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________________________ \ \ \ \ Tom \ \ \ Donnelly \ \ \ Computer \ \ \ Software \ \ \_____________________\_\ \_____________________\_\ Screen Saver Version 5.1 Screen blanker and security software REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION Tom Donnelly Computer Software P.O. Box 3856 San Dimas, CA 91773 Copyright (C) 1990-1993 Tom R. Donnelly All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS ii ======================================================================== LICENSE AGREEMENT........................................iii REGISTRATION, PROBLEM REPORTING AND USER SUGGESTIONS..... iv PROGRAM DESCRIPTION...................................... 1 MACHINE REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION.................... 3 OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS).................... 5 Count-down intervals and Hot-keys..................... 7 Password and related options.......................... 8 Inactivity monitoring options......................... 10 Miscellaneous options................................. 11 OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR (SCSAVER).................. 12 Command-line parameters............................... 12 Command-line switches................................. 13 OPERATION OF EVENT LOGGER (SCSLOG)....................... 16 Log file format....................................... 17 Table of event type codes............................. 18 OPERATION OF APPLICATION LOAD PROGRAM (SCSLOAD).......... 19 OPERATION OF PASSWORD CHANGE PROGRAM (SCSAVPSW).......... 21 OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR REMOVAL PROGRAM (SCSREMOV). 22 OPERATION OF CGA OPTION MODIFICATION PROGRAM (SCSCGA)... 23 ENTERING THE PASSWORD AFTER LOCK HAS ENGAGED............. 24 HOT-KEYS THAT MAY BE USED................................ 25 COMPATIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS............................. 26 MOUSE-RELATED PROBLEMS AND CONSIDERATIONS................ 28 COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS............................. 30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................... 32 LICENSE REGISTRATION FORM................................ 33 LICENSE AGREEMENT ...iii ======================================================================== This program and the accompanying documentation are the copyrighted property of Tom R. Donnelly ("AUTHOR"). You are granted a limited license to use, copy and distribute the program and its documentation, provided that the following conditions are met. 1. No fee is charged for the use, copying or distribution of the program and documentation, except a nominal medium charge (not to exceed five dollars). 2. The program is distributed in its original and unmodified state along with the original and unmodified documentation. If you received your copy of Screen Saver directly from Tom Donnelly Computer Software, the file SCSV.ZIP contains the required files and may be uploaded to other bulletin board systems. 3. The program is not distributed, in whole or in part, as part of any commercial product or service without the express written permission of the AUTHOR. THIS LICENSE IS EFFECTIVE UNTIL TERMINATED. YOU MAY TERMINATE THE LICENSE AT ANY TIME BY DESTROYING ALL COPIES OF THE PROGRAM AND ITS DOCUMENTATION. YOU MAY NOT USE, COPY, MODIFY OR DISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM OR DOCUMENTATION OR ANY COPY, MODIFICATION OR PORTION OF THE PROGRAM OR DOCUMENTATION EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS LICENSE. VIOLATION OF ANY LICENSE PROVISION AUTOMATICALLY TERMINATES YOUR LICENSE AND MAY SUBJECT YOU TO CIVIL AND/OR CRIMINAL LIABILITY. THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE SUITABILITY, QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. IN THE EVENT THAT THE PROGRAM SHOULD PROVE TO BE DEFECTIVE YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR AND/OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS AND/OR ANY OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. REGISTRATION, PROBLEM REPORTING AND USER SUGGESTIONS ...iv ======================================================================== This program is distributed under a concept know as "shareware". ShareWare allows you to use the program and determine if it suits your needs before you pay for it. Instead of directly advertising this program, which would require that the price of the software be substantially higher, the shareware distribution concept allows me to reduce its costs and price the program accordingly. After you have determined that the program meets your needs, you are requested to register your use of the program. A product license registration form is provided at the end of this document. As a registered user, you are entitled to free upgrades and technical support for a period of one year from date of registration. After the first year, you may elect to subscribe to upgrade service at the rate of 20% of the prevailing license fee per year. Registered users will receive new releases automatically as they become available. Your registration fee also makes new development possible. Quality software and customer satisfaction are my primary concerns. If it doesn't perform to your expectations, I will fix it or refund your registration fee, at your choice. Registered users or anyone evaluating the product may submit problem reports to the address below. For faster problem resolution, I may be contacted on CompuServe via Compuserve Mail or you may leave a voice message at the number below. Please provide your name and registration number and a description of the problem. You will be assigned an incident number and will be contacted when a correction is available. If you have any suggestions for improvements in this product or ideas for additional features, I am very interested in hearing them. Please jot them down and send them to me at the address below. Tom Donnelly Computer Software P.O. Box 3856 San Dimas, CA 91773 909-599-9275 Compuserve Id: 73200,1323 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ...1 ======================================================================== Screen Saver is a utility designed to "shut off" the video image produced by your monitor during idle periods. This protects the screen from "burn-in", a phenomenon that causes a screen image to be permanently etched into the phosphor of the monitor, even after it has been shut off. Pressing any key or moving the mouse will restore the image exactly as it was. The program also allows you to manually blank the screen. This is very helpful if you are doing sensitive work and you are subject to people interrupting you. You can simply press the "hot-key" and your screen image will "disappear", to be recalled at the touch of any key. Screen Saver includes an optional passive security lock. After a prescribed interval, the keyboard will lock. This will prevent anyone from issuing commands until the proper password has been entered. This is NOT intended as a total security system. It cannot prevent someone from throwing "the big red switch" and re-powering up your computer. However, it can be an aid in preventing a casual intruder from disturbing your 7-hour spreadsheet recalculation. Screen Saver consists of several programs: The setup program (SCSAVINS.EXE) should be run first to select the desired options or after