Copyright: Copyright 1998 The Family (Thailand)


What Is Night Security?
 Night Security Help

To learn more about using help press F1 now.

 What is Night Security?

Night Security is a program that sets up your entire computer security for you without you having to do much.

(For more information on why it's a good idea to have a computer security see Why do I need a Secure Shutdown)

The Night Security Checklist lets you select the different items you want it to do. Click here for how to setting up your Checklist.

Secure Shutdown 'does' the Security on your computer running all the different items you checked in your checklist. Click here for more info on running it.

If you've used Night Security before, find out what's new in version 2.5 here.


 Why do I need a Secure Shutdown?

As mentioned in the Charter:

[9.] C. Computer files (other than programs) must be kept encrypted, and be "wiped" after they have been erased.

In other words you need to encrypt all your data and make sure that the unencrypted data isn't hanging around on your hard disk somewhere. This is possible in all sorts of ways, here's some of the most common:

For starters if a file is in you Recycle Bin anyone can get it out until it's actually been emptied. Also if you have Norton Protection installed on your computer there'll be tons of files that are hiding around behind the scenes. The Empty Recycle Bin Item on the checklist can take care of this stuff.

(more info)

When files are deleted they aren't actually removed from your hard disk even if you empty your recycle bin. Just the name is removed from a sorta index. For this reason you need to make sure to wipe the free space on your hard disk every night. The Wipe Free Space Item in the checklist does this for you.

(more info)

A lot of programs create temporary files when they run. Most of the time they remove those files. But if something goes funny (your computer crashes etc…) those files can still be around. The Empty Temp Folder item on the checklist will clear those out for you.

(more info)

If you're on a Network, then data you view on your Intranet can still be on your computer in the 'Temporary Internet Files' Folder. The Clear Temporary Internet Files item can clear'm out.

(more info)

Windows uses a file called a swap file to provide memory to programs if there isn't enough. Don't worry about the details, but there can be unencrypted data hiding in that file. The Delete Windows Swap File item on the checklist will take care of that one.

(more info)

Sometimes if you've had  a computer crash there can be data hiding out in little nooks and crannies of your computer called lost clusters. To make sure they're cleared up check off the Check Hard Disk for Lost Clusters item on the checklist.

(more info)

In addition to the above, Night Security can also Encrypt your files for you. Or it can also do a Backup for you if you like.

more info

Now you don't have to worry about any of those specifics, just fill out your checklist.


 Troubleshooting

 Hey, the Checklist is empty

In most cases uninstalling the program and reinstalling it will fix this problem. Here's how:

1	Choose 'Add/Remove Programs' from the Control Panel.

2	From the list of programs choose 'Night Security 2.5,' and click the 'Add/Remove…' button.

3	After it's done reboot and then run the Setup program on the Night Security Install Disk.

 I want it to encrypt my read-only files

Normally as a safety feature XPY Encryption won't let you encrypt read-only or system files. Here's how to override that.

1	Start up the Night Security Checklist, and click the 'Advanced' button.

2	Select 'Encrypt Data' from the box at the top.

3	Now click the 'More' tab in the lower left corner to get at the advanced encryption options.

4	Check the 'Encrypt read-only/system files' box.

5	Click 'Next' and then 'Finish'.

One other thing to keep in mind is that you have any files open, they can't be encrypted. Make sure to close all your programs before starting your Secure Shutdown.

 Man, this sure takes a long time to wipe

Check how much free space you have on your hard disk. If there's lots over 500 MB or so you may want to copy some ballast over to fill it up. These files would only be temporarily on your hard disk, so when you need the space you can remove them.

You could try copying some folders from the HomeARC.

 It's telling me it can't find Menu Extension or WXPY

Try Reinstalling Menu Extension from the HomeARC CD.

