PASSWORD.SYS
-----------------------------
Shareware Issue

Computer Access Security System for the
IBM PC/XT/AT/PS2 and Compatibles

Copyright (C) 1989 by G. A. Monroe
All rights reserved.
CompuServe ID# 72321,1257

Version 1.5S
Documentation and Technical Notes
December 24, 1989


PASSWORD is being marketed in this special form as "shareware."

This means you have the opportunity to use and evaluate it before
you decide to buy. If you regularly use PASSWORD, then you are
required to send your registration fee to the author according
to the instructions on the next page of this document. (The cost
as of this writing is $15.00 per single-user license plus $4.00
handling). Using this program more than five times constitutes
regular use under this license agreement, and requires the user
to register with the author.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Notice to Distributors, Publishers and User's Groups: |
| ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Please consult the last page of this document for important |
| license information and restrictions. |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

YOU RECEIVE A BONUS WHEN YOU REGISTER YOUR PASSWORD PROGRAM
****************************************************************

Thank you for your interest in PASSWORD. Users who register their
use of the program with the author receive a copy of the latest
release of PASSWORD, which includes these extras:

* The Hard Disk Lock, which protects the files on your hard disk
from access by unauthorized users. It cannot be bypassed even
when a floppy disk is used to boot your PC. The hard disk lock,
together with the boot-up password security and keyboard lock
described below, combine to give your PC a high level of secur-
ity at a very affordable price.

* More flexible Keyboard Lock options.

* All the latest enhancements and refinements.

The author may be contacted via the CompuServe Information Service
Easyplex electronic mail, at ID# 72321,1257.



PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 2 OF 8



To obtain the current release of PASSWORD, including the Hard Disk
Lock and all the latest enhancements, register by sending the order
form below with your check or money order for $15.00 per copy plus
$4.00 for materials, postage and handling, to:

Gerald A. Monroe
1241 Bunts Road
Lakewood, Ohio 44107 U.S.A.



+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| I wish to license _____ copy/copies of the latest release of the |
| PASSWORD program. I have enclosed $15.00 for each single-user |
| license plus $4.00 for handling etc. (Prices subject to change.) |
| |
| Name ___________________________________________________________ |
| |
| Company (if applicable) ________________________________________ |
| |
| Address ________________________________________________________ |
| |
| City _______________________________ State ______ Zip ________ |
| |
| I prefer: _____ 3-1/2" disk; _____ 5-1/4" disk (check one) |
| |
| * * * |
| |
| If you received your PASSWORD from a Bulletin Board System, |
| User's Group, or software distributor, please supply its name and |
| location (if from a public BBS, please add the phone number): |
| |
| __________________________________________________________________ |
| |
| 12/89 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+




* To license one copy, for example, send $19.00; to license 10
copies, send $154.00. Please use the order form above.

* U.S. funds only, please.

* These prices are subject to change.



PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 3 OF 8

WHAT IS PASSWORD?
------------------

PASSWORD.SYS is a program designed to give your personal computer
a high level of security against unauthorized use. When you
install PASSWORD as described below, only users who know your
system access code will be able to boot your PC. Also, PASSWORD
provides a keyboard-activated lock to prevent others from peeking
at your data while the computer is running and you are away.

PASSWORD requires an IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or 100% compatible
computer; PC- or MS-DOS Version 2.0 or later; and at least one
floppy diskette drive.


INSTALLING PASSWORD
--------------------

PASSWORD.SYS is a "device driver," and like all device drivers
it is installed by way of the CONFIG.SYS file on your hard disk
or bootable floppy diskettes. If you are not sure what the
CONFIG.SYS file is, or how to create or modify it, please consult
this topic in your DOS manual before continuing.

If you have a hard disk drive which you use to boot your system,
copy the file PASSWORD.SYS to it using DOS's COPY command. You
may copy it to the root directory, or any other directory you
choose. Then, insert the following line of text as the first
line of your CONFIG.SYS file:

DEVICE=[\pathname\]PASSWORD.SYS [/T] [/Q]

(Again, if you are not sure how to use the COPY command, or
what a directory is, please consult your DOS manual before
continuing.)

If you have a floppy disk system, copy the PASSWORD.SYS file to
all of your bootable floppy diskettes; i.e., the disks you can
place in Drive A: when you start your computer. On each of these
bootable floppy disks, make sure there is a CONFIG.SYS file which
contains the following line of text as the first line:

DEVICE=PASSWORD.SYS [/T] [/Q]

Each of the parameters listed in brackets in these installation
examples is optional. In the first example, [\pathname\] repre-
sents the name of the directory in which you have placed the
PASSWORD.SYS file, if other than the root directory, which is the
default. The parameters /T and /Q are discussed below.


PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 4 OF 8


It is recommended, though not necessary, that the DEVICE statement
which loads the PASSWORD program be the first one in your
CONFIG.SYS file. This is because PASSWORD takes special precau-
tions to prevent users from bypassing its security functions by
pressing Ctrl-Break. PASSWORD will work normally if it is not
loaded first, but users might be able to bypass its exection if
other DEVICE statments are listed first.

When the PASSWORD.SYS file is where it should be, and the CONFIG.SYS
file is prepared, you may begin to use the program by rebooting
your computer.


CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD
-----------------------

PASSWORD comes preconfigured with an easy-to-remember access code.
It is:
PASSWORD

The first thing you want to do after installing PASSWORD and
booting your machine is to change this default to something a
little less intuitive.

To change the password any time you boot the system, type in the
current password at the prompt, then a backslash (\), then the
new password, then press . The format is:

OLDPASSWORD\NEWPASSWORD

(System passwords must be more than five and less than 70 char-
acters long.) If the original password you supplied was correct,
PASSWORD welcomes you to the system, then asks you to confirm the
new password by retyping it, as a precaution. If you retype the
new password exactly as before, the change will be made permanent,
and you can use the new password for all subsequent bootups. If
you miskey the new password at the confirmation prompt, or just
press , you are still in, but the password is not changed.

You can change your system password only at boot-up time.

If you wish, you may change the file attribute of the PASSWORD.SYS
file as it resides in your disk directory, to make it a "hidden,"
"read-only," or "system" file, or any combination of these. Mark-
ing a file as read-only prevents it from being accidentally deleted
with DOS's DEL or ERASE commands; this can be done with the ATTRIB
program supplied with DOS versions 3.0 and later. A hidden file
is one which is on your disk, but does not appear in any DOS
directory searches (the DIR command); there are many retail,
shareware and public-domain utility programs available to help
you set these attributes.


PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 5 OF 8

WHAT PASSWORD DOES
-------------------

PASSWORD gives the user one minute and three tries to enter the
correct system access code, (which may be as short as six charac-
ters or as long as 70), before proceeding with boot-up as usual.
If the correct code is not entered within this time limit or
after three attempts, then the message "Access Denied" is displayed
and the system locks up, forcing a cold boot (i.e. Ctrl-Alt-Del
will not respond). The 60-second time limit must also be ob-
served when changing the system password.

When changing system passwords, remember to perform this opera-
tion on all bootable media on which PASSWORD is installed, hard
disks and floppy diskettes alike.


USING THE KEYBOARD LOCK
------------------------

What about those times when you have to leave your PC unattended,
but don't want to bother turning it off and on again later? And
you either don't have or don't want to bother with an AT-style
keyboard lock?

Easy: use PASSWORD's keyboard lock function. Press
and you will hear a brief, descending two-tone chirp from your
PC's speaker. This indicates that PASSWORD has temporarily
"stolen" away the keyboard from whatever application is currently
running.

The only way to regain control of the machine is to enter the
currently defined system password and press . Pressing
does not respond while PASSWORD's keyboard lock is
active, so a power-down cold boot is the only other way out.
PASSWORD reminds you that it is protecting your machine during a
keyboard lock by emitting a soft click from the PC speaker once
every 10 seconds.

Once you have entered the correct password, you will receive
another, ascending two-tone chirp as a signal that the machine
has been successfully unlocked. PASSWORD then surrenders control
to DOS or your interrupted application, which proceeds as usual
without ever having perceived the interruption, even during disk
input/output.

EXCEPTION: If you need to use the keyboard lock while online to
a remote computer via a modem or direct connection, first make
sure to send an X-OFF signal to the remote by pressing ,
then invoking the keyboard lock with . When you
have unlocked your PC again, press to send an X-ON
signal to the remote, giving it a green light to continue sending
and receiving data. This prevents received and transmitted char-
acters from being lost.


PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 6 OF 8


MODIFYING PASSWORD'S "HOTKEY"
------------------------------

If the default key combination used to activate
PASSWORD's keyboard lock conflicts with, or is also used by,
another program in your system, then you can always change it if
you're handy with the DEBUG program supplied with DOS. Simply
DEBUG PASSWORD.SYS, ump the first few bytes of the program,
and search the text column for 'HOTKEY SCANCODE=' and 'SHIFT
MASK='. In each case, the byte immediately following the equal
sign '=' controls the indicated parameter dictating when PASSWORD
will sense a keyboard lock request. In PASSWORD's default con-
figuration, the HOTKEY SCANCODE is 0E hex (the Backspace key),
and the SHIFT MASK is 08 hex (meaning ALT is pressed down).


