USB Key

[Kaziarl]

Ok, so I have roomates, and I'm the only one with a computer. So they all want to use it, and often wait till I'm asleep to grab the laptop. I would like to know if there is a way to set up a flash drive as a kind of CAC? That being the computer won't even let them do anything unless its plugged in when they turn it on.

 

[Alaedhros]

Is there any particular reason a password wouldn't work?

 

[Kaziarl]

Not really, although there is always the possibility of a good guess. I just like having that extra level of security.

 

[Brolan]

Not really, although there is always the possibility of a good guess. I just like having that extra level of security.

Your BIOS might have a setting to require a boot up password. That would be an extra layer of security (if you use a different password).

 

[USS KG5]

Your BIOS might have a setting to require a boot up password. That would be an extra layer of security (if you use a different password).

That would stop his friends using it - which I don't think is what the OP wants.

I think however he is being a bit paranoid about passwords - just set up a limited account for your friends and set a password for the only admin account (yours).

You could actually get a fingerprint reader for not too much money and use it for logins - but frankly if your friends can guess a decent strong password then we are entering a world of possibility where they might slice off your finger in order to get at your porn!

 

[Marc]

Ok, so I have roomates, and I'm the only one with a computer. So they all want to use it, and often wait till I'm asleep to grab the laptop. I would like to know if there is a way to set up a flash drive as a kind of CAC? That being the computer won't even let them do anything unless its plugged in when they turn it on.

will if you've got Vista ulitmate you have the option of bitkeeper which encrypts the whole hard disk and uses the a thumbdrive to hold the encrypt key - no USB drive no computer. XP also has some encryption support.

But you might not have Vista Ulitmate

Do some googling - there's an open source program that's well reguarded you can use to encrypt your drive but I've gone utterly blank on it's name.

One thing tocnsider is that encryption of th drive isn't without problems you look they key and you're in the deep smelly stuff and may need a second disk partitionc created in order to work.

 

[Charlie Kelly]

There is a way, although it's dangerous. You can copy the boot files (boot.ini, ntldr etc) onto the USB key from the root of your system drive and then remove or rename the original files. I think the USB key will need to be bootable Windows 2000/XP style as well. Then assuming nothing has gone wrong your computer won't start Windows unless you boot from the USB key. Once windows starts to boot you can then remove the USB key as it only needs it for the initial boot.

I am not suggesting you actually do this and I should point out I have only done this once with a floppy and for different reasons. I was trying to get another copy of Windows to boot up on the second partition on my hard drive when the first partition had gone corrupt which took the boot files with it.

Oh yeah I can only confirm this working with 2000/XP. I think Vista changed the boot files although it might still work.

Charlie

 

[Marc]

Oh yeah I can only confirm this working with 2000/XP. I think Vista changed the boot files although it might still work.

Charlie

yep - the boot process and files for Vista is very different from XP/2K

 

[Mr. B]

A BIOS password or a windows password with letters and numbers makes alot more sense.

 

[Marc]

A BIOS password or a windows password with letters and numbers makes alot more sense.

As long as they can't get inside the computer There's usually a jumper you can close that resets the bios

 

[Brolan]

A BIOS password or a windows password with letters and numbers makes alot more sense.

As long as they can't get inside the computer There's usually a jumper you can close that resets the bios

You can do this, but most people don't know this. Second it's a laptop and that would require some serious disassembly.