1	Choose 'Add/Remove Programs' from the Control Panel.

2	From the list of programs choose 'Menu Extension,' and click the 'Add/Remove…' button.

3	After it's done reboot.

4	Insert the HomeARC Setup CD and select 'Menu Extension' setup from the window that pops up.

 I just installed Menu Extension, but I get a big white dialog box whenever I try to XPY something or do my Secure Shutdown

This can happen, if you haven't installed the HomeARC but are trying to use Menu Extension. (If you're using Windows NT see the next question)

The simplest solution is just to install the HomeARC and after you reboot everything should work fine. If for some reason you can't do that, or it doesn't work, try the following.

1	Copy the file 'memctrl.com' from your HomeARC 98 Setup CD to the root folder on your hard disk (ie: C:\). You'll find this file in the '\Win95\Util' folder on the CD.

2	Open your 'autoexec.bat' file using notepad.

3	Add the following line to the bottom of the file:

C:\MEMCTRL.COM /i

4	Save the file and reboot your computer.

 Can I run Night Security on Windows NT?

Yes, Night Security is completely compatible with Windows NT 4.0 and higher.

Some of the DOS options, like 'Delete Swap File' won't run because you just can't do that on Windows NT. The remainder of the DOS Options that work run in a DOS Window, since you can't exit to DOS under Windows NT.

On the other hand the current version of Menu Extension, which Night Security uses for it's encryption, is not compatible. So you have to do your own encryption before starting the Secure Shutdown.

 Why won't it backup all my data?

First of all check if the folder you're trying to backup is properly in the backup list, and make sure you're backing up to the right destination.

If that didn't work then try a backup by Date.

1	Start up the Night Security Checklist, and click the 'Advanced' button.

2	Select 'Backup Data' from the box at the top.

3	Now click the 'More' tab in the lower left corner to get at the advanced backup options.

4	Change the option 'Backup according to', by selecting 'Date' from the drop-down box.

5	Click 'Next' and then 'Finish'.

Also make sure that you're not skipping over any files by putting their extensions in the 'Ignore files with these extensions' box.

1	Start up the Night Security Checklist, and click the 'Advanced' button.

2	Select 'Backup Data' from the box at the top.

3	Now click the 'More' tab in the lower left corner to get at the advanced backup options.

4	Select all the items in the 'Ignore files with these extensions box' and press the delete button.

5	Click 'Next' and then 'Finish'.


 Your Night Security Checklist

Here's how to fill out your checklist. The following only needs to be done once. Since Night Security uses a part of the program 'Menu Extension' that comes with the HomeARC to encrypt your files, you'll need to have that installed. See the Troubleshooting page for info on how to install it.

 Filling out the Checklist

Now it's time to fill out your Night Security Checklist and tell it what exactly you want it to do. For more info on the different options see Why do I need a Secure Shutdown.

1	Choose 'Programs | Night Security | Night Security Checklist' from the Start Menu.

2	Click the 'Next' button and you'll be presented with a list of all the different things that Night Security can do. Normally you'd select all of them. (Well actually, the 'Backup Data' option is more like an extra—not really necessary for security.) The Wipe Free Space option is especially important.

3	Now the Checklist will ask you for more specifics about the items you chose above. For example if you selected the...

Encrypt Data option, you'll be asked for the list of folders or files to encrypt. Simply press the 'Add' button to add folders, or drag them from explorer.

Backup Data option, you'll first be asked for the folders you'd like to back up. Use the 'Add' button as above. Then after you click 'Next' you'll be asked for the destination you'd like to copy those items to. Press the 'Browse' button to select your Zip Drive or other spot you'd like to send your files.

4	On the last page click 'Finish' to save your choices. Done!

 More on the Checklist Items

 Why Do I Need Night Security?


 Using the Secure Shutdown

(ie: 'doing security')

Here's how you'll use the Secure Shutdown every night. Depending on your computer this could take between 5 and 20 minutes (or hours if you just bought the latest machine and have egads of free space. There's a tip on the Troubleshooting page on that.).

