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1996-11-18
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* Welcome to Magic Folders
Version 96.09a
Magic Folders makes any folder (directory) you choose and all the files
in that folder completely invisible to those without your password.
These invisible folders and files can't be deleted, viewed, modified,
or run. For all practical purposes they don't exist. Use Magic
Folders to protect your finances, taxes, and personal documents. Not
only won't other users not know these files exist, they won't be able
to accidentally delete or modify them either. With Magic Folders you
can turn over your computer to your children or your co-workers
without worrying if they'll delete, modify or view important files.
Yet, just enter your password and you'll instantly have complete and
normal access to all your folders and the files within. There's no
need to un-hide each file or folder individually. And Magic Folders
is totally transparent. No one need know your invisible
folders/files even exist.
If you wish you can establish 10 different accounts so everyone using
your computer can create their own invisible folders that only they
have access to.
If you share your computer you need Magic Folders. Use it to protect
files you don't want others to delete, modify, view, or use. Keep your
important files safe. Protect them with Magic Folders!
Magic Folders works in DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95. It will not
hide your folders/files in OS/2, 32 bit file access in Windows for
Workgroups or Windows NT. It is not for use on shared LAN drives.
Magic Folders (tm) is copyrighted 1996 by RSE Incorporated. Parts of
the program are proprietary. Do not use the software unless you
agree NOT to unassemble, disassemble, reverse engineer or use any
other means to examine or modify the code of any of its files
including MAGIC.EXE and MF.EXE.
"Magic Folders" is licensed "As is" without any express or implied
warranties whatsoever. In no event shall RSE Inc. be liable for any
loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including without
limitation, special, incidental, consequential or other damages.
Your rights may vary based on your state's laws.
By choosing to install "Magic Folders" you signal that you understand
and agree to abide by the above.
* How much?
Magic Folders is shareware. You're freely given this copy in order
to evaluate it. If after a 30 day evaluation period you decide to
continue using Magic Folders then you must become a registered user.
You can register instantly by modem (select "Register Now" under the
"Registration" menu) or by sending the registration fee of $29 plus
$1 shipping ($5 overseas) to:
Magic Folders Mastercard or Visa customers:
1157 57th Drive SE E-mail: register@pc-magic.com
Auburn, WA 98092 (206) 939-4105
After Oct97: (253) 939-4105
Make check in US funds drawn on a US or Canadian bank payable to RSE.
You're encouraged to freely distribute copies of MFD.ZIP as long as
you don't modify the files in any way. DO NOT distribute the
individual, extracted, files; only MFD.ZIP.
As a registered user you'll receive these additional benefits:
1. No more annoying messages (and delays) asking you to register.
2. The latest version of Magic Folders.
3. Free updates for 6 months! (If you download them)
4. The latest full function evaluation versions of our other
shareware including our popular "Remind Me!" programs.
5. Technical support
6. A sincere "Thank you" for supporting our efforts to develop quality
software and offer it at reasonable prices.
Site licenses are available, as well as quantity discounts.
If for some reason you decide not to register Magic Folders please
send us e-mail and let us know why. We're always trying to improve
our products.
* Installation
If you haven't already installed Magic Folders you need to do so now.
Run "MAGIC.EXE" from within Windows.
* Disk compression software
If you have disk compression software like Stacker or DoubleDisk make
sure that the line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that runs Magic Folders
(MF.EXE, or whatever you renamed it during installation) occurs AFTER
the line that loads your disk compression program.
* Selecting your magic folders
Magic folders are those folders you want to be able to make
invisible. You designate which folders you want to be magic folders
by selecting the "Add" button at the top of the screen.
Magic Folders not only makes all the files in your magic folders
invisible it also makes any sub folders invisible too. For example,
if you designate "C:\TAXES" as a magic folder then all the files in
"C:\TAXES\BUSINESS" would be invisible too.
* Making your magic folders invisible
Your magic folders are invisible from the time you start your computer
until the time your computer is turned off unless you deliberately
make them visible as explained below.
