Netscape kiosk

[Charles F. Bearden]

If you are running Windows 95, there is little you can do to to defang 
Netscape 2.0.  Any Win95 Open or Save dialog is practically as good as an 
open desktop, even if you have implemented the most restrictive policies 
via Policy Editor.  Bill Moseley pointed this out to me.  

If you right click in the large open space in such a dialog box, you can 
create a shortcut (New => Shortcut).  Specify "c:\" as the command line, save 
it, drag it from the Open/Save dialog to the Start button in the lower right 
hand corner, and the start button now lets you start up Windows Explorer for 
the C: drive.  Even if you have activated the "Hide all drives in My 
Computer" option of Policy Editor, this shortcut will start up an Explorer 
that will show everything on C:.  Delete, move, copy, and rename files (and 
run EXEs) to your heart's content.  

Actually, you don't even need to create a shortcut.  Even with drives hidden, 
you can type "*.*" in the File Name space and hit Enter, and everything in 
that directory will be displayed.  Delete, rename, etc. from within the 
Open/Save dialog.  

If you offer public access to programs with Open/Save dialogs in Windows 95, 
you should also try to find some security software that prevents saves to 
anywhere but floppy and that prevents running any but selected applications.  

Chuck

-------------------------------------------------------------
Chuck Bearden			email: cbearden at hpl.lib.tx.us
Catalog Department		voice: 713/247-3499
Houston Public Library		fax:   713/247-3158
500 McKinney Ave.
Houston, TX  77002		NOT SPEAKING FOR HPL 
-------------------------------------------------------------
      -=>HPL's Homepage: http://sparc.hpl.lib.tx.us<=-

On Fri, 15 Mar 1996 07:25:27 -0800  Jon Hill wrote:
>On Fri, 15 Mar 1996, Thomas Dowling wrote:
>
>> I have limited access to Windows 3.1 these days, but
>> I've been playing around with Netscape 2.0 in kiosk mode
>> under Windows 95 and am a little distressed to see that 
>> it seems to allow all control key commands.  That is:
>> 
>>   Ctrl-L    Open a URL
>>   Ctrl-O    Open a local file.  Under Win95 this
>>             includes the opportunity to view any file
>>             and launch any exectutable on your PC.
>>   Ctrl-M    Send a mail message (like I'm doing now,
>>             f'rinstance)
>>   Ctrl-S    Save As
>>   Ctrl-B    Edit bookmarks
>> 
>> 
>> If kiosk mode is still undocumented, this might be part
>> of the reason.  Please don't just throw a "-k" in your
>> command line and assume you've thoroughly battened the 
>> hatches.
>> 
>If the E-Mail Address and Server options in the Netscape.ini file are 
>left blank then Netscape in Kiosk mode will not be able to send Mail.
>
>If you set up a mime type for EXE/BIN/COM/PIF to launch an applicationn, 
>for example the windows clock, then attempting to open any exe file 
>(Using Ctrl+u, o or l) will cause the clock to launch instead.
>
>Judicious use of hiding files and directories further limit the potential 
>for misuse.
>
>Keeping the Bookmarks on a Networked direcotry withh RO writes set will 
>stop the editing of the Bookmark file.
>
>Hope this helps, it works in our library.
>
>
>***********************************************************************
>* Jonathan R. Hill (aka Jon, Vicki and Fireball)                      *
>* Library Network Officer - Kimberlin Library, De Montfort University *
>* EMail - jh at dmu.ac.uk    Home  http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jh/jon.htm      *
>* Telephone - 0116-2551-551 ex 8033                                   *
>*                                                                     *
>* If mankind is the ultimate result of evolution after 4 Billion      *
>* Years, It goes to show that having patience doesn't pay off in the  *
>* end.                                                                *
>***********************************************************************
>