upgrading to a newer release. The selected options are saved in a file called SCSAVER.DAT and used as permanent default options for the activity monitor. The activity monitor (SCSAVER.COM) performs the actual blanking and locking and should be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so that it is run each time your system is booted. SCSAVER will uses about 4K of memory and can be loaded into high memory when an appropriate memory manager is present (such as DOS 5.0, QEMM or 386^Max). SCSAVER may also be run from the command-line after booting. This allows you to change options (such as ON, OFF or LOCK, described below) or immediately incorporate new permanent defaults selected by the setup program. Any time SCSAVER is run from the command-line, it will determine if it is already resident. If Screen Saver is not resident, it will make itself so. If a resident copy is found, Screen Saver will replace the parameters in the resident copy. If you want to keep a disk journal of events such as locks, unlocks and invalid password attempts, the event logger (SCSLOG.COM) should also be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so that it is run each time your system is booted. SCSLOG will take less than 3K of memory and can be loaded into high memory when an appropriate memory manager is present (such as DOS 5.0, QEMM or 386^Max). PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ...2 ======================================================================== As with SCSAVER, SCSLOG may be run from the command-line after booting to change resident options. SCSLOG should be loaded BEFORE SCSAVER is loaded. In most cases, you will NOT need to reboot your computer to activate new default options. The application loader (SCSLOAD.EXE) may be used to temporarily change options during the execution of particular applications and then restore the original options when the application terminates. This may be used for special cases where an ill-behaved application requires "special handling" by Screen Saver. The password change program (SCSAVPSW.EXE) allows the security password to be changed without allowing other options to be altered. This can be useful if you wish to allow others to maintain the password, but do not want them to alter other settings. The activity monitor removal program (SCSREMOV.EXE) will unload the activity monitor from memory. This may be used in cases where you do not want Screen Saver to be loaded, but do not want to reboot. Certain criteria must be met to allow removal of the activity monitor. These criteria are fully described later in this document. The CGA option modification program (SCSCGA.EXE) is designed for older systems running CGA or MDA monitors. It is used to alter the resident options used to restore CGA and MDA screens and can prevent the screen from being restored in blink mode. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION ...3 ======================================================================== Screen Saver supports the following hardware and software: IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or 100%-compatible computer. Hercules, MDA, CGA, MCGA, EGA or VGA adaptor and monitor. 180K of temporary free memory for the setup program. (This memory is released after the setup program exits). 4K of free memory for the activity monitor. (When loading into upper memory, a 14K free area is required during initialization. This will shrink to about 4K when the program goes resident.) 3K of free memory for the event logger. (When loading into upper memory, an 8K free area is required during initialization. This will shrink to less than 3K when the program goes resident.) MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.1 through 5.0 (except for the event logger, which requires PC-/MS-DOS 3.0 or later). Mouse drivers by Microsoft, Mouse Systems or Logitech or other drivers compatible with the Microsoft mouse driver. Notational Conventions: ----------------------- The following notational conventions are used in this document. The symbols used (such as [] and |) are not part of the command itself. [ ] Square brackets indicate an optional item. | Multiple, mutally-exclusive choices are separated by a vertical bar. parm Parameters that require substitution are shown in lower case. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION ...4 ======================================================================== To install Screen Saver, perform the following steps: 1. Follow the instructions contained in README.SCS for installing and/or unpacking the program from floppy or from the archive you received. You may then copy the files to any directory included in your PATH statement, if desired. 2. Run SCSAVINS and select desired options (detailed information on SCSAVINS is described later in this document). 3. Edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file using a straight ASCII editor such as KEDIT, EDLIN or SideKick Notepad. Most word processing programs such as WordPerfect are NOT suitable for this purpose. If you wish to use the event logger program, add the command SCSLOG (refer to the section "OPERATION OF THE EVENT LOGGER"). Add the command SCSAVER ON or SCSAVER LOCK (refer to the section "OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR" for details about the ON and LOCK options). The command should be placed after your mouse driver (if you use one) and before programs such as SideKick. This will load the activity monitor each time your computer is booted. 4. Reboot your computer by pressing CTL-ALT-DEL. Screen Saver is not particularly sensitive to the order in which it is loaded and will run without problems with most other relatively well-behaved TSR programs. However, sometimes there can be conflicts. If you have trouble getting the screen to blank or the hot-key to work, try moving SCSAVER to a different position in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Generally, Screen Saver should be loaded early in the AUTOEXEC (but after the mouse driver, if you use a mouse and after the event logger, SCSLOG, if you are using it). SAMPLE AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------------- @Echo Off PATH C:\DOS;C:\UTIL PROMPT $P$G Mouse SCSLOG /f:C:\UTIL\SCSAVER.LOG SCSAVER LOCK OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...5 ======================================================================== Although you can set Screen Saver options with command-line switches, it is sometimes more convenient to save permanent default options in a disk file. The setup program, SCSAVINS, allows you to create and maintain this file of permanent default options. This file of permanent options is loaded the first time SCSAVER is run after booting or if SCSAVER is run with the /F command line switch. You may specify the name of the option file on the command-line. If none is specified, SCSAVINS will search all directories on your PATH to see if an existing option file (SCSAVER.DAT) exists. It will use the options already defined in this file and allow you to modify them. To force creation of a new option file, use the /NEW argument on the command line when starting ScSavIns (ie, SCSAVINS/NEW). When upgrading to a new version of Screen Saver, it is necessary to resave any existing option file by running the setup program SCSAVINS. This adjusts any release dependant options used by the activity monitor. If you do not wish to change any options (for example, when