WDR Computer Club Digital 1995 August/CLUB_0895.BIN/sharewin/hideit/docs

Text File | 1995-06-12 | 16KB | 327 lines

    * Welcome to Hide-It!

    Windows Version 1.0  6/14/95

    Hide-It! keeps your private files private - quickly, easily and
    transparently.  To those without your password your hidden files do
    not appear to exist.  Programs, applications, utilities, file
    managers, DOS and Windows can't find, view, delete, or work on your
    files.  For all practical purposes your hidden files simply don't
    exist.

    But press Ctrl-Alt-RShift and enter your password and instantly all
    your hidden files become visible and accessible.  You don't have to
    un-hide each individual file when you want to access it because Hide-
    It! takes care of everything automatically and transparently.  It's
    so simple!  Those with your password have instant, complete access to
    all your hidden files, those without won't even know they're there.

    Hide-It will hide your files in DOS and any version of Windows up to
    and including 3.1.  It will not hide your files in OS/2, Windows for
    Workgroups, Windows NT, or Win95.  We hope to have a Win95 version
    out this fall that will be available to registered users for $5.


    * How secure?

    Hide-It hides your files and is different than encrypting them.
    Encrypting a file actually re-arranges the file contents so that the
    result is gibberish.  Un-encrypting such a file is virtually
    impossible (on good encryption programs) without knowing the
    password.  Encryption schemes are virtually fail-safe.  They do
    however have problems.  First, the file still exists.  Its contents
    may not make sense but the file is still there to be deleted, renamed
    or changed.  If someone modifies an encrypted file without un-
    encrypting it, the file contents will be scrambled and in many cases
    the file simply won't un-encrypt, making it useless.  Not good news.
    In addition, you must remember to un-encrypt and re-encrypt each file
    before and after you use it.

    Hide-It on the other hand doesn't encrypt your files, it hides them
    (thus the name).  There are several ways it can be defeated by
    someone who is knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of PC's (more
    on this later), but only if that someone has reason to suspect hidden
    files exist.  That's why we keep Hide-It's operation as secret as
    possible.  And that's also its advantage.  You don't have to un-hide
    and hide each file when you want to use it.  Hide-It takes care of
    all that automatically - all you do is enter the correct password.
    It's transparent to both the authorized and un-authorized user.

    So should you use Hide-It alone of in conjunction with an encryption
    program?  If you have just a few very important files that you expect
    others with advanced PC expertise to actively seek out, then you
    probably want to use an encryption program to encrypt your program
    before using Hide-It to hide your encrypted files.  On the other hand
    if your files are sensitive but not earth-shattering, or you don't
    expect PC wizards to actively search for them, and/or you have a lot
    of files you want to hide, then encryption is probably not needed and
    Hide-It can be used alone.

    NOTE:  There are some programs that hide files just by changing the
    attribute of the file to make it into a system file.  This sometimes
    hides the file from DOS but not from a whole host of other programs.
    While Hide-It also changes the file attribute to "system" it goes
    MUCH further in protecting your files.  There really is no
    comparison.  Hide-It, as long is it is loaded in memory, is very
    secure.  The other method is highly unreliable and virtually useless
    within Windows.

    * IMPORTANT

    Hide-It (tm) is copyrighted 1995 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 INSTALL.EXE, HUTIL.EXE,
    HIDEIT.COM, or HINSTALL.COM.

    RSE Inc. specifically disclaims all warranties pertaining to this
    software.  The software is released "as is".

    * How much?

    Hide-It is shareware.  This means you're freely given this copy in
    order to evaluate it.  If after a 14 day evaluation period you decide
    to continue using it, you must become a registered user by sending
    the registration fee of $29 plus $1 shipping ($5 overseas) and
    another $1 if you want a 3.5 disk to:

        Hide-It Registration                Mastercard or Visa customers:
        1157 57th Drive SE                         [phone]
        Auburn, WA 98092-8720                   E-mail: [e-mail]

    Make check in US funds drawn on a US bank payable to RSE Inc..

    If you have Modem-It! installed on your computer you can also
    register by selecting from within the "Hide-It! Utilities" program.

    You are encouraged to freely distribute copies of WHIDE.ZIP as
    long as you don't charge anything for the copies.  DO NOT distribute
    the individual, extracted, files; only WHIDE.ZIP.

