Initial Setup

Copy Password Key™ to your hard drive and double-click the application. It will start up and ask for your password. When shipped, Password Key™ has a standard password of "PASSWORD" so you can use it right away. Remember, Upper and Lower case is ignored so you do not have to worry about your caps lock key's position.

NOTE: Password Key™ creates a file called PASSWORD for storing its records and must modify itself if you change the password, so IT MUST BE RUN FROM AN UNLOCKED DISK.

To test the system, run Password Key™. The first screen is the "advertisement/about" screen with some shareware information.  This screen appears whenever Password Key™ is run. 

 

You should see a blue screen (on color systems, black or white on others) that covers your screen, along with this window:

You can simply type PASSWORD and press return or click the OK button. As you type your password in, you will see little apples () instead of the characters you type.  When you get the password in correctly, the "New" button will change from shaded to solid.  For more information about registering, you can see the Help Window, accessible by pressing the "?" button above.

The apples, of course are for added security if someone is watching over your shoulder. After you enter the correct password, Password Key will quit and give you your system back.

Since PASSWORD is fairly easy to guess (and comes with all the new Password Key™ programs), it is HIGHLY recommended that you change the password immediately if you want a little security.

The PASSWORD File

When Password Key™ is first started up, it creates a file called PASSWORD.  This file is the storage place for the records that Password Key™ keeps regarding startups and attempts.  If you double-click (or Open) this file, it simply runs Password Key™ and locks you out until you enter a password. However, this file can be opened with any number of word processors, including TeachText. 

To keep the PASSWORD file out of sight, you should consider placing it in one of two places. Either in the same folder with your Password Key™ application, or in the top level of the system folder. Placing it anywhere else may cause it to be "missed" by Password Key™ and it will just create a new one.

A single startup and successful entry will use up about 100 characters (bytes) on your hard disk, writing to the PASSWORD file, so you can see that it can really grow even if you only use it once a day. It is no longer required that you occasionally clear the file or throw it away. Password Key™ monitors the size of the PASSWORD file and will automatically archive the information to a file called "PASSWORD History" when it exceeds 3,000 characters. You can view either file easily (in System 7) by dragging one of them on top of TeachText or SimpleText. Or, they can be opened from within any word processor to view them.  The maximum size that Password Key™ can show you if you need to view the log is about 3,000 characters. This represents about 30 or so logins.