upgrading to a new release), you may run SCSAVINS with the /SAVEONLY option. This will bypass the initial menu and simply resave your option file. When you run SCSAVINS without the /SAVEONLY parameter, you will see a menu of options. To select an option to change, press the highlighted number or letter next to the option, or move the mouse-cursor to the desired item and click the left mouse button. Numeric options such as "Blanking Interval" and "Lock Interval" may be keyed in directly or you may increment/decrement the displayed values using the PLUS/MINUS keys. Press <ENTER> (or click OK) to accept the new value. To leave the diaglog box without changing the existing value, press <ESCAPE> (or click CANCEL). Check-box options are displayed as [√] when they are ON or [ ] when they are OFF. These are "toggle" options. To toggle the option from ON to OFF, press the spacebar (or click the check box with the mouse). You will see the check-mark disappear and reappear as the option is toggled. Press CR (ENTER) (or click OK) to accept your new choice. Press ESCape (or click CANCEL) to restore the option setting to the value it had before you changed it. OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...6 ======================================================================== The initial main menu shows the option categories and the current option file: +[*]-File: C:\SCS\SCSAVER.DAT----------------+ | ^ | +--------------------------------------+ | | |==========Option Categories===========| | | | 1. Count-down intervals and Hot-keys | | | | 2. Password and related options | | | | 3. Inactivity monitoring options | | | | 4. Miscellaneous options | | | | =====================================| | | | S. Save changes | | | | X. Exit without saving | | | +--------------------------------------+ | | +----+ +------+ +------+ | | | Ok | | Exit | | Help | | | +----+ +------+ +------+ v +--------------------------------------------+ To select a category, type the number shown next to the category. You may also move the cursor to the category line and press enter or click OK (or just double-click on the line). The next section describes the categories and the options they contain. To save the changes you just made, press S from the main menu. The changes will be written to the file listed on the menu. If Screen Saver is already resident, you may simply run SCSAVER to have the changes applied to the resident code. This prevents having to reboot each time you make a change. To leave the setup program without saving any changes, press X from the menu. You may also press ESCape or click the right mouse button to exit without saving. You will be returned to DOS. Help is available from all screens by pressing F1 or clicking the HELP box. OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...7 ======================================================================== ================================= Count-down intervals and Hot-keys ================================= Blanking interval (/B:nn) The blank interval is the amount of idle time (in minutes) before the screen automatically blanks. You may key in a new interval value from 1 to 59 minutes. Lock interval (/L:nnnn) The lock interval is the amount of idle time (in seconds) before the keyboard automatically locks. You may key in a new interval value from 1 to 3600 seconds. You must also enter a password ("DEFINE LOCK PASSWORD") before locking will occur. Hot-key for blanking (key) The hot-key is a key that will cause the screen to be blanked. You may press a new key combination that will be used as the blanking hot-key. Some keys are not allowed to be used as hot keys. The list below shows which keys are eligible to be used as hot keys. Master Lock Hot-key (key) The hot-key is a key that will cause the screen to be locked, even when SCSAVER was loaded without the LOCK parameter. You may press a new key combination that will be used as the blanking hot-key. Some keys are not allowed to be used as hot keys. The list below shows which keys are eligible to be used as hot keys. The key you select must also be different from the key selected for blanking. OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...8 ======================================================================== ============================ Password and related options ============================ Define lock password The password is a series of keystrokes used to unlock the keyboard after it has been locked. This password is invisible as you type it. When you have typed the new password, press return (or enter). The setup program will ask you to retype the password you have entered. This is for verification purposes. If you mistype the password on either the first or second time, the password will not be changed. Password required for restore (/P+) When this option is checked and both the lock interval and the blank interval have expired, the screen will not be restored until after the correct password has been entered. To allow the screen to be restored ANY TIME a key is pressed, remove the check mark. Respect case of password (/C+) When this option is checked, the case of alphabetic characters in the password will be respected (that is, upper and lower case letters are considered different). If not checked, then upper and lower case characters are considered equal (case ignored). This option is used when validating the password after the lock is engaged. Invalid password change limit (10) The program SCSAVPSW will allow the password to be changed without changing other default parameters. SCSAVPSW requires the user enter the existing password before allowing a change. This value may be set to limit the number of invalid attempts at typing the existing password. A value of zero (0) will allow an unlimited number of invalid attempts. This limit only affects the number of attempts at specifying the current password to SCSAVPSW. It does not affect the number of attempts when the lock engages. OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...9 ======================================================================== Unlock password attempt limit (0) After the security lock engages, the correct password must be entered to unlock the system. This value may be set to limit the number of invalid unlock attempts at typing the existing password. Once this number of invalid attempts have been made, the system will be stay locked and no further password attempts will be allowed for 15 minutes (or until a cold-boot or power-off/power-on is performed). A value of zero (0) will allow an unlimited number of unlock attempts. The count of invalid passwords is reset when a correct password has been entered (or after 15 minutes). This limit affects ONLY the number of invalid attempts while the system is locked. It does not affect the number of attempts when changing a password with the password-change program (SCSAVPSW). OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...10 ======================================================================== ============================= Inactivity monitoring options ============================= Monitor video for inactivity (/V+) When this option is checked, Screen Saver will reset its count-down timer each time a video operation is performed. Some programs constantly update the screen, even in an idle state. Frequently, this is to update an on-screen clock or some other information. This constant video updating may prevent