 Doing Security

1	Make sure all your programs are closed.

2	Choose 'Secure Shutdown' from the top of your Start Menu.

3	If prompted enter your password to encrypt your files.

Secure Shutdown will appear in the top left corner of your screen and a bunch of other boxes and progress bars will show up as it's doing it's work. If any errors take place (for example if a file can't be encrypted) they'll appear in a log window.

After a while it'll shutdown Windows and run some different programs. By and by it should wipe your hard disk.

Don't actually turn off your computer till you see the 'It's now safe to turn off your computer' message.

 Problems?


Advanced Checklist
 The Advanced Checklist

The Advanced Wizard lets you tweak all the settings to your heart's content. You can also drag the different items options to change their order in the shutdown.

The different items are listed seperately. First come the ones that run in Windows and then on the next page are listed the items that run in MS-DOS Mode.

If you change the order of the items, remember that it's almost always best to have the 'Wipe Free Space' item last.

 Checklist Items


 Encrypt Data

This item encrypts your data using XPY encryption. Night Security uses parts of Menu Extension program from the HomeARC for it's encryption, so you'll need to make sure you have it installed.

 Setting up your Encryption

Use the 'Add' button to add folders to the list. Or just drag files or folders from explorer. To remove folders first select them and click the 'Remove' button or press Delete (on your keyboard).

 Advanced Options

Disable HomeARC Password

Use this option to remove your password from memory after the encrypting is finished. If you don't turn off your computer and your password is still in memory others can open your files, so it's a good idea to keep this option checked.

Encrypt Read-only/System Files

Normally XPY encryption won't close read-only or system files as a safety feature. If you'd like to override this for some reason then check this box.

Ignore Files with These Extensions

If you want to leave certain types of files out of your encryption here's where to do it. For example you may not want to encrypt shortcut files because then they won't work properly. To ignore these files first click on the new button (the little sparkle) and type 'lnk' (the extension for shortcuts) in the box. Or if you don't want to encrypt Excel files you'd type 'xls'.

 Other Checklist Items


 Night Security Options

The different items you select in the top of your checklist all get run before actually exiting Windows. These include things such as encrypting your data, or emptying your Recycle Bin.

Some of the items near the bottom get run after exiting Windows. These include things such as wiping the free space on your hard disk and other clean up tasks that can't (or shouldn't be) run in Windows.

Remember that it's almost always best to have the 'Wipe Free Space' item enabled. That's the whole reason you do your shutdown.

(See: Why do I need a Secure Shutdown for more info)

 Checklist Items


 Backup Data

This item backs up your data to either a removable drive such as a Zip Drive, or if you're on a network you can copy your files to a server.

 Setting up your Backup

First you have to specify what you want to backup. To add folders click the 'Add' button. You can also drag files or folders from Exlporer. To remove folders from the list select them and click 'Remove'.

Now on the next page, choose the location you'd like to send your files. Click 'Browse' and then select your Zip drive, or network location.

 Advanced Options

Backup According to

There are two ways you can backup your data. Either it can be compared and checked when it was last modified (by Date) or each file can be marked when backed up (by Archive). There's a slight but important difference here.

Archive backup: This is faster and generally reccomended. It marks each file on your computer as backed up and won't back it up again until it's changed. If you want to backup to a new location, it's best to use Date backup or you won't get everything copied.

Date backup: This option compares the last modified date for each file with the one in the backup location. It'll always make sure nothing's missing from the backup. Depending on the amount of files you're backing up it can take up to 20 or 30 times as long. You may get extra copies of files. It also won't work on multiple disks since all the files aren't on the same disk.

Ignore Files with These Extensions

If you want to leave certain types of files out of your backup here's where to do it. For example you may not want to backup MP3 files because of their size. To ignore these files first click on the new button (the little sparkle) and type 'mp3' in the box.

 Other Checklist Items


 Clear Temporary Internet Files

Stored in your Temporary Internet Files folder is a cache of everything you browse in your web browser. If you're on a Network and use an Intranet, this item can be used to clear out any sensitive data you view.

