anon
16.08.08, 21:58
This is a novelty and provides no real security, but for a novelty that provides no real security it's pretty cool. Tested on Windows XP and 7.
1. Go to Start -> Run, type syskey and press Enter. This window will appear:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18935
2. Click on Update to bring up this dialog:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18936
3. Pick "Store Startup Key on Floppy Disk".
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18937
4. Press OK. The following message will pop up:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18938
5. Click OK again.
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18939
6. Now insert a preferably empty, working floppy in your floppy disk drive, and click OK one more time. The drive's light will flash for a while, then this will appear:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18940
After you click OK, syskey will close. You'll notice a 16-byte long file called StartKey.Key has been created in the floppy disk. The next time you reboot your PC (and every time onwards), Windows will ask for this "pass-disk" to be inserted before proceeding, and will refuse to continue if it isn't.
If you don't have a floppy drive or don't want to use it, you can use any other means of portable storage, but it must have drive letter A and must be available very early on Windows startup (before the login screen).
Tips:
Keep a backup of StartKey.Key somewhere, because if you lose that file, you'll have to reinstall Windows.
Take good care of whatever storage media you keep the key file in.
You can also use a(nother) password instead of a pass-disk. In step 3, pick Password Startup instead, type and confirm it, then press OK. You'll be asked to insert the pass disk before proceeding if you were using it before.
1. Go to Start -> Run, type syskey and press Enter. This window will appear:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18935
2. Click on Update to bring up this dialog:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18936
3. Pick "Store Startup Key on Floppy Disk".
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18937
4. Press OK. The following message will pop up:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18938
5. Click OK again.
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18939
6. Now insert a preferably empty, working floppy in your floppy disk drive, and click OK one more time. The drive's light will flash for a while, then this will appear:
http://www.sb-innovation.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=18940
After you click OK, syskey will close. You'll notice a 16-byte long file called StartKey.Key has been created in the floppy disk. The next time you reboot your PC (and every time onwards), Windows will ask for this "pass-disk" to be inserted before proceeding, and will refuse to continue if it isn't.
If you don't have a floppy drive or don't want to use it, you can use any other means of portable storage, but it must have drive letter A and must be available very early on Windows startup (before the login screen).
Tips:
Keep a backup of StartKey.Key somewhere, because if you lose that file, you'll have to reinstall Windows.
Take good care of whatever storage media you keep the key file in.
You can also use a(nother) password instead of a pass-disk. In step 3, pick Password Startup instead, type and confirm it, then press OK. You'll be asked to insert the pass disk before proceeding if you were using it before.