Screen Saver from blanking the screen (since it thinks the system is busy). To prevent Screen Saver from resetting its blanking timer when a video operation is performed, remove the check mark. This can be helpful if you find that the screen doesn't blank at the selected interval while some programs are running. Monitor mouse for inactivity (/M+) If Screen Saver has been loaded after your mouse driver program, checking this option will cause Screen Saver to reset its count-down timers whenever the mouse has been moved or clicked. If, for some reason, you want Screen Saver to ignore mouse movements, remove the check mark. Please note that, if you have already loaded the activity monitor without mouse activity monitoring (/M-) you will have to reboot your computer to enable mouse movement monitoring. Mouse sensitivity (/S:0) This option controls how sensitive Screen Saver will be to mouse movement. You may want to increase this value if you find that the screen is being refreshed when you bump your desk or each time an earthquake hits. If you find that too much mouse movement is required to restore the screen, you may decrease this value. OPERATION OF SETUP PROGRAM (SCSAVINS) ...11 ======================================================================== ===================== Miscellaneous options ===================== Pass screen-restore key (/R+) With this option checked, after the screen has been blanked, any key pressed will restore the screen (unless the password is required for restore). The key that was pressed will be passed on to any application running (or DOS). If you prefer that the key you press to restore the screen NOT be passed to the application, remove the check mark. Use enhanced keyboard BIOS (/K+) Screen Saver will detect an enhanced keyboard BIOS, if it is present when it is loaded. This allows function keys F11 and F12 to be used as hot-keys. By removing this option, Screen Saver will force the use of older keyboard BIOS calls, even if the machine has an enhanced BIOS. This is to compensate for incompatibilities in certain machines. If you turn off this option, you will not be able to use the extended function keys (like F11 and F12) as hot-keys. System has unusual VGA (/U-) If your VGA system acts strange (rolling or producing graphics patterns) when the blanker engages, your VGA may not be entirely compatible. Checking this box will cause Screen Saver to use EGA-mode blanking techniques that may work better on your system. You should not check this box option unless you experience problems or on the advice of technical support. Default Quiet Option This box, if checked, will cause Screen Saver to load with quiet mode as the default. Quiet mode normally will suppress the display of parameter settings being loaded. Trap KB interrupt hooks (/T-) When this option is turned on, Screen Saver will trap attempts to hook the keyboard interrupt. If you experience situations where the screen blanks even though the keyboard was in use (or if a keypress does not restore the screen), this option may correct the condition. Game programs and terminal emulators are typically the cause of this condition. OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR (SCSAVER) ...12 ======================================================================== The activity monitor (SCSAVER.COM) controls the screen blanking and keyboard locking. To ensure that it is loaded each time your computer is started, it should be run from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are using a mouse or mouse-compatible trackball, you should run SCSAVER after the mouse driver program has been loaded. If you are using the event logger, run SCSAVER after SCSLOG. After the activity monitor has been loaded the first time, SCSAVER may be run from the DOS command line at any time. This allows you to change the state from ON to OFF or LOCK or to load new command-line options or options selected by the setup program, without requiring a reboot. SCSAVER may also be run from a batch file. The command syntax for SCSAVER is as follows: SCSAVER [ON|OFF|LOCK|LOCKONLY|BLANK n|LOCKNOW] [switches] The options ON, OFF, LOCK, LOCKONLY, BLANK and LOCKNOW are mutually exclusive (only 1 of these options may be specified per run). ON specifies that the timer-driven blanking system is to be turned on. The interval that will be used is that selected during setup or via command-line switch /B. The ON option also disables security locking. If the program is not yet resident, this is the default if no command-line option is specified. OFF specifies that timer-driven blanking and/or locking is to be turned off. LOCK specifies that the timer-driven blanking system AND the timer-driven security keyboard locking system is to be turned on (ie, LOCK implies ON and includes security locking). The security locking interval and password are selected during setup or via command-line switch /L. If no password was selected during setup, locking will not occur. LOCKONLY specifies that only the security lock should be active, not the screen blanking timer. BLANK n specifies that the screen is to be blanked in n seconds. The n parameter is optional and defaults to 2. This normally gives the system enough time to finish any video output before the screen is blanked (since any video output will reset the blanking count-down). This parameter may be any numeric value between 1 and 999 seconds. It is intended to be used from a batch file to blank the screen during set-up of some unattended system. Note that, in order to use the BLANK parameter, the Screen-Saver system must have been previously loaded with either the ON, OFF, LOCK or LOCKONLY option. OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR (SCSAVER) ...13 ======================================================================== LOCKNOW specifies that the security lock should be engaged immediately. Note that, in order to use the LOCKNOW parameter, the Screen-Saver system must have been previously loaded with either the ON, OFF, LOCK or LOCKONLY option. SWITCHES The command line switches may be used to override the permanent defaults settings selected with the setup program, SCSAVINS, or to alter individual options after Screen Saver has made itself resident. This is quite useful in batch files where you need to temporarily alter the defaults for a particular situation. You may specify any number of command-line switches. The first time SCSAVER is run, it will use the options stored by the setup program and override any option specified by a command line switch. On subsequent executions of SCSAVER, if any command line options or switches are included, only those options will be changed in the resident code. To reload the default setup options, run SCSAVER with the /F command line parameters. /A:nn Specifies the number of invalid password attempts that are allowed when the system is locked. Specifying /A:0 will allow an unlimited number of attempts. /B:nn Specifies the amount of idle-time (from 1 to 59 minutes) before the screen is blanked. /BIOS Specifies that Screen Saver should use BIOS output routines for displaying its messages instead of the DOS Standard Output routines. /C+ Specifies that the case of alphabetic characters in the password is to be respected during validation. This means you must type the characters exactly as originally set. /C- Specifies that the case of alphabetic characters in the password is to be ignored during validation. Upper