Also since your Temporary Internet Files folder can baloon in size this could also be used to help keep it trim.

By default this item clears out all your Temporary Internet Files, however using the Advanced Properties you can specify which files to clear.

(Note that this item might not be installed. If it doesn't appear in the list, rerun the Night Security Setup and make sure to choose 'Network Components.')

 Advanced Properties

All the files in the Temporary Internet Files come from one server or another. In the Advanced Properties you can specify which servers' files you want to clear. This can be useful if you only want to clear sensitive information in the cache from one or two servers.

Adds as server to the list.

Removes a server or servers from the list.

Clear All

Override the list of servers and clear everything (the default)

Cookies

This option clears cookies as well as other files from the cache. Usually you won't want to do this.

 Other Checklist Items


 Empty Temp Folder

This item clears the folder where your temporary files are stored.

A lot of programs create temporary files when they run. Most of the time they remove those files. But if something goes funny (your computer crashes etc…) those files can still be around.

On Windows 95/98 usually this folder is located 'C:\Windows\Temp.'

If the Temp folder on your computer doesn't look like a normal Temporary Files folder then Secure Shutdown will warn you before deleting anything. If this happens make sure that it is actually a folder with only Temp files in it.

 Other Checklist Items


 Empty Recycle Bin

Any files in your Recycle Bin can be easily recovered. It makes sense to clear it before wiping.

This item empties your Recycle Bin and if you have Norton Protection installed also empties the Norton Protected Files.

However some people like to take out the trash themselves. Feel free to disable this one if you're one of those.

 Other Checklist Items


 Check Hard Disk for Lost Clusters

Sometimes if you've had  a computer crash there can be data hiding out in little nooks and crannies of your computer called lost clusters. These are locations on the hard disk that are marked as used, but aren't linked up to any files.

Because there can be sensitive data in them, and the Wipe Free Space item can't get to them, it's good to do this check.

 Advanced Properties

Automatially Fix Errors

When this option is checked Scandisk will run automatically without any intervention from you. (the default)

Delete Lost Clusters

This option will remove any lost clusters and make the space available for Wipe Free Space to do it's clean up work. This is definitely recommended over the next option.

Save Lost Clusters as Files

This option will save the lost data instead of deleting it. It'll put it in files called 'file0001.chk' in the root folder of your hard disk.

 Other Checklist Items


 Delete Swap File

Windows uses a file called a swap file to provide memory to programs if there isn't enough. Don't worry about the details, but there can be unencrypted data hiding in that file.

It's good to leave this option enabled and remove this file before wiping.

Windows will make a new file when it boots the next time, so don't worry about this messing things up.

 Other Checklist Items


 Wipe Free Space

Everytime a file is deleted it isn't actually removed from your hard disk even if you empty your Recycle Bin. Just the name is removed from a sorta index. For this reason you need to make sure to wipe the free space on your hard disk every night.

Also note that a lot of the other items on the checklist delete files (which aren't properly removed), so it makes sense to leave this item as the last one on the list.

Depending on the size of your hard disk, the speed of your computer, and how hard you stare at the monitor (just kidding) this can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.

 Advanced Properties

Normally this item wipes all the drives on your computer. If you have more than one and some of them really don't need to be wiped (ie: have no sensitive data on them) then you can deselect them. You should always wipe the hard disk you have Windows on, though (usually that's C:).

 Other Checklist Items


What's New
 What's New in 2.5

It makes your coffee, bed and does your laundry. It even wakes you up when sleeping in devotions. Oops! Well those are all features for version 3.0, so you'll have to wait. Besides the bugs that were fixed, here's what version 2.5 has got.

 New Features

•	There's an all new Encryption feature. There were too many problems and crashes with the old one. Now Encryption is built in. It'll even encrypt read-only files if you want it to. Or ignore certain file types. (more)

•	If you need to backup data, you can use the new built in Backup feature. It'll do a backup by last modified date, or by archive setting whatever you prefer. It can also ignore certain types of files.

