nagy%BNL@sri-unix.UUCP (01/31/84)
There has been some talk concerning the possibility of doing a FORMAT
inadvertently on one's hard disk (though you could do it to a valuable
floppy, too). One fix has been to patch FORMAT.COM so that it won't
format the hard disk.
This is a good idea. However, why have OS designers not provided more
to help the user protect himself? The idea is nothing but a
"readonly" software on/off switch similiar to what we used to put on
tape request cards in batch jobs. A hard disk user could use A: for
DOS, compilers, canned programs, etc. (which could be locked at
power-on from AUTOEXEC.BAT). Then B: would be a free fire zone for
editing, TMPs, etc. At the end of a session, one would carefully (as
usual) lock B:, unlock A:, and copy anything from B: worth saving.
Even a 2-floppy user would find soft protection useful if he wishes to
temporarily suspend operations on A: and mess around on B: but is so
paranoid he usually takes the disk out of A: or puts a tab on if he
still needs it (e.g. for a copy).
Any instruction which attempted to write on a locked drive could just
trap to the same message currently used for tab protected floppies
(the terms "protection" and "ignore" now having broader meaning). Or,
to better accomodate calls from programs, a new trap, message, and
menu added.
Just to be a little paranoid myself, there must be something very
wrong with this idea because certainly someone would have done this
already. To those people who like to live dangerously, a person
doesn't have to make use of the new facility if he doesn't wish to
(UNLOCK would be the default).
Suggested New DOS Commands
-----------------------------
LOCK {d:|HARD|FLOPPY|ALL} == software tab-on for drive d,
hard-disks, floppy-disks, or all
UNLOCK {d:|HARD|FLOPPY|ALL} == software tab-off for same
STATLOCK == displays lock status of all drives