and lower case alphabetics are treated as identical. /F:name Indicates that the default options should be reloaded and specifies the name and path of the default option file created by SCSAVINS. Any other command-line options are merged with and override the default options read from disk. If the file name is omitted, SCSAVER will search the DOS PATH for the file SCSAVER.DAT. /K+ Specifies that Screen Saver should use the enhanced keyboard BIOS if it is detected. This is the default and should be used in most cases. OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR (SCSAVER) ...14 ======================================================================== SWITCHES (continued) /K- Specifies that Screen Saver should use older keyboard BIOS calls, regardless of whether the machine has an enhanced keyboard BIOS or not. This option may be required for some machines that do not correctly implement the enhanced BIOS functions. /L:nnnn Specifies the amount of idle-time (from 1 to 3600 seconds) before the keyboard is locked (if the LOCK or LOCKONLY option was specified). /M+ Specifies that mouse activity will reset the idle timer. /M- Specifies that mouse activity will be ignored and will NOT reset the idle timer. The /M- option also prevents the mouse support code from being loaded into memory the first time SCSAVER is run after booting. /P+ Specifies that, if the screen has been saved after the security lock has engaged, the password will be required before the screen will be restored. /P- Specifies that any key will restore the screen, even though the password may be required to unlock the keyboard. /Q Specifies that the system should load in Quiet mode and suppress most of its status displays. /R+ Specifies that the key that is pressed to restore the screen will be passed on to the running application. /R- Specifies that the key that is pressed to restore the screen will be ignored (ie, NOT passed to the running application). /S:nnn Specifies how sensitive Screen Saver will be to mouse activity. Specifying /S:0 will cause any mouse movement (no matter how slight) to indicate activity. Specifying a higher number will tend to make Screen Saver less sensitive to bumps and jars of the mouse. OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR (SCSAVER) ...15 ======================================================================== /T+ Specifies that the resident monitor should trap attempts by programs to modify the keyboard interrupt. This option can improve the resident monitor's ability to detect keyboard activity when running programs that don't cascade interrupts properly. For more information, see the section "COMPATIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS". /T- Specifies that keyboard interrupt trapping is not performed. *** Note: When loading the DOSSHELL from MS-DOS 5.0 or later, keyboard interrupt trapping should be turned off (/T-). After the DOSSHELL has started, /T+ may be used in individual sessions to handle ill-behaved programs. /U+ Specifies that the VGA, if present, is unusual. Typically, this will be indicated by the screen acting strange (rolling or producing graphics patterns) when the blanker engages. You should only specify this option if you experience problems or on the advice of technical support. This option may be used to correct some problems caused by the use of VGA registers (even on compatible VGA systems). /U- Specifies that the VGA is 100% compatible. This is the default. /V+ Specifies that video activity will reset the idle timer. /V- Specifies that video activity will be ignored and will NOT reset the idle timer. /? (or /H) displays a list of these options on the screen. For example, to load Screen Saver with a 2 minute idle timeout and ignoring video activity, you would type the following: SCSAVER ON /B:2 /V- OPERATION OF EVENT LOGGER (SCSLOG) ...16 ======================================================================== The event logger (SCSLOG.COM) keeps a record of various events that have occurred, such as when the lock engages, when an invalid password has been entered and when the keyboard has been successfully unlocked. Use of SCSLOG is optional and does not affect the screen blanking or keyboard locking. If you wish to keep a log of various Screen Saver events, SCSLOG should be run before SCSAVER. To ensure that it is loaded each time your computer is started, it should be run from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. SCSLOG writes its log records to disk during periods of inactivity. Although this is quite safe and quick, there may be times when you wish to prevent disk writes. Examples of such occasions include high-speed communications (that is, greater then 9600BPS) or when running a disk defragmenter or backup. SCSLOG has a command line option to allow disk writes to be deferred until a later time. Up to 50 events may be queued up in this manner. The command syntax for SCSLOG is as follows: SCSLOG [switches] SWITCHES The first time SCSLOG is run, it make itself resident using the settings specified by the command line switches. On subsequent executions of SCSLOG, if any command line switches are included, only those options will be changed in the resident code. /C Clears the counters for locks, unlocks and invalid password attempts. /F:name Indicates the name of the log file. If this option is not specified on the first run of SCSLOG, the file SCSAVER.LOG will be created in the current directory. Once SCSLOG is resident, the log may be switched to a different file by specifying the /F:name option. /L- Causes logging to be deferred. You may want to defer logging during periods when you don't want any disk I/O occurring (such as during high-speed communications). /L+ Enables logging. Any deferred events are written to disk. /W Waits for any pending events to be written to disk. Pending events may be stacked up if the /L- switch was previously used. OPERATION OF EVENT LOGGER (SCSLOG) ...17 ======================================================================== /REMOVE Causes SCSLOG to unload itself. In order for this to work successfully, you must unload SCSAVER using the program SCSREMOV. In addition, there must be no other programs loaded after SCSLOG. /? Displays a help message. When SCSLOG is run, it will produce a status report similar to the one shown below: Residency status: Resident at DBB3h System lock engages: 1 Invalid password tries: <none> Successful unlocks: 1 Events logged to disk: 3 Event logging status: Enabled Event log file name: C:\APPL\DATA\SCSAVER.LOG This report shows whether SCSLOG is resident and, if so, the segment address it was loaded at. It shows the number of times the lock engaged, the number of invalid password tries, the number of successful unlocks and the number of records logged to disk. These numbers are reset to zero when the /C option is specified. It also shows the current logging status (enabled or deferred) and the name of the current log file. EVENT LOG FILE FORMAT The event log file maintained by SCSLOG is an ASCII file with each record delimited by a CR/LF pair and a ^Z character indicating end of file. Positions 1-7 consist of a 6-character event type followed by a space. Positions 8-16 contain the time-of-day that the event was queued for logging. Position 17 through the end of the record contains descriptive data that varies by event type. Loaded 17:44:23 06-04-1992 Thursday ScsvLd 17:44:25 06-04-1992 Thursday Locked 18:04:44 00001 00000 