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1991-07-12
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FingerPrint 1.0
by Brian E. Smith
User's Manual
(c) 1991 by Brian E. Smith. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction to FingerPrint 3
II. About the Program 5
III. Installation 7
IV. Running FngrPrnt 9
V. Running IDCheck 11
VI. Appendix: How to Contact the Author 16
I. Introduction to FingerPrint
FingerPrint 1.0, by Brian E. Smith, is designed to improve
your chances of recovering your computer system, in the
event of theft.
The premise behind FingerPrint is fairly simple: if
someone steals your system, it is unlikely that he will take
it home and use it himself; the thief is probably more
interested in turning it into quick cash. Also, although the
thief may or may not steal your system peripherals, it is
very unlikely that the thief will set up (or even know how
to set up) the system EXACTLY AS IT WAS before it
was stolen, to demonstrate that the system works to a
potential buyer (perhaps a pawn broker, or someone at a
flea market).
The FingerPrint program (FngrPrnt) polls various devices
in your system, and records their status in your system's
FingerPrint. The IDCheck program, installed in your
system's AUTOEXEC.BAT, also polls the devices in your
system at start-up, and compares the results to the original
FingerPrint. If there is any difference in the FingerPrints,
IDCheck displays a window containing your name and
phone number.
Suppose you have computer system with a printer and a
modem. You create a FingerPrint of the system, and
install IDCheck to verify the FingerPrint every time you
start the computer. Then, unfortunately, your computer
system is stolen. The thief also took your printer and
modem. The thief then went to the pawn shop, to sell
your machine. The broker asks the thief to prove that the
system works, so the thief quickly plugs the monitor into
the back of the machine. When the thief turns the
machine on, IDCheck notices that the configuration is
different from normal (i.e., perhaps the printer or the
modem is no longer attached), so IDCheck beeps and
displays the following window
╔═ IDCheck ════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ -- WARNING: SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT HAS CHANGED -- ║
║ ║
║ Please contact: ║
║ Brian E. Smith ║
║ 59 Main Street ║
║ ║
║ Piedmont, SC 29673 ║
║ (555)555-5555 ║
║ Reward if found. ║
║ ║
║ Press a key to continue... ║
╚═════════════════════════════ (c) 1991 by Brian E. Smith ═╝
The pawn broker now knows that the machine is stolen,
and knows who the real owner is. He can then contact
you and the police, so you can get your system back.
II. About the Program
FingerPrint is being distributed as Shareware. If you like
the program, and your package is unregistered, the
registration fee ($15) would be appreciated. This is what
you will receive with your registration: a diskette from the
author containing your registered version (as well as a
number of other programs), free support for FingerPrint,
and a free diskette containing the next version of
FingerPrint (when available). Once you are registered,
you will receive super discounts on future versions of
FingerPrint. The unregistered version is not handicapped
in any way; however the registered version is a few bytes
smaller, because I don't have to include the "beg text."
If you do decide to register, please let me know how you
got the program (just to satisfy my curiosity). If this
package will be used at all in a business or governmental
environment, the registration fee is mandatory.
FingerPrint is a copyrighted program. I'm a programmer,
not a lawyer, so I'll not try to impress you with a bunch
of legal-sounding nonsense. You are not permitted to
modify my program in any way, nor are you allowed to
do any of the things that copyrighting normally prohibits
you from doing. Please use my program, but please don't
steal it.
Please pass FingerPrint along to others, even if you don't
like it, because someone may like and need it. Thanks.
Comments, suggestions, and even bug reports are greatly
appreciated.
DISCLAIMER
FingerPrint is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without
limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness
for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for
damages, direct or consequential, which may result from
the use of FingerPrint.
III. Installation
This section describes how to install the FingerPrint
programs, FngrPrnt and IDCheck, on to your machine.
If you have received a diskette containing the FingerPrint
programs in an unarchived format, simply copy
FNGRPRNT.EXE and IDCHECK.EXE into a directory
that is in your DOS path. You can determine your path
by typing the following:
C:\>SET <press Enter>
COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
PROMPT=$P$G
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\DOS\TOOLS
The directories C:\, C:\DOS, and C:\DOS\TOOLS are in
your DOS path. You can copy the files FNGRPRNT.EXE
and IDCHECK.EXE into any one of them. For this
example, the diskette is in drive A, and you will install
the files into the C:\DOS\TOOLS directory:
C:\>COPY A:\FNGRPRNT.EXE C:\DOS\TOOLS
1 File(s) copied
C:\>COPY A:\IDCHECK.EXE C:\DOS\TOOLS
1 File(s) copied
If you have received a diskette containing the FingerPrint
programs in an archived format, or if you have
downloaded them off of a Bulletin Board System (BBS),
you must first "unarchive" the programs and then copy
them into a directory in your DOS path, as described
above.
The FingerPrint package is now installed and ready to run.
IV. Running FngrPrnt
This section describes how to run the program FngrPrnt
to create a FingerPrint of your system.
For best results you should start your system by first
turning on all your attached peripherals and then booting
the computer itself. This will allow FngrPrnt to get a
more unique FingerPrint.
When your system is powered on, and all attached
peripherals are powered on as they should be at boot-up,
execute FngrPrnt by typing the following:
C:\>FNGRPRNT <press Enter>
If this is the first time you have ever run FngrPrnt, the
program will create an initial FingerPrint for you. You
will then see the Main Menu and the Messages Window.
