At 3:10 PM -0500 11/15/96, Adam Gulkis wrote:
a locked startup disk is not a good idea, if it is even possible. Most applications setup scratch space on the startup volume. It would be a better idea to setup a partition for applications and lock it, if you feel that is necessary. Norton DiskLock is a nice tool that provides a startup password protection as well as screensaver password. It will request a password if the machine sleeps or to reboot after a crash.
Since others have mentioned Macs in this thread, and since I have a Mac, I should point out that booting from a locked startup disk is possible, even common. Namely, a CD-ROM. What an OS would _like_ to write is not the same thing as what it _must_ write. Also, for Unix systems there are similar approaches. Hugh Daniel has been working on a "read-only" startup disk for Unix. I don't know anything about DOS or Windows, except that every Intel chip sale helps me financially. --Tim May "The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology." [NYT, 1996-10-02] We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."