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Text File | 1993-11-08 | 10.6 KB | 246 lines

Instructions for LOCK & KEY ============================ Vers 1.1 Copyright 1993 by Stephen Eisdorfer and Wissahickan Software Associates LOCK & KEY is a program for restricting access to your personal computer. It enables you to create a password (a KEY) and to LOCK out everyone who does not have the KEY. This program is easy to install and use. It will run on any PC compatible computer running any version of MS-DOS or PC-DOS. It works best on computer with a hard drive, but will also work on computers that have only floppy disk drives. What LOCK & KEY Cannot Do ------------------------- Because of the limitations of DOS, no software can provide complete security for your computer. LOCK & KEY is like a bicycle lock. It cannot defeat a vandal or thief who is malicious, knowledgeable and determined. It will, however, thwart the casual tamperer and at least deter and delay the more sophisticated and determined vandal or thief. Installing LOCK & KEY on Your Hard Drive ---------------------------------------- 1. Copy the file LAK.EXE into the root directory of your boot drive (usually C:\) or into any directory in your DOS search path. 2. To install LOCK & KEY, type LAK, and then <ENTER>. You will see the following message: LOCK HAS BEEN TAMPERED WITH. THIS DOOR IS NOW LOCKED AND DEADBOLTED! This message means that the file containing your keyword is missing or is defective. In this instance, it is missing because you have not yet created it. 3. Type !LOCKSMITH and then <ENTER>. You will then see the following message: Enter valid keyword. 4. Select and type your keyword and then <ENTER>. You will be prompted to verify this keyword and to write it down. The computer will then store your keyword in a file called LAK.CFG located in the root directory of your boot drive. 5. LAK is now installed. You can confirm this by again typing LAK and <ENTER>. This time you will see the following message: THIS DOOR IS LOCKED. INSERT KEY AND ENTER. If you type your keyword and <ENTER>, the computer will be unlocked and you will see a DOS prompt. If you type anything else, nothing will happen. Instead when you type <ENTER>, LOCK & KEY will once again prompt you for your keyword and will do so ad infinitum. Selecting a Keyword ------------------- Your keyword must be between one and 10 characters long. It may consist of any combination of numbers and letters. It may not include any spaces, punctuation marks, or graphics characters. LOCK & KEY ignores case. It treats "LOCK" the same as "loCK" and "lock." Anytime you enter a letter, you may type it either as upper case or lower case, whichever is most convenient. In general, keywords should be at least five characters long and should not be something that someone who knows you would naturally tend to think of. It should not be your name (even the middle name you never use), or your telephone number, your street address, the name of your spouse or child, or even your payroll number. If you work in a school, it should not be the name of the school. If you work primarily on a single project, it should not be the name of the project. On the other hand, it should be something that you can easily remember. Write it down in a place where you will be able to find again. Getting locked out of your own computer is just a damaging as someone unauthorized getting in and far more likely. Plan for the possibility that someone else may need to get access to your computer. You may die, become incapacitated, or simply be on a trip. Give your keyword for safekeeping to someone else whom you trust and who is likely to be available if you are not. It takes only seconds to change your keyword. Change it now and again. Change it immediately if you suspect that an unauthorized person has discovered it. Customizing LOCK & KEY ---------------------- LOCK & KEY displays a message while awaiting insertion of the correct key. By default, it displays a message chosen by the author. You can substitute your own message by deleting the file LAK.NOT in your root directory and replacing it with a text file of your own choosing. The file must contain only plain ASCII text. It may contain no more than 16 lines, including blank lines. Each line may consist of no more than 75 characters (including punctuation and spaces) and must end in a carriage return. The easiest way to create this type of file is with DOS EDIT or a similar text editing program. You can also create this file using any word processing program, but you must take care to save the file as an ASCII or DOS text file. For example, if you use WordStar, you should create the file in the non-document mode. If you use WordPerfect, you should save the file using the Ctrl-F5 Dos Text command. Otherwise the word processing program will insert non-ASCII formatting codes into the file that will appear on your screen as gibberish. Using LOCK & KEY ---------------- There are a number of ways of using LOCK & KEY. Here are a some examples. 