00000 InvPsw 20:56:20 00002 00001 00001 Unlock 20:56:22 00002 00002 00001 Clear 21:22:04 00002 00002 00001 For password related events (Locked, InvPsw, Unlock), this variable data is three numeric values indicating the number of locks, unlocks and invalid password attempts since SCSLOG was loaded or since the last time the counters were cleared. For other events, the variable data is usually the date and day-of-the-week that the event was logged. OPERATION OF EVENT LOGGER (SCSLOG) ...18 ======================================================================== The table below lists the various event type codes, which program requested the logging and what the event means. Type Logged by Meaning of event ------ --------- -------------------------------------------- Loaded SCSLOG.COM SCSLOG has been loaded and is now resident. Remove SCSLOG.COM SCSLOG has been removed with the /REMOVE option. Locked SCSAVER.COM The system lock has engaged. InvPsw SCSAVER.COM An invalid password was entered. Unlock SCSAVER.COM A valid password was entered - system unlocked. Clear SCSLOG.COM The /C option was specified to SCSLOG. MidNit SCSLOG.COM This event is logged at midnight. Enable SCSLOG.COM Logging has been enabled with the /L+ switch. Defer SCSLOG.COM Logging has been deferred with the /L- switch. ClsLog SCSLOG.COM Logged before switching logs with the /F option. OpnLog SCSLOG.COM Logged after switching logs with the /F option. ScsvLd SCSAVER.COM SCSAVER has been loaded and is now resident. ScsvRm SCSREMOV.EXE SCSAVER has been removed with SCSREMOV. ScsvUp SCSAVER.COM SCSAVER has reloaded or modified resident options. SCSAVINS.EXE The setup program has modified resident options. NewPsw SCSAVPSW.EXE A new password has been defined and loaded. LokOut SCSAVER.COM Too many invalid passwords tried. ClrLok SCSAVER.COM Lock-out due to invalid password limit cleared. OPERATION OF APPLICATION LOAD PROGRAM (SCSLOAD) ...19 ======================================================================== Sometimes it is desirable to be able to override selected Screen Saver options only for the duration of a certain application. The application load program (SCSLOAD.EXE) has been provided to accomplish this. SCSLOAD will allow any of the command-line options valid for SCSAVER.COM to be set and then load an application program. After the application program terminates, the original options will be reset. The syntax for SCSLOAD.EXE is as follows: SCSLOAD screen-saver-options application-command-line Screen Saver override options are specified following the SCSLOAD command. Any of the option switches described in the OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR section may be specified (ie /V, /B, /L, etc.). In addition, the switches /ON, /OFF, /LOCK or /LOCKONLY may be specified and correspond to the activity monitor's ON, OFF, LOCK and LOCKONLY parameters. Following these switches is the application command-line, beginning with the program name. For example, to disable video monitoring for the duration of a program (let's say WordPerfect) and have the option restored when the application exits, issue the following command: SCSLOAD /V- WP51 This command will turn off Screen Saver's video monitoring, then load the program WP51. After WP51 terminates, Screen Saver's options will be reset to the values it had prior to running SCSLOAD. Although SCSLOAD.EXE is not a TSR, it uses less than 3K of memory to perform the option saving, setting and loading of the application program named on the command-line. This memory is released after the application program terminates. SCSLOAD will search the DOS PATH to locate the program named on the command-line. OPERATION OF APPLICATION LOAD PROGRAM (SCSLOAD) ...20 ======================================================================== The program named on the command-line following the Screen Saver options must be a .COM file or .EXE file (not a .BAT batch file). SCSLOAD is particularly useful under DesqView or the DOS Shell, since you may name SCSLOAD.EXE as the program to be executed and name your application program in the parameters. SCSLOAD will temporarily set Screen Saver options and then load your application automatically, restoring the options after the application terminates. *** IMPORTANT NOTE *** You should not use SCSLOAD to load any program which is a TSR (terminate-stay-resident) program. This includes programs such as SideKick, Commute or any other program which remains resident after loading and is activated by a hot-key. First of all, it won't work, since as soon as the application goes resident, SCSLOAD will reset the options. Second, it will leave a memory hole and could cause subsequent programs to fails. SCSLOAD will warn you if a program terminates as a TSR, but by that time it is usually too late. If you receive this warning from SCSLOAD, you should reboot your computer as soon as possible and not attempt to load the program again using SCSLOAD. OPERATION OF PASSWORD CHANGE PROGRAM (SCSAVPSW) ...21 ======================================================================== The Password Change Program (SCSAVPSW) may be used in situations where you wish to allow someone to change the lock password, but don't want other options changed. In addition, SCSAVPSW requires that the user supply the current password before a new password can be defined. SCSAVPSW modifies the same option file used by SCSAVINS and SCSAVER. If a new password is selected and saved, SCSAVER.COM is automatically called to reload and activate the new password. When SCSAVPSW is run, it checks to see if a password was assigned by the setup program, SCSAVINS. If there is an existing password, the user will be prompted to key in that password before being allowed to continue. The number of incorrect attempts at keying this password is controlled by the setup option "Invalid Password Change Limit". If this limit was set to zero (0), there is no limit on the number of attempts. (This limit only affects the number of attempts at specifying the current password to SCSAVPSW. It does not affect the number of attempts when the lock engages.) After the current password has been validated, the user is prompted to key in a new password. This password is masked (not displayed) while it is being typed. Because of this masking, the user will be prompted to key in the password a second time. If the first and second entries do not match, the user will be given the opportunity to try the operation again. Otherwise, the user is asked if they wish to save the new password and reload it into the currently resident code. Please note that, while this keeps casual users from altering setup options, a determined user with a hex-editor can alter the data in the option file (or erase the option file altogether). OPERATION OF ACTIVITY MONITOR REMOVAL PROGRAM (SCSREMOV) ...22 ======================================================================== The Activity Monitor Removal program (SCSREMOV) can be used to remove Screen Saver from memory, returning all resources to the system. SCSREMOV will unhook all interrupt vectors and release the memory it was using. In order for SCSREMOV to operate successfully, SCSAVER.COM must have been the LAST program loaded. For example, if you load SCSAVER, then load a print spooler (or network driver), you will be unable to remove SCSAVER from memory. This is partly a DOS restriction due to the way DOS handles memory allocation and partly because SCSREMOV can