    As a registered user you'll receive these additional benefits:

    1.  No more annoying messages (and delays) asking you to register.
        The screen that appears whenever you boot-up your computer will
        disappear completely along with the 10 second delay and the
        requirement to push a key to continue.
    2.  The latest version of Hide-It.
    3.  The capability to turn off the sound.
    4.  The latest unregistered versions of our other shareware including
        Playback, FileNotes, PC-Directory, Conjecture, Remind Me!, Nabbit,
        BriteLine, Make-A-Show, Trash-It, and Modem-It!.
    5.  Technical support
    6.  A sincere "Thank you" for supporting our efforts to develop quality
        software and offer it at reasonable prices.

    Those using Hide-It in a commercial, educational, or governmental
    environment must register.  Site licenses are available, as well as
    quantity discounts.

    If for some reason you decide NOT to register Hide-It! would you
    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 Hide-It you need to do so now.  Run
    "INSTALL.EXE" from within Windows.

    * Disk compression software

    If you have disk compression software like Stacker or DoubleDisk make
    sure that your AUTOEXEC.BAT file runs HIDEIT (or whatever you renamed
    it during installation) AFTER the disk compression program has been
    loaded.

    * Using Hide-It

    The installation program appends your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that Hide-
    It  is run whenever your computer is booted.  The "please register"
    message and it's associated 10 second delay will disappear when you
    register.

    Hide-It does a great job of hiding files if it's loaded and running.
    If no one knows Hide-It is running then they won't have any reason to
    try to defeat it.  To the non-authorized user, Hide-It is totally
    transparent - the hidden files simply don't appear to exist.  If we
    broadcast the fact Hide-It is protecting your files then all a nosey
    user would have to do to disable it would be to remove Hide-It from
    the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

    Is it that easy to defeat?  Well not really.  Even if Hide-It isn't
    running, the hidden files still have some degree of protection.
    That's because as part of the hiding process Hide-It turns the file
    into a system file.  There are certain things DOS will not do to
    system files.  The following DOS commands don't recognize system
    files: DIR (unless they use "dir /as"), RENAME, TYPE, COPY, and
    DELETE.  In addition, programs with the system file attribute won't
    run.

    So what else is there?  Sounds pretty protected to me.  Well, it is,
    kind of.  The problem is that nowadays most programs, even DOS, can
    list system files in the directory listing and let you change system
    files to normal files and vice versa.  So if someone were to remove
    Hide-It from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, do a directory listing with such
    a program and change all the system files to normal files, they would
    have complete access to your hidden files.  Pretty remote, but if the
    person is knowledgeable about PCs and is trying to defeat Hide-It,
    it's possible.  But if he/she doesn't know Hide-It is protecting your
    files then this whole discussion is a moot point.  That's why we do
    our best to keep Hide-It's presence a secret.

    * Making Hide-It tougher to defeat

    There are things you can do to make it harder for someone to defeat
    Hide-It.  During installation HIDEIT.COM is renamed to the new name
    you give it.  You can make multiple copies of this renamed file,
    giving each copy a different name, and running each of the different
    copies from within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  You can even run one or
    more of the copies from your CONFIG.SYS file by using
    "INSTALL=xxxxxx" where "xxxxxx" is the full pathname of the file you
    want to run.  Someone would then have to remove all references to the
    renamed HIDEIT.COM files in both the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
    files before Hide-It would be defeated.  Don't worry about loading
    Hide-It! multiple times as it only loads itself once regardless of
    how many times it is run.

    If you do decide to load Hide-It multiple times from within your
    AUTOEXEC.BAT and/or CONFIG.SYS file keep in mind that using the
    "Hide-It Utilities" to change your password only changes the initial
    copy of Hide-It.  You have to manually copy that file as the other
    files.  Likewise using the "Hide-It Utilties" to un-install Hide-It
    only un-installs the initial copy of Hide-It.  You'll need to
    manually remove all other references to Hide-It in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
    and/or CONFIG.SYS file.

    * Un-hiding your files

    Well back to business.  Once you've run Hide-It! then to un-hide your
    files you press its hot key: Ctrl-Alt-RShift and then enter your
    password followed by pressing the space bar.  The files will stay un-
    hidden until you re-boot or make them hidden again (see "Hiding your
    files" below).

    Hide-It doesn't look to match a phrase or word, instead it checks
    every key press you make when entering the password.  This means you
    can use any key on the keyboard in your password except Ctrl, Alt, or
    the Shift keys.  It also means that you must enter the password
    exactly, you can't use the backspace key to correct mistakes.