The Main Menu contains the following choices: FngrPrnt,
Owner, Save, Help, and Quit. You select choices from
the menu by either moving the cursor with the Left and
Right arrow keys and pressing Enter, or by simply
pressing the first letter of the item you wish to select.
FngrPrnt -- Select FngrPrnt if you want the program to
re-create your system's FingerPrint. If this is the first
time you have ever run FngrPrnt, the program has already
created a FingerPrint for you, but you may re-create it, if
you wish. You normally use this option after you've
made a change to your system; for example, adding (or
removing) a peripheral.
Owner -- Select Owner to input information about
yourself: this information will be displayed by IDCheck if
IDCheck determines that the system configuration has
somehow changed. You can input your name, address,
phone number, and a brief comment (for example,
"Reward if this machine is returned," "This Computer is
Stolen," etc.)
Save -- Select Save to save the current FingerPrint and
Ownership information.
Help -- Select Help to display a brief help text for the
FngrPrnt program.
Quit -- Select Quit to return to DOS. If the current
FingerPrint is not saved, FngrPrnt will ask you whether
or not you want to save the FingerPrint.
V. Running IDCheck
This section describes how to install and run the program
IDCheck to verify the FingerPrint of your system.
If you have just run FngrPrnt, go ahead and run IDCheck.
C:\>IDCHECK <press Enter>
Assuming that you haven't changed anything (that is,
turned a peripheral on or off) you should get a message
saying that the FingerPrints are OK. Now turn off a
peripheral, then run IDCheck again. IDCheck should beep
and display a window similar to the following:
╔═ IDCheck ════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ -- WARNING: SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT HAS CHANGED -- ║
║ ║
║ Please contact: ║
║ <Your Name> ║
║ <Your Address> ║
║ ║
║ <Your City, State & Zip> ║
║ <Your Phone Number> ║
║ <Your comment> ║
║ ║
║ Press a key to continue... ║
╚═════════════════════════════ (c) 1991 by Brian E. Smith ═╝
Press any key to leave the IDCheck program. This was
just a small demonstration of how IDCheck works.
To use IDCheck regularly, you must install it into your
AUTOEXEC.BAT, so that it will be run each time you
boot up your computer. If you do not presently have an
AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can create one by typing the
following:
C:\>COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT
DATE
TIME
IDCHECK
^Z <Control-Z, press and hold Ctrl
and press 'Z'>
1 File(s) copied
If you have an AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can edit it using
DOS's EDLIN program to include the IDCheck program.
The rule of thumb in installing IDCheck is to install it as
near as possible to the end of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
and ensure that it is placed after the PATH statement, and
ensure that it is placed before any DOS shells or Menu
programs you might have.
C:\>EDLIN C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT <press Enter>
End of input file
*L
1:*@ECHO OFF
2: C:\DOS\TOOLS\WATCH
3: C:\DOS\TOOLS\DOSEDIT
4: PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\DOS\TOOLS
5: PROMPT $P$G
6: MENU
The rule of thumb says you should place the IDCheck
statement as near as possible to the end, past the PATH
statement, but before any Menu programs or DOS shells.
For this example you decide to place the IDCheck
statement between lines 5 and 6.
*6i
6:*IDCHECK
7:*^C <Control-C: press and hold Ctrl and
press 'C'>
You now list the file again, to make sure everything's
correct.
*L
1: @ECHO OFF
2: C:\DOS\TOOLS\WATCH
3: C:\DOS\TOOLS\DOSEDIT
4: PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\DOS\TOOLS
5: PROMPT $P$G
6: IDCHECK
7:*MENU
Everything is in order, so now you can save the file and
leave EDLIN.
*E
C:\>
Now every time you boot your machine, IDCheck will
check that the system's configuration is identical to the
configuration FingerPrint created by FngrPrnt.
A situation may sometimes occur in which IDCheck will
say that the configuration has changed. In essence,
IDCheck is saying that it is getting a different response
from an attached peripheral than what IDCheck expected.
In this case check to see that the peripherals are on when
you boot, and that their status is the same as when you
ran FngrPrnt (that is, ensure that the printer isn't out of
paper [or broken], or make sure your modem is
functioning correctly). If everything appears to be normal,
then simply run FngrPrnt again, and select the FngrPrnt
option.
VI. Appendix: How to Contact the Author
Direct mail correspondence to:
Brian E. Smith
59 Main Street
Piedmont, SC 29673
I will gladly accept registrations, comments, suggestions,
and even bug reports. However, I cannot provide support
for users of unregistered copies. Registered users will get
my telephone number which they can use to contact me
for support.
I am pleased to announce that the Official Support BBS
for FingerPrint is CyberTECH Information Systems BBS,
based in Greenville, South Carolina. CyberTECH can be
contacted by setting your modem to No Parity, 8 Data
Bits, 1 Stop Bit, and dialing (803) 242-3766. There you
will always find the latest version of FingerPrint, other
programs by the same author, as well as one of the finest
collections of Shareware and Public Domain programs in
the beautiful Upstate of South Carolina.
If you happen to be calling in the area, another fine BBS
you should call is the Programmer's FORUM! BBS (803-862-
4616; modem settings N81). There you will find a
programmer's dream come true: all sorts of programs and
source code for a wide variety of languages.