* Making your magic folders visible
To make your magic folders visible run Magic Folders (in the
Accessories group), enter your password, and then select "Make
Folders Visible". This gives you instant, complete, and normal
access to all your files, including the files in your magic folders.
Likewise, to make your magic folders invisible again just run Magic
Folders, enter your password and select "Make Folders Invisible" or
use the shortcut and just click on the "Please enter your password"
message when prompted for your password. Your magic folders also
become invisible again if your re-boot or turn off your computer.
* Utility Functions
Selecting "Utilities" from the top menu lets you change your
password, switch to another account (if you know its password), and
remove your account. The Master Account can also create new accounts
and un-install Magic Folders.
* AutoStart
You can have Magic Folders automatically start whenever you boot
your computer. In AutoStart mode, Magic Folders gets your password,
makes your magic folders visible and then exits. You can use this
feature to control access to your computer.
You have two options when installing AutoStart. Both deal with how
incorrect passwords are handled. The first option lets you attempt
to enter the password just once. If incorrect then the user is
granted access to the computer but all magic folders remain
invisible.
The second option lets you attempt to enter the password three times.
After three tries the computer is shut down. In other words, only
those with Magic Folder accounts will have access to the computer.
In both options AutoStart looks for the KeyDisk if the password is
not valid. Therefore you can still use the KeyDisk to gain access
should you forget your password. And as always, you can use DISABLE
on the KeyDisk to uninstall Magic Folders should you not be able to
access Magic Folders within Windows.
Because AutoStart only makes your magic folders visible you still run
Magic Folders (in the Accessories group) to modify your magic folder
list and all other Magic Folder functions.
You can uninstall AutoStart from within Magic Folders, or by
removing the "Password Entry" icon from the "Startup" group.
* Multiple Accounts
Magic Folders lets you create up to five different accounts, each of
whose magic folders are invisible to the others. In this way each
user of your computer, or member of the family, can have their own
magic folders. You could also use this feature to group similar
files together so that working on one group doesn't expose the
others. For example, one account for financial data, one for
business, one for personal documents, etc..
Only the magic folders of one account can be visible at any time. In
other words when someone successfully enters their password, all
magic folders are made invisible. If that person exits by selecting
"Make Folders Invisible" then all magic folders remain invisible. If
they exit with "Make Folders Visible" then only their folders become
visible, all others remain invisible. For example if you make your
folders visible, and your son comes along and uses Magic Folders to
make his folders visible, then yours become invisible.
If you create multiple accounts you can't make all files on the
computer visible at one time without uninstalling Magic Folders.
Remember this when making backups. It also means that you don't want
to make multiple accounts if you have a disk fix or defragmenting
utility that reports more errors when folders are invisible than when
they're visible (see WARNING section below).
Only the master account can create new accounts. This doesn't mean
however that the master account has access to all accounts. Each
account can change its password. Let's say you want to give your
spouse a private account. You'd select "Utilities" then "Create New
Account" and enter the new account password as requested. You would
then tell your spouse the password you used to establish the account
and they would run Magic Folders using that password, select
"Utilities", and select "Change Your Password". Now they have their
own account, with a password only they know.
Unlike the master account which can use the KeyDisk to get access
should the password be forgotten there is no way another account can
make their magic folders visible if they forget their password -
other than uninstalling Magic Folders. Don't forget your
password(s)!
* WARNING
If you use a disk fix or defrag utility other than SCANDISK, DEFRAG,
Norton Disk Doctor, or Norton Speed Disk then you MUST test them to
see if they are safe to use with Magic Folders. The danger is that
they may see the space allocated to your invisible files and free it
thereby deleting all your invisible folders and files.
CHKDSK.EXE is the only program we've tested that becomes confused
which is why we disable it so that it won't run when Magic Folders is
installed (as long as it is named CHKDSK.EXE). There are situations
where you may need to copy or access CHKDSK. For example, Win95 puts
CHKDSK on the bootable recovery disk it creates. For this reason
there is a function under "Utilities" on the main screen that makes
CHKDSK temporarily accessible.