    If you're a DOS user then the keystrokes you enter for the password
    will not be passed on to the program you are using.  However, in
    Windows the keystrokes ARE passed on AFTER you press the Space Bar.
    Therefore it's a good idea to be someplace where the keystrokes won't
    do anything, like at the program manager screen.

    * Hiding your files

    There's one more feature of Hide-It we need to discuss.  Let's say
    you've given yourself access to the hidden files and someone else
    steps up and wants to use the computer, what do you do?  Well you
    could re-boot, but that's a pain.  Or, you could press the hot key:
    Ctrl, Alt, and right shift key at the same time and then press the
    space bar without entering a password.  This tells Hide-It to act as
    tho the hidden files aren't there.  You can now turn over the
    computer without fear that the person will access your hidden files.
    When you want to regain access to your hidden files just press the
    hot key, enter your password, and press the space bar.


    * How to mark your hidden files

    You use the "Select file to be Hidden" option in the "Hide-It!
    Utilities" program in the Accessories Group (you probably renamed it
    during installation) to select which files are to be hidden.  The
    program is self-explanatory.

    Remember, you don't need to select and un-select files each time you
    use them.  Once you select a file to be hidden it remains hidden
    forever (to unauthorized users only) unless you use the "Hide-It!
    Utilities" to un-select it.

    * The Hide-It! Utilities

    In addition to letting you select which files are to be hidden, the
    Hide-It! Utilities program in the Accessories Group also lets you
    register Hide-It!, change passwords, read this documentation, and un-
    install Hide-It!.  Its operation is self-explanatory.

    * Things to keep in mind

    Almost always authorized users can work on hidden files just as if
    they were normal files, without worrying about whether they're hidden
    or not.  However, when you use the DOS "copy" command to make a copy
    of a hidden file, the new file is NOT hidden.  Therefore if you copy
    a hidden file, make sure you hide the copy using HIDE.  The original
    remains hidden so you don't need to worry about it.

    "Hide-It! Utilities" will indicate a few files are hidden which you
    didn't hide.  LEAVE THESE FILES HIDDEN!  These are system files which
    your computer needs to boot up correctly.  There will be two of them
    in the root directory of your boot disk.  Other programs use system
    files as well.  Leave these files alone.

    As you may have noticed, Hide-It is an all or nothing thing.  You
    can't specify different levels of access.  Those with the password
    have access to all the hidden files, those without don't.  It's as
    simple as that.

    Hide-It is not meant for file servers on LAN networks.  If every
    station doesn't install Hide-It when it boots then you'll lose most
    of your protection because Hide-It won't be running on those
    machines.  It's also possible someone else could install Hide-It on
    their own boot disks.  Then each of you would have access to each
    others hidden files located on the common file server disk.  Remember
    it's an all or nothing thing.  However, these difficulties are only
    present on disks that are shared by the LAN.  You can still use Hide-
    It with confidence for those files that reside on your own
    workstation's disk(s), and aren't shared with the rest of the LAN.

    Hide-It uses about 1K of memory (next to nothing) and is listed in
    memory listings as "DOS".


    * Problems

    "I'm having problems with my disk compression software"

    Check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and make sure that "HIDEIT" (or whatever
    you renamed it during installation) is being run AFTER the disk
    compression software (Stacker, DoubleDisk, etc..) has been run.

    "I forgot my password.  What now?"

    Follow these steps exactly:

    > Remove the statement from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that runs Hide-It!
      (remember, of course that you named it something else).

    > Re-boot the computer.  Exit Windows if in Windows.

    > Extract the WHIDE.ZIP file onto a blank floppy disk, or into an
      empty subdirectory.  DO NOT extract them into the same subdirectory
      where you originally installed Hide-It.

    > After the Hide-It files are extracted enter "hideit" at the DOS
      prompt.  Press Ctrl-Alt-RShift and enter "hello" as the password.
      You should get the triple beep indicating you entered the password
      correctly.

    > Delete all the Hide-It files you just extracted.

    > Start Windows

    > Run the "Hide-It! Utilities" in the Accessories Group and select
      "Change Password".

    * Technical Support

    Registered users can get technical support by calling [phone]
    or by e-mail: [e-mail]

    That's about all.  Thank you for taking a look at Hide-It.  Hope you
    find it worthy of your support.