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Cream of the Crop 1
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UTILITY
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HIDE_IT.ARJ
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HIDEIT.DOC
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1991-01-21
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=== Welcome to Hide-It! ===
Hide-It is a great way to keep private data private. It's the most
secure way I know of, short of encrypting your files. But what makes
Hide_It so nice is that it's virtually transparent to the user. When you
first boot up your computer you enter a password. If you don't, or the
password is incorrect, then you won't find, or be able to work on, the
hidden files. It's as if they didn't exist. However if you enter the
correct password then you'll have access to all the hidden files and you
can go about your business as if they were normal old files. You do
nothing except enter the password when the computer first boots. From
then on Hide-It takes care of everything. Couldn't be easier, could it?
=== How secure? ===
Now's probably a good time to discuss how "secure" Hide-It is. Like I
said above, Hide-It is probably as secure as you can get without actually
encrypting the files. What does that mean? Well, encrypting a file
actually re-arranges the file contents so that the result is gibberish.
Un-encrypting such a file is virtually impossible (on good encryption
programs) without knowing the password. Encryption schemes are virtually
fail-safe. They do however have problems. If someone modifies an
encrypted file without un-encrypting it, the file contents will be
scrambled and in many cases the file simply won't un-encrypt. Not good
news. In addition, you must remember to un-encrypt and re-encrypt each
file before and after you use it.
Hide-It on the other hand doesn't encrypt your files, it hides them
(thus the name). There are several ways it can be defeated by someone
who is knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of PC's (more on this
later). But only if that someone has reason to suspect hidden files
exist. That's why we attempt to keep Hide-It's operation as secret as
possible. And that's also it's advantage. You don't have to un-hide and
hide each file when you want to use it. Hide-It takes care of all that
automatically. All you have to do is enter the correct password when the
computer first boots up. Everything else is automatic. It's transparent
to both the authorized and un-authorized user.
So where do we stand? Well, if you have just a couple of very important
files that you expect others with PC expertise to actively seek out, then
you probably want to use an encryption program. On the other hand if
your files are sensitive but not earth-shattering, or you don't expect PC
wizards to actively search for them, and/or you have a lot of files you
want to hide, then Hide-It is your answer.
=== How much? ===
Hide-It (tm) is copyrighted 1990 by RSE Incorporated. It's being
released as user-supported shareware. This means you're freely given
this copy in order to evaluate it. If after a 21 day evaluation period
you decide to continue using it, you must become a registered user by
sending the registration fee of $20 (add $1 for 3.5 disk, $5 overseas)
to:
Hide-It Registration Mastercard or Visa customers:
1157 57th Drive SE (206) 939-4105
Auburn, WA 98002 Compuserve: 72371,1557
You are encouraged to freely distribute copies of the HIDE10.EXE file as
long as you don't charge anything for the copies. DO NOT distribute the
individual, extracted, files; only HIDE10.EXE.
As a registered user you'll receive these additional benefits:
1. No more annoying messages asking you to register.
2. Latest version of Hide-It, PLUS a "decoder" to convert all future
versions of Hide-It to registered versions.
3. The latest shareware versions of our other user-supported products,
including Playback, PC-FileNotes, PC-Directory, Conjecture, Remind
Me!, Nabbit, BriteLine, PC-Images, and Trash-It.
4. Technical support
5. A sincere "Thank you" for supporting our efforts to develop quality
software and offer it at reasonable prices.
Those using Hide-It in a commercial or educational environment must
register. Site licenses are available, as well as quantity discounts.
Overseas customers please add $5.
=== Installation ===
If you haven't already installed Hide-It we need to do so now.
* Put HIDEIT.COM, HIDE.COM, and HINSTALL.COM in either:
the root directory on the disk where your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is
- or -
in a subdirectory named in the "PATH=" statement in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file
* Move to the subdirectory where the Hide-It files are located.
* Enter "hideit" at the DOS prompt.
* Enter "hello" at the DOS prompt. An "OK\" should appear when you press
the enter key. If it doesn't then move back to the previous step and
try again.
* Enter "hinstall" at the DOS prompt.
* Press 1 to select "install" and follow the instructions.
That's all there is to it.
=== Using Hide-It ===
The installation program appends your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that Hide-It
is run whenever your computer is booted. When your computer boots, wait
until the DOS prompt appears and then enter your password. There won't
be any prompt asking you to do this, you must remember.
Why no prompt? For the same reason I had you rename Hide-It to something
less obvious. Hide-It does a great job of hiding files if it's loaded
and running. If no one knows Hide-It is running then they won't have any
reason to try to defeat it. To the non-authorized user, Hide-It is
totally transparent, the hidden files don't exist. If we broadcast the
fact Hide-It is running then all they'd have to do to disable it would be
to remove it from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Is it that easy to defeat? Well not really. Even if Hide-It isn't
running, the hidden files still have some degree of protection. That's
because as part of the hiding process Hide-It turns the file into a
system file. There are certain things DOS will not do to system files.
The following DOS commands don't recognize system files: DIR, RENAME,
TYPE, COPY, and DELETE. In addition, programs with the system file
attribute won't run.
So what else is there? Sounds pretty protected to me. Well, it is, kind
of. The problem is there are programs (our file manager "PC-Directory"
for example) that DO list system files in the directory listing and let
you change system files to normal files and vice versa. So if someone
were to remove Hide-It from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, do a directory listing
with one of these programs, and then change all the system files to
normal files, they would have complete access to your hidden files.
