Win-Secure Program Documentation Version 1.0a Copyright 1994 - Thomas J. Mutaffis All Rights Reserved April 14, 1994 License Information : The Win-Secure software package is NOT free. You are expected to register your copy within 30 days or cease all use of software and remove it from your system. Win-Secure is not to be included with any other software package unless permission is obtained in writing from the author. You may freely distribute the shareware version of Win-Secure (in fact I encourage it) as long as all files included in the official release of Win-Secure are included (see WSECURE.WRI for files comprising the official release of WinSecure). Shareware distributors may sell disks containing Win-Secure as long as no fee is charged for the software itself, however, distribution fees and reimbursement for cost of media may be charged to end user as long as the fee does not exceed $5.00 (US funds). Warranty Information: All measures have been taken to ensure that Win-Secure is of the highest quality. However, the author takes no absolutely responsibility for any loss of time, equipment and/or loss of data resulting from the use of Win-Secure or it's utility program. The Shareware Concept and What it Means to You: Shareware is a method of marketing and distributing software that requires almost no capital (money) on the part of the author to distribute his/her software product to potential customers. You may have downloaded Win-Secure from an electronic BBS service or purchased a disk from a shareware distributor. Simply because you have a copy of Win-Secure does not mean that you own it. In fact, after a reasonable trial period, you are encouraged to register your version. There are several benefits in doing so, here are a few: 1 - By registering Win-Secure you will receive a disk from the author with the registered version of Win-Secure on it. The registered version will have your name and serial number embedded into the program code. Additionally your name will "branded" right into the program itself and appear in the opening screen in place of the shareware notice. 2 - If you register, you will be automatically notified of future enhancements to Win-Secure or related utilities. 3 - By registering, you help to support an industry that provides thousands of new software titles to the public each year at very reasonable prices. The registration fee for Win-Secure is $15. Mail the included REGISTER.TXT along with your $15.00 check (US Funds) to: The InterLink Network P.O. Box 215 Garwood, New Jersey 07027-0215 Product support can be had by calling the authors BBS at: The InterLink Network at (908) 232-0308 Program Description: This program is a visual basic security program designed to stop all but the most determined people from running programs you have selected as "safe-guarded" under windows. To do this, the programs are removed from the Program Manager and access to Program Manager is restricted. The programs you select for "secure access" are launched via Win-Secure which will ask for a required password. Also the file command and the save settings command of the program manager will be turned off. This will not stop everyone, but it will prevent most and certainly prevents accidents. Steps to installing Win-Secure: NOTE: This software is distributed in two variations. The first, and preferred, includes all necessary files along with an installation program. The files included with this version are: SETUP.EXE SETUP.LST SETUP1.EX_ SETUPKIT.DL_ TKEY.EX_ VBRUN300.DL_ VER.DL_ WSECURE.EX_ WSECURE.IN_ WSECURE.WRI - - - - This file. REGISTER.TXT - - - - Mail-in registration form. The second variation is typically found on most BBS's. Basically it does not include the SETUP program and the files are not compress for manual installation. The files included with this version are: TKEY.EXE VBRUN300.DLL WSECURE.EXE WSECURE.INI WSECURE.WRI - - - - This file. REGISTER.TXT - - - - Mail-in registration form. Steps to Installing Win-Secure using the SETUP Program: The SETUP.EXE program should be run from within windows. To do so perform the following steps: 1a - Select FILE 1b - Select RUN from the FILE menu 1c - Type A:SETUP, or B:SETUP, or specify the temporary "holding" directory your using. 1d - After SETUP initializes, it will display a window telling you where the program will be installed to. The default is C:\WSECURE. It is recommended that you change this to C:\WINDOWS as to better hide the pertinent files. Additionally, since C:\WINDOWS is in your PATH statement you need not worry about moving TKEY.EXE to a directory in your PATH or adding the C:\WSECURE directory to your PATH statement. SETUP.EXE will expand and copy the required files to the directory you specified, or default, and VBRUN300.DLL to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. The installation program "SETUP.EXE" will by default create a program group named WSECURE. You may if desired, drag the icon within this group and place it into any group of your choosing. You can then delete the WSECURE program GROUP if you wish. This will help to make the program a little more obscure. This is about it for the installation using the included SETUP. You can now proceed to "Steps to using Win-Secure" section or if your manually installing; continue reading on. Steps to Manually Installing Win-Secure: 2a - Copy the files WSECURE.EXE, WSECURE.INI, and TKEY.EXE to the directory of your choice, preferably C:\WINDOWS for the aforementioned reasons above. 2b - Copy VBRUN300.DLL to your windows-system directory; C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM 2c - If you are not currently in windows, you should start it and then: Select FILE in program manager 2d - Select NEW from the FILE menu 2e - Make sure that PROGRAM ITEM not program group is marked and click on the button marked OK. This will bring up the next windows need to continue with the installation. 