To test your utilities (if not listed above) : Run your disk fix or
defragmenting utilities when your Magic folders are visible and
invisible. DO NOT FIX ANY ERRORS THEY MAY REPORT. If more errors
are reported when your folders are invisible then do one of the
following:
1. Remove the utilities (so you can't use them) or remove Magic Folders.
2. Use only one account in Magic Folders (just use the Master Account
already created) and move the offending utility into one of your
invisible folders. That way it can only be used when all folders and
files are visible, and thereby safe.
If the errors reported are the same when your magic folders are
hidden as they are when magic folders are visible then you can use
the utility without concern.
Please send the results of your testing to support@pc-magic.com
For those interested in the technical details, this is why CHKDSK
(and maybe others) get confused. Disk fix and defragmenting
utilities bypass the operating system and directly examine your disk.
In this way they can see the space allocated for your invisible
files. Instead of directly examining the disk to see which files
belong to this allocated space (as smart utilities do) they instead
ask the operating system. Since the operating system doesn't see
your magic folders when they're invisible these utilities assume the
space allocated to your invisible files should be freed. Freeing
this space will obviously delete your invisible files and folders.
On the other hand if you don't create any additional Magic Folder
accounts except for the Master Account created during installation
then you can put the offending utility into one of your magic
folders. In that way it can only be run when all folders and files
are visible to the operating system.
WARNING TOO!
DON'T hide folders that contain critical system files. By default
your folders are invisible until you use Magic Folders to designate
them as visible. If Windows needs a file that exists only in one of
your magic folders then it won't be able to find it until you make
the folders visible. If you accidentally hide important system files
then you'll need to use your KeyDisk to disable Magic Folders. See
"Problems?" below.
* Things to remember
Backups: Some backup programs won't backup your magic folders unless
they are visible. Remember, if you have multiple accounts you won't
be able to make all files visible at once, you can only make the
magic folders of one account visible at a time.
Networks: Do not use Magic Folders on a file server for a LAN.
However it works great protecting files that exist only on your
workstation's drives.
Win95 "Boot to DOS": If you exit Win95 by booting to DOS the
visibility of your magic folders remains the same in DOS as they were
when you exited Win95. Likewise, if you're using Win95 and you want
the visibility of your magic folders to be the same when you re-start
the computer as it was when you shut down the computer then simply
add a " x" to the line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that loads MF.EXE
(or whatever you renamed it). In other words change the line from
"LH MF.EXE" to "LH MF.EXE x". Use a lower case "x".
Shortcut: If you've made your magic folders visible and you want to
make them invisible again, you need only click on the Magic Folders
icon and then click on the "Please enter your password" message.
Another Shortcut: If you're using Win95 and exit Magic Folders by
clicking on the yellow folder button on the Main Screen, then not
only will your magic folders be visible, but the "Hide M-folders"
icon will appear on the Task Bar. You need only click on this "Hide
M-folders" icon and your magic folders will be instantly hidden.
Notice that the "Hide M-folders" description only appears for 5
seconds and then disappears leaving no evidence that Magic Folders is
present.
* Making Magic Folders tougher to defeat
Magic Folders does a great job of keeping your files protected and
invisible if its loaded and running. If no one knows Magic Folders
is running then they won't have any reason to try to defeat it. To
the non-authorized user, Magic Folders is totally transparent. If we
broadcast the fact Magic Folders is protecting your files then a
nosey user could try to disable it.
There are things you can do to make Magic Folders more difficult to
defeat. During installation MF.EXE is renamed to the new name you
give it. You can make multiple copies of this renamed file, giving
each copy a different name, putting them in different directories,
and running each of the different copies from within your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Someone would then have to remove all references
to the renamed Magic Folders files in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file before
Magic Folders would be defeated. Don't worry about loading Magic
Folders multiple times as it only loads itself once regardless of how
many times it is run.
If you're using Windows 95 you can also use this "multiple load using
different names" method in the SYSTEM.INI file. Look for the section
"[386Enh]" and add a line underneath it that says "device=" followed
by the full pathname of the renamed Magic Folders.EXE file. For
example, if during installation you rename Magic Folders to SYS_MGR,
and the Magic Folders files are in C:\MF, then you would add the
line: "device=c:\mf\sys_mgr.exe". This is only useful in Win95.
