewhat long, especially if you are using both
switches, such as "padlock a: /l /m".  There are several methods to cutting
down the typing time on lines such as these.  One is to use the environment
variable built into PC Padlock.  This variable is "pcpl", and the first
character denotes color or monochrome mode.  This is followed by a comma and a
four character designation for the log file.  The log file designation must be
four characters long.  Here are some examples, assuming you use no command
line switches :

no environment variable   color mode, with no logging
set pcpl=c                color mode, with no logging
set pcpl=m                mono  mode, with no logging
set pcpl=c,0001           color mode, with log file named "pcpl0001.log"
set pcpl=m,dave           mono  mode, with log file named "pcpldave.log"

To setup the environment variable, use any text editor and add the appropriate
line, such as "set pcpl=m", anywhere in the file.  After a reboot, the options
you selected will be automatic whenever you run PC Padlock.

Other alternatives include using the doskey program in DOS V5.0 or later.  An
example of this would be to add the line "doskey pl=padlock $* /l /m" to your
autoexec.bat file.  You could then simply type "pl" or "pl a:" to start the
program.  Or you could write a batch file to do the job.  See your DOS manual
for more detail on these functions.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NETWORK USERS

If network users desire activity logging, each computer on the network must
use the environment variable method and specify a different four character
designator for the log file name.  Failure to do so may result in incomplete
logs and/or program abortion.

QUALITY CHECKING

Several things can damage a floppy disk that are completely beyond the control
of the PC Padlock program itself.  Although these conditions are rare, their
detection and prevention are now built into the program.

Floppy disk failure itself can cause data corruption.  We all have had a
floppy at one time or another that just suddenly went bad and was unusable.
This is more likely to happen with off-brand or generic disks, and also disks
that are used constantly for long periods of time.  Although most
manufacturers guarantee their disks for life, it is just good common computer
sense to replace heavily-used disks on a yearly basis.  Nonetheless, PC
Padlock will now make every effort to detect bad disks and abort the program
if the disk looks strange in any way.

Disks are also scanned for any non-standard DOS formatting scheme.  Numbers of
sectors, clusters, sectors-per-cluster, and other data is checked against
accepted norms, and the program refuses to operate on any disk it senses to be
non-standard.

A brief interruption in power or a general computer "glitch" itself can
sometimes confuse an already running program.  If any of these situations
cause a data inconsistency, the program will shut down and return to DOS.

PC Padlock will not only check for these situations with each new disk, but
also before every function it performs on the disk.  This affords the user
maximum protection against bad or damaged disks.

MASTER PASSWORD

This feature is very useful in a network or large company environment, where a
system administrator must have emergency access to his employee's data.  Rest
assured that total disk security is not compromised in the least.  In brief, a
user can assign a master password to his individual computer system.  This is
called the "key".  Whenever a lock or file encryption is performed, this key
is branded on the disk.  This is called the "brand".  To unsecure a disk using
this master password, the user merely types it in when asked for an unlocking
or decryption password.  To be successful, it must match both the key and the
brand.  This means that disks secured on your system may not be unsecured on
another system, and vice versa.

To assign the master key, hit the F1 keyboard key to bring up the on-line help
screens.  Page down to the third help screen, then hold down the control
(Ctrl) key and hit the K key.  Although master password assignment is a very
secure process, it's access was hidden here to help prevent low priority users
from knowing it even exists.

You will be prompted to change the key (system) or brand (disk) master
password.  Entering K will enable you to assign a system key.  If one already
exists, you must enter the old key before continuing.  If you are successful,
you may assign a new key which will be used to brand future disks.  If you are
not successful, the attempt is logged for later user notification.  If you
simply hit Return when asked for the new key, the key will be deleted
altogether, future disks will not be branded, and the master password feature
will be inactive.  The key change feature is useful for a system administrator
who wishes to change the key frequently for security reasons.

Entering B will allow you to change an existing disk brand in a similar
fashion.  You cannot, however, assign a brand to a disk that has none.  This
prevents even the system administrator from trying to break into a foreign
disk by assigning it a brand to match his key.  Like key changing, a Return
may be hit when asked for the new brand, and the existing brand on the disk
will be removed.  This will make the disk immune to master password entry.
Brand changing can be an aid to the administrator who changes the system key.
For the master password scheme to continue to work, all disks branded with the
old key must be rebranded with the new key.  Also, the master password feature
may be disabled on a specific disk by deleting the brand altogether.  This
might be useful for a disk that will be stored or archived away.  Remember,
however, that upon the next lock or file encryption operation that the key
will be branded on the disk again.