2f - Specify the drive/directory/WSECURE.EXE in the box identified as Command Line: For example: C:\WINDOWS\WSECURE You may also click on the button marked Browse... and use this function to enter the required information. 2g - In the box named Description: You may type any description you wish. Keep in mind the following though. There is a default description and it is not necessary to enter one here, and, whatever you type here will appear under the Win-Secure Icon. 2h - The program will use the default icon which is internal. It is a picture of a safe. If you wish, you can change this, along with the description to make the program more obscure. To change the icon click on the button marked Change Icon... This completes the manual installation. You can now proceed to the following section which describes how to use the program. It is recognized that the above procedures go into considerable detail which most will find redundant. The goal was to insure that even the novice would have no problem installing the program. Special note for those upgrading: If your upgrading a previous release, you should copy the file named WSECURE.INI to a temporary holding directory, or floppy, and then copy it back after completing either of the above installation procedures. This will allow you to save (reuse) the setup (program list and passwords) you had entered in the earlier release. Steps to using Win-Secure: 1 - Remove the icons for the programs you wish to restrict access to from the program manager by first insuring that the desired icon (program) is the "active" icon. Next select FILE in Program Manager and then DELETE. NOTE: You may want to select the File menu item PROPERTIES first and write down the pertinent information needs to run the program. (e.g.: the file name, drive, and directory before deleting them. 2 - After collecting the information necessary for the programs you wish to add to Win-Secure; you should start the program by "double-clicking" on it's icon. 3 - Initially, you will have to setup the applications you wish to protect. To do so, click on the button marked Maintenance. You will be asked for a password upon doing this. The default MASTER password is PASSWORD. NOTE! This is all capital letters!!! The master password can and should be changed from the maintenance screen. 2 - Use the maintenance section of Win-Secure to setup the programs you removed from the program manager. The maintenance section is command button driven and quite easy to use. Add all the programs you wish to restrict access to by typing in a program description, program name with path and a password. You may also change the password of a particular program by highlighting the program description is the list box. This will put the programs information into the appropriate boxes. Change the desired information (usually password) and then click the button marked Change. NOTE: It is highly recommended that PIF Edit, System Edit, and Windows File be included in the list. The primary reason being; these programs can be used to launch your protected programs or modify the PROGRAM.INI file. By default, they are included. You may also want to add any other programs you might have that can perform similar tasks. 3 - You can, if desired, add the program TKEY.EXE to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. When it runs, the program will check to see if the control and alt keys are pressed. If they are not, it will add the following lines to the PROGMAN.INI file: [RESTRICTIONS] NoFileMenu=1 NoSaveSettings=1 This will disable the file option from the file menu. Users will not be able to run anything that is not already on the program manager. They will not be able to add or change any of the Icons or Groups on the program manager. The save settings on exit will also not be available. The program will not change anything else in the PROGMAN.INI file. TKEY.EXE displays "Saving header information... C:" on the screen as it runs. If you press the control + alt keys during bootup, the restrictions section of PROGMAN.INI will be removed. Otherwise, the PROGRAM.INI will be modified and the aforementioned restrictions will take place automatically. If you don't want to use the TKEY.EXE program you can make the changes manually. It may, in some respects, be better to manually add the lines and avoid using the TKEY.EXE program altogether. By doing this, there is no "tell-tale" signs during boot-up. Keep in mind however, that if you do manually modify the PROGRAM.INI file, you too, will not be able to access the file menu. TKEY.EXE automates this process and allows you to bypass the "lockout" function during bootup. You have a 3 second window in which to press the Ctrl and Alt keys. 5 - The last step is to reboot the computer to make any changes take effect. This is particularly important if you added the TKEY.EXE program. If you made the changes to the PROGRAM.INI file manually, then you only need to restart windows without rebooting. Closing note: You should assign each program a unique password for maximum protection. You should also change the master password from "PASSWORD" to something unique. Even the most feeble minded will start with "PASSWORD" when trying to break into a system. The next most often attempted password is the name of the individual responsible for the system, then a company name if applicable. Avoid all of these and use a unique password. The hardest passwords to crack usually are a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters such as !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (, ), _, +, {, }, [, ], |, \, :, ", <, >, ~, and `. [end of file]