🚀 go-pugleaf

imes@cis.ohio-state.edu (jeffrey imes) writes:

>In article <1jssp7INNeqn@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> ck060@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Eric L. Hinson) writes:

>>Is there a way to make an IBM PC/AT [NOT] boot from the 'A:' drive?  Or
>>what programs are availible to make it so that if you DO boot from the A
>>drive, you can't access data on the C, D, etc, drives?  Your help would
>>be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

>You should be able to set this up through the BIOS settings you install prior
>to the boot up of your computer.  A line should read in which order the drives
>should be accessed for system boot-up.  Usually reads A:,C: or some similar
>combination.  By reassigning the A: and C: drives (C:,A:) or just removing the
>A: drive specification altogether, you could force a boot from the C: drive.

I don't think that the AT BIOS includes that feature.  You can specify
the type of disks installed, but my experience with true-Blue AT units
says that there was no way to select the boot search order.

OTOH, there were several major revisions of the BIOS over the life of the AT,
so it's possible that the feature appeared late in its life cycle.

There are various security packages on the market which do various nasty
things to the fixed disk, and which can undo these nasty things only if
the user enters the appropriate magic word.  The only one I have any
experience with is Fischer International's "Watchdog", and my experience
with it was nowhere enough to allow me to recommend or discourage its use.
It seems to be popular enough that Fischer has a booth at most of the
trade shows here (Washington, DC) which are aimed at government users.

>Of course, if the security measures are against computer-wizards, they can just
>as easily change it back.  At worst, you could disable the floppy drives by
>disconnecting it from the controller card (of course that defeats the purpose
>of having floppies, but if security is already that bad....)

Some of the recently-announced PS/2 units have provided an answer to this.
Their setup procedures include the ability to prohibit floppy boots, and
the external case is alarmed in a manner which disables the entire system
if someone tampers with it.

If the tamper switches are activated, you need a super-password to reset the
unit, and IBM documentation states that if you lose the super-password
there is no way of operating the box: you must replace the system board.
For a discussion of the new security features, see the current issue 
of IBM Systems Journal.

Joe Morris