Pretty remote I agree, but if the person is knowledgeable about PCs and
is trying to defeat Hide-It, it's possible. But if he/she doesn't know
Hide-It is protecting your files then this whole discussion is a moot
point. That's why we do our best to keep Hide-It's presence a secret.
Well back to business. Okay, you've booted your computer and entered
the password. If you enter the correct password then "OK\" will appear at
the end of your input. If the password is incorrect then DOS will act
upon your input as if it were a normal command. If you mess up and need
to re-enter the password just enter Hide-Its name at the DOS prompt.
Remember that you renamed Hide-It when you installed it so be sure to
enter the new name you gave it. Hide-It doesn't look to match a phrase
or word, instead it checks every key press you make when entering the
password. This means you can use any key on the keyboard in your
password. It also means that you must enter the password exactly, you
can't use the backspace key to correct mistakes.
=== How to hide and un-hide files ===
We use HIDE.COM to select which files are hidden. Hide-It hides the
HIDE.COM file during installation. You won't be able to run it unless
Hide-It is active. The same holds true for HINSTALL.COM. After all, you
wouldn't want an unauthorized user reinstalling Hide-It and/or changing
the password.
Because you put the Hide-It files in one of your PATH subdirectories, we
have access to HIDE.COM at any DOS prompt. When you want to hide or un-
hide a file simply move to the directory where the file is located and
enter "hide" (or "hide/c" for color) at the DOS prompt.
HIDE.COM will instantly provide you with a listing of all the files in
the subdirectory. Those that are hidden will have an "*" in front of
their name. To hide a file simply use the cursor to hi-lite the desired
file and then press H to hide it. An "*" will appear next to the name
indicating that the file is hidden. To un-hide a file do the same thing:
hi-lite the file and press H. The "*" will disappear indicating the file
is no longer hidden.
The "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys move you to the different pages of the
directory listing. "Home" moves you to the first file in the listing,
"End" to the last. Pressing "S" lets you sort the listing by date/time,
name, extension, or file size. Pressing "J" jumps you to the file
starting with the letter you enter after pressing J. For example,
pressing J and then K would jump you to the first file starting with K.
It's just another means of getting around. When you're done hiding and
un-hiding your files press "Q" to quit. Tough huh?
Remember, you don't need to hide and un-hide files each time you use
them. Once you hide a file it remains hidden forever (to unauthorized
users only) unless you use HIDE.COM to un-hide it.
There's one more feature of Hide-It we need to discuss. Let's say
you've given yourself access to the hidden files and someone else steps
up and wants to use the computer, what do you do? Well you could re-
boot, but that might seem a little a strange. Or, you could press the
Ctrl, Alt, and right shift key at the same time. This tells Hide-It to
act as tho the hidden files aren't there. You can now turn over the
computer without fear that the person will access your hidden files.
Hide-It will pop, beep, or click at you when you press the Alt, Ctrl, and
RShift key, to let you know that it received your command. Listen
carefully or you'll miss it. We're trying to be subtle. You can only
use this key combination to deny access, pressing it again will NOT give
you your access back. To regain access you'll have to enter the name you
gave Hide-It during installation, at the DOS prompt and re-enter the
password. Hide-It WON'T grant access if you press the Crtl, Alt, and
RShift keys again. After all, you wouldn't want someone stumbling upon
this key combination and finding they now have access to all your hidden
files.
=== Things to keep in mind ===
Most of the time authorized users can work on hidden files just as if
they were normal files, without worrying about whether they're hidden or
not. However, I've noticed that when you use the DOS "copy" command to
make a copy of a hidden file, the new file is not hidden. Therefore if
you copy a hidden file, make sure you hide the copy using HIDE.COM. The
original remains hidden so you don't need to worry about it.
HIDE.COM will indicate certain files are hidden which you didn't hide.
LEAVE THESE FILES HIDDEN! These are system files which your computer
needs to boot up correctly. There will be two of them in the root
directory of your boot disk. Other programs may use system files as
well. Leave these files alone.
As you may have noticed, Hide-It is an all or nothing thing. You can't
specify different levels of access. Those with the password have access
to all the hidden files, those without don't. It's as simple as that.
Hide-It is not meant for file servers on LAN networks. If every station
doesn't install Hide-It when it boots then you'll lose a big degree of
protection, because Hide-It won't be active on those machines. It's also
possible someone else could install Hide-It on their own boot disks.
Then each of you would have access to each others hidden files located on
the common file server disk. Remember it's an all or nothing thing.
However, these dificulties are only present on disks that are shared by
the LAN. You can still use Hide-It with confidence for those files that
reside on your own workstation's disk(s), and aren't shared with the rest
of the LAN.
=== Problems ===
"I forgot my password. What now?" Well, you're in kind of a bind.
HINSTALL.COM won't run so you can't change the password. But don't
despair. Follow these steps exactly:
* Remove Hide-It from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (remember, of course that you
named it something else).
* Re-boot the computer.
* Extract the HIDExx.EXE file onto a blank floppy disk, or into an empty
subdirectory. DO NOT extract them into the same subdirectory where you
originally installed Hide-It.
* After the Hide-It files are extracted enter "hideit" at the DOS prompt.
Enter "hello" as the password. You should get an "OK\".
* Delete all the Hide-It files you just extracted.
* Go to the subdirectory where the Hide-It files you originally installed
are located.
* Enter "hinstall" at the DOS prompt and re-install Hide-It.
=== Technical Support ===
Registered users can get technical support by calling (206) 939-4105 or
by leaving a message on Compuserve: 72371,1557.
That's about all. Thank you for taking a look at Hide-It. Hope you find
it worthy of your support.
----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------
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