1. SYSTEM SECURITY. Insert LAK.EXE at the beginning of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Whenever anyone turns the power on or reboots, LOCK & KEY will lock the system immediately until the proper keyword is typed. A typical AUTOEXEC.BAT file using LOCK & KEY might begin like this: @ECHO off PATH=something;somethingelse;athirdthing LAK . . . 2. SESSION SECURITY. If you are using your computer and leave your desk, simply run LAK from a DOS prompt. This locks the computer until the proper keyword is entered. Note, however, that this can be defeated by rebooting, either by pressing <CTRL><ALT><DEL> or by pushing the reset button. It is only really effective if you also put LOCK & KEY in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as described above. 3. APPLICATION SECURITY. If you wish to give others access to a particular application on your computer, for example a spreadsheet or database program, but not to your system generally, run the application is a batch file with LOCK & KEY as the final command. For example, a batch file to run PARADOX, a widely used database program might be named PDOX.BAT and look like this: @ECHO off PARADOX LAK Running PDOX loads PARADOX. If any user tries to exit PARADOX, LOCK & KEY locks the system until the proper keyword is entered. As above, this is only really effective if you also put LOCK & KEY in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 4. RECOVERY AFTER LOSS OR THEFT. LOCK & KEY cannot prevent you from losing your portable computer or prevent someone from stealing it. LOCK & KEY can, however, facilitate its recovery if it is lost or stolen. Insert LAK.EXE at the beginning of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Replace the default message with a message identifying the owner of the computer and giving instructions for its return. Whenever anyone turns the power on, LOCK & KEY will lock the system immediately until the proper keyword is typed and will display your message. This inhibits resale of the computer and makes it easy for the police or an honest finder to contact you to arrange its return. Changing Your Keyword --------------------- You may change your keyword any time you run LOCK & KEY, whether from the DOS prompt or from a batch file, such as AUTOEXEC.BAT. When LOCK & KEY prompts you for your keyword with the message "THIS DOOR IS LOCKED. INSERT KEY AND ENTER," type ! and then your keyword and then <ENTER>. You will then see the following message: YOU HAVE TRIED TO CHANGE KEYS. THIS DOOR IS NOW LOCKED AND DEADBOLTED! Type !LOCKSMITH and then <ENTER>. You will then see the following message: Enter valid keyword. Select and type your keyword and then <ENTER>. You will be prompted to verify this keyword and to write it down. Installing LOCK & KEY on a Floppy Disk -------------------------------------- LOCK & KEY is very compact. It occupies less than 11K of space on your disk. It can easily be installed on, and run from, a floppy disk. Installation on a floppy disk differs from installation on a hard drive in only one respect. By default, LOCK & KEY places the data files LAK.CFG and LAK.NOT in the root directory of drive C when it is installed and looks for it in that directory when it is run. If you want these files to be on another drive (for example, you computer has only floppy drives A and B and no drive C), you must designate that drive each time you run LOCK & KEY. Do that by adding the drive letter to the command to run LOCK & KEY. For example, to run LOCK & Key with its data file on a floppy disk in drive A, run the program with the command: LAK A Note that there must be a space between LAK and the drive letter. You may add a colon after the drive letter, but it is not necessary. You can also use this technique to place LOCK & KEY's data file on a logical drive on your hard disk other than C. This may make it a little more difficult to tamper with. License and Disclaimer ---------------------- LOCK & KEY was created by S. Eisdorfer and is copyrighted by S. Eisdorfer and Wissahickan Software Associates. You are hereby granted a license to use it without charge. You may also give it to others, provided that you also give them this file. You may not, however, sell it or modify it in any way without written consent of the copyright holder. This is a test and evaluation version of the program. It carries no warranty of fitness, merchantability, or suitability for use other than for test and evaluation. This program has benefited from the comments and suggestions of its users. Please report any problems or suggestions for improvements to Wissahickan Software Associates, 149 North Fifth Avenue, Highland Park NJ 08904 or by e-mail to seisdorfer@delphi.com.