FENCE is a simple, safe, disk password protection program. This is a full working version that allows you to protect your hard drive or floppy disk from prying eyes. The present password is "fence" (It doesn't matter whether you type upper or lower case). FENCE allows you to define a password to whatever you want. Use fence as the startup application.
This version adds three new features:
1) A hidden typing feature so that people will not see you typing your password.
2) You can now press the Return key twice to exit to the Finder after typing your password. (The old version required you to click the exit button.) Pressing the Return key once turns on the edit buttons and allows you to change your password. Pressing the Return again or clicking the Exit button will return you to the Finder.
3) After three attempts at a password, a message comes up detecting a trespasser and tells you to shut down the computer by pressing the switch on the back panel. Note that this is only a psychological front and it really does nothing. You can continue trying different passwords. In fact, the hidden typing feature is removed so that you can now read your typing. I did it this way because I'm a clumsy typist and I sometimes screw up my password. I don't want to have to shut down my computer just because I messed up. There are lots of other password programs that have much better security than this program but every time I use them I,
inadvertently, lock myself out. FENCE is written for forgetful people like myself.
FENCE can be used with MultiFinder™. If you leave your Mac unattended, simply run this program for protection.
The screen has color in it if you're using a color Mac.
WHY 'FENCE' ?
Although there are many password protection programs around, I wanted some features that the others don't give. Many of the protection programs lock the hard drive or do some funny encryption stuff. FENCE does not lock or encrypt anything. I wanted a safe program that would be easy for me to break into, just in case I forgot the password (I have a terrible memory). (That's why it's called "FENCE." It's easy to hop over.) If you forget the password, simply bootup from another floppy disk and remove FENCE from the hard drive.
Second, I wanted the program to hide the desktop from prying eyes. The programs I've seen use a tiny window allowing the user to see important file names and such. FENCE uses a full screen window that hides everything! FENCE hides the desktop on the SE type Macs and the 13" RGB type monitors used by the Mac II's. It won't hide everything for the large screens, but, you should be able to put your folders underneath most of this window.
Third, I wanted to be able to detect whether a person tried to get into my computer by trying to use a password. FENCE will create a dummy file with the name of the password they tried to use (heh, heh). If you see this file, you can look at the creation date (from Get Info) and find out the exact time and date that someone tried to get in. (Now all you need to do is dust your keyboard for finger prints <grin>.)
As an example, if someone tried the password "secret" and "Mac", you would see two files on your hard drive: "Frame 1 secret" and "Frame 2 Mac". Try it. Type in a wrong password and look for the dummy file on your disk. If you place Fence in a folder, the dummy files will appear there.
Use FENCE as the startup application.
To install it, use it as the startup application. If you don't know how, here's how to do it:
While in the Finder, click once on the FENCE icon to select it.
Pull down the "Special" menu choice and choose "Set Startup..."
Click the "OK" button.
That's all there is to it! You are now protected. The next time you boot up, your Mac will run this program.
When your computer is booted up, the user will see a screen asking for a password. The present password is "fence". Once you type the correct password, you will be allowed to exit to the Finder or to change the password. If you change the password, it doesn't matter whether you use upper or lower case letters. I would suggest that the first character of your password be a letter. (Use symbols as the first character at your own risk). Try running this program before you use it as a startup application to see if you like it.
In all due respects, there are several other good password protection programs out there. If you need better protection than FRAME, please look at an INIT/Cdev called PASSPORT by Iggi Monahelis. This program will allow the locking of your hard drive or floppy. You use it thru the control panel. A Demo of it is in the GEnie library.
Contact: Prazitel, Inc. / PO Box 15521 / Ann Arbor, MI 48106
(313) 485-6278 (EST)
DISCLAIMER
Although I've used FRAME for awhile now on my SE and Mac II and feel that it's a safe program, you must realize that I am not responsible for your using it. Jim Walker or Flight Engineering shall have no liability or responsibility to the user or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused by this program.
This is a shareware program. If you use it, please send a donation or comments to:
Jim Walker
Flight Engineering
PO Box 661133
Miami Springs, FL 33266
(305) 884-1475
If you send a donation of $10 or more, I'll send you instructions on how to
put a picture into the window of the FENCE screen by using ResEdit. You can use color too if you have a color paint program.
Flight Engineering makes other software too:
UNIVERSAL CALCULATOR for mechanical designers and engineers.
PACK-ER II for cushion packaging engineers.
ELEMENTS PLUS a HyperCard database of the periodic table of the elements.