PASSWORD'S OPTIONAL SWITCHES: /T and /Q
----------------------------------------

PASSWORD responds to the optional command-line "switches"
mentioned above. To use them, simply place them after the
DEVICE=PASSWORD.SYS statement in your CONFIG.SYS file, separ-
ated by one or more blank spaces.

/T stands for "transient" mode. Using it means that PASSWORD
will not stay resident in your computer's memory. Therefore, it
also means that PASSWORD's keyboard lock feature will be
unavailable until you remove the /T switch from the PASSWORD
command line in your CONFIG.SYS file. If you do not specify /T,
the program stays memory-resident and the keyboard lock is
enabled. If your PC doesn't have a lot of memory, don't worry;
PASSWORD is efficient and takes up only about 2K of your RAM.

/Q stands for "quiet" mode. By using it, you tell a memory-
resident copy of PASSWORD not to chirp when locking/unlocking
the keyboard, and not to click the PC speaker every 10 seconds
during a keyboard lock, softly or not. Use /Q in quieter en-
vironments, or when you don't want to tempt a potential snooper
into investigating the sound.


PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 7 OF 8



PASSWORD RULES:
-----------------

* System passwords must be at least six characters long,
and may not exceed 70 characters.

* If you are changing passwords, the combined length of
the old password plus the new password plus the (\)
separator cannot exceed 70 characters.

* System passwords are not case-sensitive. The letters
A through Z occurring in passwords are always interpreted
in their uppercase forms. , for example, is read
the same as alone, and the current CapsLock status has
no effect one way or the other.

* Any key on the PC keyboard can be used within a password
EXCEPT the backspace key mistakes; the backslash character \ , which is reserved
for password-changing; the Print Screen key; the
and keys; and the Shift, Ctrl, Alt, CapsLock,
NumLock and ScrollLock keys by themselves. Ctrl-C (BREAK)
and Ctrl-M (RETURN) are not allowed.

* Note that any other Alt-key or Ctrl-key combinations such
as Ctrl-S and Alt-F10 *ARE* permitted. So are spaces, punc-
tuation marks, Tabs, Escape, and the codes generated by
holding down the Alt key while entering an ASCII character
value on the numeric keypad (ranging from 1 to 255, excluding
3, 8, 13 and 92).


PASSWORD.SYS Ver. 1.5S Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe
All rights reserved
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE 8 OF 8

LICENSE AGREEMENT:
-------------------

PASSWORD.SYS is Copyright (C) 1989 by Gerald A. Monroe.
All rights reserved.

PASSWORD is being marketed in this special form as "shareware."

This means you have the opportunity to use and evaluate it before
you decide to buy. If you regularly use PASSWORD, then you are
required to send your registration fee to the author according
to the instructions on Page 2 of this document. Using this program
more than five times constitutes regular use under this license
agreement, and requires the user to register with the author.

(Remember, registration entitles you to receive the latest
release of PASSWORD and its related programs. The "registered"
software includes extra functions and capabilities not included
in this package. See Page 2 for details.)

Whether or not you become a registered user, you are permitted
under this license to copy and distribute the files PASSWORD.SYS
and PASSWORD.DOC freely, provided that:

a) absolutely no fee is charged, and no donation requested, for
the copying and/or distribution of these files without the express
written permission of the copyright holder; b) the files PASSWORD.SYS
and PASSWORD.DOC are always copied and/or distributed together; and
c) the files PASSWORD.SYS and PASSWORD.DOC are not modified, dis-
assembled or reverse-engineered in any way.

SPECIFICALLY: NO INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATION OR CORPORATION MAY INCLUDE
THE FILES PASSWORD.SYS OR PASSWORD.DOC, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION
WITH OTHER SOFTWARE, ON *ANY* MEDIA FOR WHICH *ANY* MONEY IS CHARGED,
OR *ANY* DONATION REQUESTED, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION
OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER. SUCH FEES OR DONATIONS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT
LIMITED TO, HANDLING FEES, MATERIALS FEES, OR OUTRIGHT PREMIUMS.
INDIVIDUALS, ORGANIZATIONS OR CORPORATIONS SEEKING PERMISSION TO
DISTRIBUTE THESE FILES AT A FEE OR FOR A DONATION, MUST APPLY IN
WRITING TO: GERALD A. MONROE, 1241 BUNTS ROAD, LAKEWOOD, OHIO 44107.

The files PASSWORD.SYS and PASSWORD.DOC may be distributed via elec-
tronic Bulletin Board Systems and other electronic information storage
and retrieval services only under the terms described above. No BBS
or other storage and retrieval service may request any donation, or
charge any fee or premium, for the electronic transfer of any of these
files, excluding that service's ordinary connect charges, if any,
without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

Any use, copying or distribution of the files PASSWORD.SYS or
PASSWORD.DOC, other than that described above, is in violation
of this license agreement.