only restore interrupt vectors SCSAVER has hooked. To remove Screen Saver from memory, type SCSREMOV at the DOS command prompt. You may also run SCSREMOV from a batch file. However, memory released by SCSREMOV will not be returned to the system until the batch file terminates (another DOS quirk). (Note: To remove the event logger, use the SCSLOG /REMOVE command. See the section "OPERATION OF THE EVENT LOGGER" for restrictions and considerations about removing the event logger.) OPERATION OF CGA OPTION MODIFICATION PROGRAM (SCSCGA) ...23 ======================================================================== Some older Color-Graphics Adapters (CGAs) and Monochrome Display Adapters (MDAs) are designed with write-only control registers. This makes it impossible to detect changes made by application programs. In order to blank and restore the screen for these devices, Screen Saver must use assumed default values. Normally, this doesn't cause problems. However, occasionally, the assumptions can prove incorrect. For example, one setting controls whether an attribute bit is treated as indicating high-intensity background or blinking characters. SCSCGA will change the assumed blank and restore values used by activity monitor (SCSAVER). If you are using Screen Saver on one of these older systems and find the screen flashing after it is restored, you may find that SCSCGA will circumvent the problem. To use SCSCGA, include it in your start-up batch (usually AUTOEXEC.BAT) following the line that loads the activity monitor. For example: @Echo Off Path C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTILS SCSAVER ON SCSCGA /NOBLINK SWITCHES /NOBLINK Changes the blanking/restore parameters to prevent blinking (allows high-intensity characters). /BLINK Changes the blanking/restore parameters to allow blinking. SCSCGA is only effective on CGA, MDA and Hercules systems. It has no effect on MCGA, EGA and VGA systems, where Screen Saver can save and restore the current video adapter settings. ENTERING THE PASSWORD AFTER LOCK HAS ENGAGED ...24 ======================================================================== When Screen Saver has engaged the security lock, you are required to enter the password you picked in SCSAVINS before normal keyboard and mouse activity can resume. Version 5.0 and later changed the way passwords are entered. In previous versions, whenever the characters that made up the password were keyed, Screen Saver would unlock the system. This means that if the password was LOW it would unlock the system when words like SLOW and LOWER were keyed. Beginning in version 5.0, you must terminate the correct password with the ENTER (RETURN) key before a password is considered correct. If you discover you have typed an incorrect character of the password, you will need to press ENTER/RETURN before starting your next attempt. In addition, the /C+ and /C- (and the corresponding options set by SCSAVINS) determine how alphabetic keys are handled. With /C+ (Respect case), upper and lower case alphabetic characters are considered not matching. With /C- (Ignore case), upper and lower case alphabetic characters are considered a match. The /C+ and /C- have no effect on special keys used as part of the password (ie, Alt-F, F1, Ctl-C, etc.). HOT-KEYS THAT MAY BE USED ...25 ======================================================================== The following hot-keys may be used to trigger on-demand screen blanking. When these keys are defined as hot-keys, they will be unavailable to any other running programs. F1 through F10 ShiftF1 through ShiftF10 CtlF1 through CtlF10 AltF1 through AltF10 CtlLeftArrow CtlRightArrow CtlEnd CtlPgUp CtlPgDn CtlHome Alt0 through Alt9 Alt- and Alt= AltA through AltZ If your computer has an enhanced keyboard that is supported through your hardware BIOS, you may also use the following keys: F11 and F12 ShiftF11 and ShiftF12 CtlF11 and CtlF12 AltF11 and AltF12 Just because you may have the keys on your keyboard doesn't necessarily mean that the BIOS routines support them. This is particularly true of replacement keyboards that have been purchased separately. Generally, if the keyboard is the one that came with the machine (and has F11 and F12), you probably have the BIOS support necessary to define these keys as "Hot Keys". COMPATIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS ...26 ======================================================================== WINDOWS Screen Saver does not support screen blanking under Microsoft Windows. However, Screen Saver will detect when Windows has been started and switch itself off. If Windows is ended, Screen Saver will reactivate itself automatically. The application load program (SCSLOAD) will not attempt to change options while Windows is active. SCSAVINS may be used to load new options into the activity monitor, but these options will not be used until Screen Saver reactivates itself (after Windows terminates). DESQVIEW Screen Saver has been tested under DesqView and has been found to work successfully in almost every case. Since Screen Saver watches mouse activity even while running a program that uses the mouse, it is preferred over the DesqView screen blanker. DesqView's screen blanker stops monitoring the mouse whenever you run a program that uses the mouse. Screen Saver should be loaded before DesqView is run, so as to be available in all windows (and while using the mouse for DesqView control functions). Screen Saver may be loaded into high memory with QEMM's LOADHI program. PC TOOLS DESKTOP If you experience problems using the DeskTop utility from Central Point Software, try turning on the DeskTop option "RESTORE HIGH INTENSITY ON EXIT". This has proven to be necessary in some circumstances. Also, Screen Saver should be loaded BEFORE the DeskTop utility, if you run DeskTop in its resident (TSR) mode. GAME PROGRAMS AND OTHER ILL-BEHAVED APPLICATIONS If you find the screen blanks and won't restore, your application may be grabbing the keyboard interrupt and not properly cascading to other programs (like Screen Saver). Since Screen Saver never sees any activity it blanks the screen. To overcome this condition, either load the program with SCSLOAD and use the /T+ option, or set the /T+ option in the resident monitor before starting your application. Even with the /T+ option in effect, you may find that the hot-keys are disabled while the application is running. *** Note: When loading the DOSSHELL from MS-DOS 5.0 or later, keyboard interrupt trapping should be turned off (/T-). After the DOSSHELL has started, /T+ may be used in individual sessions to handle ill-behaved programs. COMPATIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS ...27 ======================================================================== NOVELL 3270 WORKSTATION FOR DOS When running Novell's Netware 3270 Workstation for DOS program, it is recommended that you use the /V- option. The /V- option (ignore video interrupts) will allow timer-driven blanking and locking to occur, since this application issues periodic video interrupt calls. You may also need to use the /T+ option before loading the 3270 workstation program. This insures that SCSAVER gets a look at incoming keystrokes. MOUSE-RELATED PROBLEMS AND CONSIDERATIONS ...28 ======================================================================== In order to detect mouse activity, Screen Saver must hook the mouse interrupt (INT33h) after the mouse driver has been