•	All errors go to log window and don't hold up your Secure Shutdown. Have you ever walked away (read: went to a meeting) while your computer was shutting down, expecting it to be all done after you came back? But instead there was this prompt on your screen! Well, no more!

•	The Wipe Free Space feature now supports more than 2 GB of free space. Previously when you had this much free space it wouldn't get wiped properly. However if you have this much free space it'll take quite a while to wipe. Check out the Troubleshooting page for a tip on this.

 Checklist Items


 The Log Window

If something wierd happens while your Secure Shutdown is, well, 'shutting-down' then a note if it will get sent to the log window. From there you can try and see what went wrong and fix the problem.

First try letting it fix it self by right clicking on the problem, and selecting 'Fix'. If that doesn't work, or if 'Fix' just plain isn't available. Then use the 'Retry' option.

If that still doesn't fix it, take a look at this list and see if you can figure out what went wrong.

You can save the list of errors by clicking the 'Save' button at the top of the window. Actually this happens automatically if something goes wrong and you're not at your computer while your computer is doing a Secure Shutdown.

 Troubleshooting


 Log Window Errors

For your reference, here are some common errors that can occur while your shutdown is taking place.

 Access is denied

This error means that either the file is read-only and it can't be overwritten, or on a network you don't have the permission to change this file. In a backup, it's probably referring to the destination file.

 The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

A program has this file open and it can't be changed at the same time. Close all other programs on your computer and try again.

 The file is a read-only, system, hidden or invalid file.

As a safety precaution XPY Encryption won't encrypt read-only or system files. When it encounters one of these it spews up this error. If you'd like to override this and let XPY encrypt read-only files, go to the advanced wizard and choose that option.

 Troubleshooting


Lets you change more options and get at the advanced settings.

 Advanced Checklist


List of items you'd like to use during your Secure Shutdown. Put a check next to the items you want to use.


Start the Secure Shutdown now.


List of items that will run before going into MS-DOS mode. Drag an item to change the order.


List of items that happen after going into MS-DOS mode. To change the order drag an item. Make sure to keep 'Wipe Free Space' last, though.


List of files and folders to encrypt. To add files you can drag files from Explorer, or press the 'Add' button.


Adds a folder to the list of folders to be encrypted. You can also drag files or folders from Explorer.


Removes a folder from the list of folders to encrypt.


Disables your XPY/HomeARC password after the Secure Shutdown is complete.


Allow XPY Encryption to encrypt read-only and system files. (Normally not recommended)


Ignore files with these extensions when encrypting. (eg: If you wanted to ignore MP3 files make a new item with 'mp3' in it).


Add an item to the list.


Remove an item from the list.


List of files and folders to backup. You can drag and drop files here from explorer, or use the 'Add' button.


Adds a folder to the backup list. You can also drag files or folders from Explorer.


Removes a folder from the list of folders to backup.


The destination for the backup (use the 'Browse' button, that's easier).  You could choose either a Zip Drive or a network location for example.


Sets the destination for the backup. You could choose either a Zip Drive or a network location for example.


Choose the appropriate method for backups:

Archive Backup: Faster, and generally recommended. But won't copy all files if backing up to a new location.

Date Backup: Checks each file for the date it was last modified, slower, but more reliable.


Ignore files with these extensions when backing up. (eg: If you wanted to ignore MP3 files make a new item with 'mp3' in it).


List of servers you'd like to remove cached internet data for.


In addition, clear cookies from this computer.


Clear all cached Internet data from the computer.


Empties the Recycle Bin during the Secure Shutdown.


Empties the Norton Protected files from the computer if this is installed.


Drives to wipe the free space on.


Automatically checks for lost clusters, without prompts or summaries.


Convert any lost clusters found into files.


Delete any lost clusters found.


Go to the next page of the wizard.


Go to the previous page of the wizard.


Save all my choices and exit.


Saves the error list in a file on your desktop.


Hides or closes this log window.


A list of all the errors that occured during the Secure Shutdown.