encrypted .zip support

Cecil · Post by **Cecil** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 9:35 pm

I don't know how feasible this would be, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. I was wondering if you could add support for encrypted .zip files, where if you tried to open an encrypted .zip file, it would ask for the password, and upon recieving the right password, it would decrypt the file and load it. The reason I ask is that I have a couple young nephews that often come over and play on the computer, and there are some games that I would rather not have them play. If it would be too hard to implement, I can understand. Thanks!

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 11:55 pm

Why not just make another account on the PC, and set permissions so they can't access the ROMs they aren't supposed to?

rage46 · Post by **rage46** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:08 am

Put the roms they can't play in another folder, then go into the folder properties and make it hidden. When that is done go to view and properties i believe and there will be a check box saying "show hidden files and folders" and another right below asking "hide hidden files and folders". This will work in XP I don't know about other windoze versions though.

ThunderClaw · Post by **ThunderClaw** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:45 am

Hidden files will work in all Win9x platforms, but all a person has to do is uncheck that box and find them. There is no security whatsoever. It's not a bad jerry-rig last resort, but it sure as heck isn't going to keep kids who grew up with computers out. Setting permissions on NT platforms would be much better.

rage46 · Post by **rage46** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:54 am

ThunderClaw wrote:Hidden files will work in all Win9x platforms, but all a person has to do is uncheck that box and find them. There is no security whatsoever. It's not a bad jerry-rig last resort, but it sure as heck isn't going to keep kids who grew up with computers out. Setting permissions on NT platforms would be much better.

True. It does depend on how old they are though.

ThunderClaw · Post by **ThunderClaw** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 1:07 am

rage46 wrote:True. It does depend on how old they are though.

No, it depends on thier familiarity with computers. We got our first win9x system when I was something like 8, and I knew all about hiding files within the first 2 hours of using it. That's because I had used Win3.1 extensively and knew my way around a system and the supporting command line to check and see if there was a feature I wasn't aware of. The /? switch ws my best friend.

However, my sister, who never was quite as into computers as me, took about 3 months to figure out how to hide and reveal files.

Cecil · Post by **Cecil** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:08 am

Noxious Ninja wrote:Why not just make another account on the PC, and set permissions so they can't access the ROMs they aren't supposed to?

They do have their own account. How do I set permissions to keep them from opening them? If your talking about using NTFS encryption, I can't, I'm using the home edition, and it doesn't support NTFS encryption. Only the Pro Edition does.

ThunderClaw · Post by **ThunderClaw** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:16 am

Nah, you can just select the folder, open Properties, and there should be a 'Permissions' tab. Just remove all the permissions on there and they should be quite effectively locked out.

Cecil · Post by **Cecil** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:27 am

ThunderClaw wrote:Nah, you can just select the folder, open Properties, and there should be a 'Permissions' tab. Just remove all the permissions on there and they should be quite effectively locked out.

I just looked, and the tabs are, General, Sharing, and Customize. Under Sharing, their is a check box titled, "Make this folder private," but it's grayed out.

Clements · Post by **Clements** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 4:03 am

I'm pretty sure that you can make My Documents private from all other users so they cannot access it in XP. Also, that checkbox is not greyed out if the folder is in My Documents.

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:20 am

Cecil wrote:
ThunderClaw wrote:Nah, you can just select the folder, open Properties, and there should be a 'Permissions' tab. Just remove all the permissions on there and they should be quite effectively locked out.
I just looked, and the tabs are, General, Sharing, and Customize. Under Sharing, their is a check box titled, "Make this folder private," but it's grayed out.

Open My Computer, go to Tools --> Folder Options, go to the View tab, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use Simple File Sharing. Now folder properties will have a security tab you can use.

Cecil · Post by **Cecil** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 7:10 am

Noxious Ninja wrote:
Cecil wrote:
ThunderClaw wrote:Nah, you can just select the folder, open Properties, and there should be a 'Permissions' tab. Just remove all the permissions on there and they should be quite effectively locked out.
I just looked, and the tabs are, General, Sharing, and Customize. Under Sharing, their is a check box titled, "Make this folder private," but it's grayed out.
Open My Computer, go to Tools --> Folder Options, go to the View tab, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use Simple File Sharing. Now folder properties will have a security tab you can use.