loaded. Most programs have no trouble with this technique, since all requests coming through INT33 are passed to the mouse driver. However, a special case occurs when using "menu" programs supplied with some mouse drivers. For reasons known only to the mouse manufacturers, these menu programs not only require the driver be resident, they also require that it be THEIR driver that is resident. Therefore, Mouse Systems menu programs won't work with Logitech's driver and Logitech's menu program won't work with Microsoft's driver and so forth. Because Screen Saver has replaced the INT33 vector after the mouse driver was loaded, the menu programs can't find their literal in the memory around where INT33 points. Therefore, they declare that the mouse driver is not loaded! In order for Screen Saver to be compatible with various mouse drivers, it adopts some of the same techniques used by the individual mouse drivers to identify themselves to the menu programs. These techniques have been tested with the mouse drivers and menu programs supplied by Microsoft, Mouse Systems and Logitech. I'm sure that there are other mouse manufacturers out there that have implemented yet another egotistical security check scheme. If you install Screen Saver and start receiving messages about "Mouse Driver Not Loaded", please be sure to let me know. I want to incorporate as many of these "non-standard" techniques as possible so as to support as many different mouse drivers as I can. LOADING ORDER FOR SCREEN SAVER AND MOUSE DRIVERS Screen Saver should be loaded after your mouse driver and before any mouse-menu programs. Here are some sample AUTOEXEC.BAT files illustrating the loading order: Echo Off Echo Off Prompt $p$g Prompt $p$g mouse MscMouse /A8 /2 SCSLOG SCSLOG SCSAVER On SCSAVER On logimenu /12 PopUp click M_DOS MOUSE-RELATED PROBLEMS AND CONSIDERATIONS ...29 ======================================================================== WORDPERFECT 5.1 AND MOUSE ACTIVITY If you wish to have mouse activity reset the blanker while using WordPerfect 5.1, make sure to configure WordPerfect to use "Mouse Driver (MOUSE.COM)" in its set-up. You will need to load the mouse driver from either your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. MOUSE SUPPORT AND MEMORY USAGE In order to conserve memory usage in those systems that do not require mouse-support, Screen Saver will omit portions of its code from memory if a mouse driver is not found (or the /M- option is specified). If this happens, you will be unable to activate the mouse support of Screen Saver until your system is rebooted. Screen Saver's mouse support uses approximately 1100 bytes of memory (about 1K). To have Screen Saver monitor the mouse, be sure that your mouse driver is loaded before SCSAVER (either in your CONFIG.SYS file or in your AUTOEXEC.BAT). Then, either specify /M+ or use set the corresponding permanent option with SCSAVINS. COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ...30 ======================================================================== Q: The screen never blanks or, while running certain applications, the screen won't blank. A: Some applications continually update the screen (sometimes with an on-screen clock or some other status indicator). Try loading SCSAVER with the /V- option, to turn off video monitoring. Q: The screen blanks even though the mouse is being moved. A: Insure that the mouse driver (MOUSE.COM, usually) is loaded before SCSAVER.COM in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. If it is and the problem persists, check to make sure that the mouse monitoring option is turned on using SCSAVINS and that there are no command-line overrides disabling mouse support. Q: Running SCSAVER with the /M+ switch does not enable mouse monitoring. A: If SCSAVER is initially loaded with the /M- switch (or mouse monitoring is disabled in the permanent options), the mouse support code is not loaded. You must unload the resident copy (or reboot) and allow the mouse code to be loaded by enabling the /M+ switch. Q: When SCSAVER loads during boot-up, the permanent options set by SCSAVINS are ignored. A: Insure that the option file SCSAVER.DAT is in the current directory or in a directory that is named in the PATH statement. Alternatively, use the /F option on the SCSAVER command-line to indicate the full option file name (eg. /f:C:\UTL\SCSAVER.DAT). Q: Sometimes the screen blanks but pressing a key doesn't restore it. A: Occasionally, you will run a program that grabs all keystrokes and doesn't pass them on to other programs. Many game programs and some communication programs fall into this category. Try turning on the /T+ option (SCSAVER /T+) before loading the program. Q: Pressing the hot-key won't blank the DOSSHELL screen. A: Verify that /T- option was in effect when DOSSHELL is initially loaded. After DOSSHELL has started, you may use the /T+ to trap the keyboard from ill-behaved programs. COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ...31 ======================================================================== Q: Pressing the hot-key won't blank the screen when running game programs or the 3270 WSLAN program, even though /T+ was in effect. A: The application is not cascading keyboard interrupts correctly. Even though the /T+ option allows Screen Saver to monitor this condition to detect idle states, it cannot process the blanking hot-key. If it did, it might have an adverse effect on performance by causing every keystroke to be read twice. Under these conditions, Screen Saver's hot-keys will not work. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...32 ======================================================================== Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. DesqView and QEMM are trademarks of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Netware and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation. PC/AT, PC-DOS, PC/XT and PS/2 are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. PcTools is a trademark of Central Point Software. Compression and Decompression routines were used from the Async Professional by TurboPower Software. Async Professional is a trademark of TurboPower Software. REGISTRATION FORM Screen Saver Version 5.1 ...33 ======================================================================== INDIVIDUAL AND SITE LICENSE REGISTRATION FORM ============================================= Screen Saver Version 5.1 License fee: 1 copy - $20.00 6-25 copies - $100.00 26-50 copies - $200.00 51-100 copies - $400.00 Unlimited copies - $500.00 Date: ____/____/____ (SCSV51) Contact Name: ________________________________________ Company Name: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________ City: ____________________ State: ____ Zip: __________ Telephone: (______) _________________ Ext: _______ Compuserve ID: _____________ Monitor Type: _______ Make of Computer: ___________________ Amount of RAM: _______ Size of Floppy Disk: [ ] 5.25" [ ] 3.5" Number of copies: _____ Amount enclosed: ______ TERMS: No credit cards or CODs, please. Make checks payable to: Tom Donnelly Computer Software Checks drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. funds. International bank or postal money orders in U.S. funds. Purchase orders will be accepted and invoiced. Please attach your check and mail to: Tom Donnelly Computer Software P.O. Box 3856 San Dimas, CA 91773 THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING SHAREWARE.