If you're using Windows 95 you can also user REGEDIT.EXE to modify
the registry files. If you don't know what the Registry is or how
to use RegEdit, or you don't understand the following directions,
then DON'T try this. DO NOT ask us for help if you mess up your
registry. Microsoft technical support won't even take calls on the
registry. You're on your own.
Windows 95 depends heavily on the registry so ALWAYS backup the
registry files (SYSTEM.DAT SYSTEM.DA0 USER.DAT USER.DA0) to a floppy
before modifying the registry. Use REGEDIT to hi-lite the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/VXD
key. Making sure you've selected the "VXD" key select "Edit" then
"New" then "Key" and enter whatever you want the key to be named.
Double click on your new key to open it. Then select "Edit", "New",
and "String Value" and enter "StaticVxD". Then double click on the
"StaticVxD" and enter the full pathname of the renamed MF.EXE file.
Since most people are not stupid enough to mess with the Registry,
and you're hiding the purpose of this key fairly well, this is a
fairly secure method of assuring that Magic Folders runs whenever
Windows 95 does. Note: Win95 Safe Mode doesn't use the registry, but
Magic Folders uses another method to load in Safe Mode.
If you decide to load Magic Folders using any of these methods then
keep in mind that using the "Uninstall" Utility within Magic Folders
(or DISABLE on your KeyDisk) only un-installs the initial copy of
Magic Folders. You'll need to manually remove all other references
to the renamed MF.EXE file in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (and SYSTEM.INI
and Registry if appropriate).
* FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
"Sometimes after making my magic folders invisible they still show up
in directory listings, even tho I can't access them or their files.
Why?"
Many programs keep their directory listings in memory. So if you
have the program do a directory search before hiding your folders
the program will continue to use that directory information even
after you hide your folders. File Manager and Explorer both do this.
If you force the program to regather (refresh) the directory
information then you'll see that your folders really are invisible.
The hot key to force a refresh in File Manager and Explorer is F5.
"I'm having problems with my disk compression software"
Check the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and make sure the line that run Magic
Folders (or whatever you renamed it during installation) is being run
AFTER the line that loads your disk compression software (Stacker,
DoubleDisk, etc..).
"I forgot my password. What now?"
Master Account:
Put your KeyDisk in the appropriate floppy drive. Run Magic Folders
and attempt to enter a password three times. After the third attempt
Magic Folders will attempt to read your Password from your KeyDisk.
Other Accounts:
You'll have to have the Master Account uninstall Magic Folders, re-
install it, and then re-create a new account for you.
"I want to un-install Magic Folders but I forgot my password so I
can't use the Magic Folders utilities to un-install. What now?"
Re-boot using a System floppy. Insert your KeyDisk and run
DISABLE.COM.
"I registered but the program is still asking me to register."
Make sure MFD.SYS is in the same directory as MAGIC.EXE. MFD.SYS is
for your use only and has been customized with your personal
information. If MFD.SYS isn't in the directory with MAGIC.EXE then
the program won't act registered. If you registered via modem then
MFD.SYS was downloaded and installed automatically, otherwise it's on
the disk we sent when you registered. For more information select
"About your registration" under the "Registration" menu.
"I can't rename the parent folder of a magic folder when it's
invisible." That's correct. Magic Folders doesn't mark your folders
with a special secret sign to indicate they're magic folders. It
just uses the list of magic folders you create. If someone renamed
the parent directory of a magic folder then your magic folder would
no longer match the list of magic folders and would therefore become
visible.
* Technical Support
Registered users can get technical support by calling (206) 939-4105
( after Oct97: (253) 939-4105 )
or by e-mail: support@pc-magic.com
* Latest Versions
You can always find the latest versions of all our software on our
WEB page at: www.pc-magic.com
Thank you for taking a look at Magic Folders. Hope you find it
worthy of your support.