OK, I just tried that, but the "Use simple file sharing" option isn't there for some reason.

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 2:21 pm

Argh, searching reveals it's only an XP Pro option. Darn.

Post by **Nach** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 7:56 pm

Implementing support for this will be quite a pain, I don't plan on doing it anytime soon.

For my own personal use I have my own "parental controls" ZSNES front end which can block access to certain games, and limit how long games can be played for. Never seen a reason to really give it out though.

michael flatley · Post by **michael flatley** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 7:58 am

Why don't you provide supervision? Or simply encrypt the files yourself before they come over? I see little need to add this feature to the gui when you can do it in windows.

On an unrelated note, I guess if Nintendo seized your computer they'd have no proof of illegal roms if they were all encrypted.

Lizking · Post by **Lizking** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 11:17 am

michael flatley wrote:Why don't you provide supervision? Or simply encrypt the files yourself before they come over? I see little need to add this feature to the gui when you can do it in windows.

On an unrelated note, I guess if Nintendo seized your computer they'd have no proof of illegal roms if they were all encrypted.

encrypted data is still data. If a search & seizure warrant is put out on you, any data on your harddrive, encrypted or otherwise, is still data that you will be held accountable for.

Ichinisan · Post by **Ichinisan** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 12:32 pm

Lizking wrote:
michael flatley wrote:Why don't you provide supervision? Or simply encrypt the files yourself before they come over? I see little need to add this feature to the gui when you can do it in windows.

On an unrelated note, I guess if Nintendo seized your computer they'd have no proof of illegal roms if they were all encrypted.
encrypted data is still data. If a search & seizure warrant is put out on you, any data on your harddrive, encrypted or otherwise, is still data that you will be held accountable for.

The filenames would be the only recognizable data. Nothing could be illegal about a list of game names.

michael flatley · Post by **michael flatley** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 10:32 pm

Exactly. BTW, I applaud your intentions Cecil. You're doing the right thing but I feel this is a request that the developers shouldn't spend time implementing. It would probably be more of a pain to type in a password every time you play than simply zip/encrypt the files in Windows whenever you have your nephews over.

JuddMan · Post by **JuddMan** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 4:45 pm

just have 2 copies of ZSnes, one with a few of your nephews favourite games in an accessable location, the real copy in your 'my documents' folder. make your documents private, and there u go...

or put all the roms but the ones you want to hide in the accessible spot, and same again. 2 copies of zsnes so that u can use one to open the private roms, the other to open the other ones.
(otherwise you'll have to travel across your hard drive when you want to load one of the other roms, and i dont know how zsnes would handle if the gonfig file pointed to an inaccessible location)

there's also an option to check in user accounts "make my documents private" in case the check box in the properties is still greyed out.

also, the kids will have to be using a limited account cause if they have administrator rights, and they delete your password, all your encrypred data is gone. well, not gone but you'll never decrypt it again.

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 9:45 am

"encrypted data is still data. If a search & seizure warrant is put out on you, any data on your harddrive, encrypted or otherwise, is still data that you will be held accountable for."

My last semester of college I decided to take a computer forensics class, just for kicks. Yes encrypted data is still data, but it is unviewable even with forensic software. The forensic investigator only has a fixed amount of time to retrieve evidence before the trial. With NTFS's encryption and a strong password that would take a program such as Passware a long time to crack, you would be fine. Although most people tend to write down their strong passwords or end up giving their password to the investigator after social enginering crackers are usually a last resort.

funkyass · Post by **funkyass** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 5:21 pm

there is an an option when you create users along the lines of "protect my files from other people"

tho, if you set your cousins up as limited users, they shouldn't be able to see any of your files, outside of those you put in the shared folder.

test this.

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:08 am

funkyass wrote:there is an an option when you create users along the lines of "protect my files from other people"

tho, if you set your cousins up as limited users, they shouldn't be able to see any of your files, outside of those you put in the shared folder.

test this.

Does it work in XP Home, or only XP Pro?

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:13 am

funkyass wrote:there is an an option when you create users along the lines of "protect my files from other people"

tho, if you set your cousins up as limited users, they shouldn't be able to see any of your files, outside of those you put in the shared folder.

test this.

Does it work in XP Home, or only XP Pro?