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1991-10-06
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PC-SENTRY v1.4 USER DOCUMENTATION
Copyright (c) - Solid Oak Software Inc. 1991
Overview of Program
PC-SENTRY is a collection of utilities designed to provide
various levels of system security, activity logging, productivity
analysis, job costing, and data protection.
PC-SENTRY provides the user with the capability to prevent the
removal or copying of sensitive data or programs, and automatic
logging of system activities, all running invisibly in the
background, taking up a minimum of memory.
SYSLOG is the main module of the PC-SENTRY collection. It is a
small ( 9K ), memory resident ( TSR ) program, that allows the
user to maintain a daily log file of activities that take place
on his or her computer. SYSLOG will automatically keep a record
of all programs run, files copied, files deleted, files created,
and files opened, as well as the date and time that each activity
occurred. SYSLOG has many potential uses including security,
productivity, diagnostics, job costing, etc. All monitoring and
logging activities are performed COMPLETELY in the background.
The user will not even be aware of it.
There are many situations where this type of logging can be
useful. If you like, you can determine how much time was spent on
a particular project by examining the log files. If you are an
employer, you might want to check the log files periodically to
determine the quantity or type of work that was done, or even
check to see if your employee was playing space invaders or
writing a letter to Aunt Jane while they were supposed to be
working.
In some business environments, activity logging can play an even
more important role. It can easily be determined if a program, or
sensitive data, was copied to a floppy disk, of if unauthorized
access was made to sensitive files or programs. Many large
corporations have policies against illegal copying of software,
and regularly check computer systems to ensure that the users are
not running programs they are not licensed to run. SYSLOG can
make that job easier, by creating records of any file that was
added to the system, or copied or removed from the system. Since
SYSLOG is active at all times, records are kept of ALL computer
activity, even after business hours, or on weekends.
Of course most expert computer operators could defeat SYSLOG, if
they knew it was installed, and what it does. In the normal
environment, however, the user would never have a clue that their
activities were being logged. SYSLOG only writes to the log file
when other disk activities are being performed. So it makes it
almost impossible to tell that it is working, even if you are
aware that it is installed.
Another program SYSLOGT, provides the same functions as SYSLOG,
but adds the capability of detecting system inactivity. As
SYSLOGT runs, in monitors periods of system inactivity, and
inserts a comment into the log file every 15 minutes that the
system is not used. This can be useful in determining whether or
not required work is being performed on the computer, and also in
situations where allocation of resources and equipment needs
analysis.
TIMELOG provides only the inactivity monitoring capability of
SYSLOGT.
LOGENTRY is simply a program that allows the user to insert
manual entries into the daily log. This can be useful in batch
files, where you might want to add a log comment indicating that
a particular operation has been performed.
VIEWLOG allows you to browse any log file.
FLOPLOCK is a useful (TSR) utility that will effectively keep
users from performing certain operations using floppy disk
drives. FLOPLOCK can either prevent copying data TO a floppy
drive, but allow copying FROM a floppy drive, or simply lock
floppy drives out all together.
PRINLOCK will keep anyone from printing anything to your printer.
It is also a TSR utility, and it will intercept any output to
your printer and send it off to never never land. Your
application will still think it is printing, but your printer
won't print a thing.
Installation
The PC-SENTRY collection of utilities is very simple to use.
First of all, we recommend that they be installed in your utility
directory or other directory in your DOS path. Secondly, all
logging utilities are date and time sensitive, so the date and
time must be set to the correct values prior to running the
program.
It is recommended that you call the desired logging utility from
your autoexec.bat file. Any of the logging utilities will
automatically create a new log file for each day. All log files
have the extension SOS, are kept in the C:\SYSLOG.DAT directory,
which is automatically created. The file name is created from the
current date. For example SEPTEMBER 18, 1991 would generate the
file name 09181991.SOS. This allows easy identification of a
particular file. The log files created are encrypted for security
purposes. To read the file you MUST use VIEWLOG.
Operation
SYSLOG and SYSLOGT have five possible optional command line
parameters:
SYSLOG /o = Enable OPEN FILE logging. ( Can create VERY large
log files )
SYSLOG /s = Silent mode. ( No loading message. User doesn't know
it's loading )*
SYSLOG /r = Produces READ-ONLY files that cannot be erased or
edited.
SYSLOG /h = Produces HIDDEN files.
SYSLOG /d = Removes SYSLOG from memory.
TIMELOG has four possible optional command line parameters:
TIMELOG /s = Silent mode. ( No loading message. User doesn't
know it's loading )*
TIMELOG /r = Produces READ-ONLY files that cannot be erased or
edited.
TIMELOG /h = Produces HIDDEN files.
TIMELOG /d = Removes TIMELOG from memory.
* Not functional in the shareware version.
Note: When you remove SYSLOG, SYSLOGT or TIMELOG from memory,
the current log file is left in a normal state. If you want it
to remain READ-ONLY or HIDDEN, add the appropriate parameter when
de-installing the program. For example SYSLOG /D/H will de-
install SYSLOG and leave the log file as a hidden file.
VIEWLOG can be run with no command line parameters. When run in
that way, you will always be viewing the current log file. You
may also run the VIEWLOG with a date parameter:
VIEWLOG 09181991 ( where the date you want to see is 09/18/1991 )
VIEWLOG can also be run from a floppy, if you do not want the
user to be able to view the log file. It is run in exactly the
same manner. VIEWLOG knows where to find the log file.
LOGENTRY allows the manual insertion of log file comments.
LOGENTRY This is a comment.
LOGENTRY will maintain the attribute ( normal, read-only, or
hidden ) of the current log file.
FLOPLOCK has four possible parameters:
FLOPLOCK /r will install the program in the read-only mode. You
will be able to read FROM a floppy , but not write TO a floppy.
FLOPLOCK /l will lock your floppy drives completely.
FLOPLOCK /s = Silent mode. ( No loading message. User doesn't
know it's loading )*
FLOPLOCK /d = Removes FLOPLOCK from memory.
PRINLOCK will simply "turn off" your printer. It has two possible
parameters.
PRINLOCK /s = Silent mode. ( No loading message. User doesn't
know it's loading )*
PRINLOCK /d = Removes PRINLOCK from memory.
* Not functional in the shareware version.
Important Considerations
IMPORTANT: CERTAIN PROGRAMS SHOULD NOT BE RUN WHILE ANY OF THE
TSR PROGRAMS ARE ACTIVE. THEY COULD CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS OR
CAUSE THE SYSTEM TO "HANG" AND NEED TO BE REBOOTED.
Disk optimization and unfragmenting programs.
Disk diagnostic programs.
High speed tape and disk backup programs.
If you are running any of the TSR programs in a situation where
the operator is unaware of their operation and there is a
possibility that any of the these program types will be run, you
can still allow the user access to these programs if you use the
following procedure:
For instance, if you wanted to run Norton Speed Disk on a regular
basis, you could run it safely like this:
First, RENAME SD.EXE _SD.EXE
Then create this batch file called SD.BAT.
SYSLOG /D
_SD%1
SYSLOG
This will unload SYSLOG before running Speed Disk, then reload it
afterwards. This method can be used to run almost any utility
without problems.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Solid Oak Software Inc.
PO Box 31004
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
805-682-3202 FAX 805-569-0451