Why did old PCs have key locks? An LGR Retrospective
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- čas přidán 19. 03. 2017
- Retro computer cases often had a locking mechanism, complete with a key that came with the machine. But what exactly did these do, where did they come from, and why aren't they so commonplace anymore?
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www.epidemicsound.com - Věda a technologie
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Ram theft was a major problem up until the late 90's. I was a security guard at major company back in the 90's and one common issue was an employee complaining to the IT department that his or her her computer was slow. It turns out someone was removing half the ram and re-configuring the computer! An almost undetectable crime. RAM was around $100 a megabyte then, so the individual responsible made himself a tidy "profit"
yup was actually going to bring this up. was actually quite common because it was fairly simple to takes
Hey villipend thanks for including that detail.
At work last week we had someone bring an old dinosaur in for recycling; my supervisor grabbed the RAM sticks out of it to show me for a laugh: there were still price tags on them, $469.62. So yea I could imagine someone swiping one to score the equivalent of an extra week or two of pay back in the old days.
@ William Magoffin: Good Lord. How much memory did these $469.62 sticks actually have on them? I quadrupled my RAM from 4GB to 16GB a month or so ago and I don't think it cost more than $150.
Didn't have a sticker with the specs on them, guessing about 8 megs since each stick had 8 chips on them.
For some extra fun, put the turbo button's wires on the key lock instead. That way you can have it on low speed, then when you want to rev it up, you get to turn a key and make engine noises with your mouth. VRRRRMM
That's an awesome idea, haha.
Even better: wire the keylock to a gas-powered generator with an electric starter as well, then plug your computer into the generator.
There is a joke of some not-so-bright guy just hired, that was told to krank a handle (like starting an old car) when everything was running slow. It was on ad mainframe so if the story was true he really had no idea about anything. I think the handle raised his terminal desk.
Just swapping the keyboard cables also worked wonders. And that is not anecdotal.
I personally had a lot of fun making slight "adjustments" to early Windows computer like mirroring the "shut down-image" (or making it look like a burnt-out monitor) or making the mouse run 30 degrees askew. I also had a mouse pointer that wiggled its tail.
Then people learned to lock their computers.
Can you tell me the one for the wiggling cursor? i kinda want that now haha
Joseph Fanning SPIN ON!
"I've been locked out of my computer."
"Were you hacked? Forgot your password?"
"No, I've misplaced my keys."
That would be an excuse to hear
ssh keys?
@@goku445 "SSH keys?"
"No.. physical keys."
"..."
I had someone call me because the drink holder broke off his computer after having it only one week. It turned out the drink holder was the CD-ROM. He threatened to sue if he did not get the computer fixed. We told him to go ahead and gave him the telephone number to a lawyer.
"Call The Lock Picking Lawyer"
Seriously, I wonder if he's ever picked one of these things on his channel
Turn the keys, press clutch and release the brake.
You forgot to pump the pedal three times before turning the key. Or at least pull the choke.
I ram the wall in front of me. Instructions not clear
Press turbo when a virus comes
I see you’re a fellow man that lives one 25kb at a time. We’re family.
Put it in first gear slowly release the clutch and go
Summer of 1988, I was an intern at IBM. One of my jobs was to help remove hard drives from old PCs that were being retired. For those with the big IBM Personal Computer Keylock Option on the side, if the key was missing, my orders were to give it a sturdy kick. Worked great! :-)
I had similar job a couple of years back, my method was to take a few PCs on a delivery wagon, go outside to loading platform and drop them to the ground two meters below.
gee hard drives in 88 would of been 25 megs... my hard drive from my 1992 386 was just 85megs. when you had .72 low density disks in 88 that were less then 1 meg 25 meg was pretty big one good game would of been less then 1 meg
"Wanna play some Overwatch?"
"Sorry, can't find my keys."
Still better than password,if you forget password you are in big trouble..so keys or password?
Tony Valdez pass, your parents can use the key to get into your pc
And we certainly can't have that Flashlight, they might see all your porn!
Tf2 is better
@@ExpressiveBeats Faggy game? You sure
In 1990 i had my first computer and i was 10y.o.. My, now dead father, used to lock my computer while he was gone so i wouldn't play and study my lessons. Little did he know that with a small pin i would unlock it and relock it in less than a second.
Gee this was a trip down to nostalgia.
are you the lockpicking lawyer? :)
You sound like me, i had a computer the same age, dad also hid the key and he also died when i was 16.... i respect you George
I did that too
Yeah mine had one of those barrel locks too and my stepdad used to lock it. I easily bypassed it with a bent paperclip. Those things were useless.
@@svenjorgensen5Gonna have to try this. I’ve got a new old stock Dell that’s locked , and of course I don’t have a key 😫
"a hard to duplicate tubular key"
[faint "click out of one" in the distance]
lefr33man a little binding on 2...
Navraj Gill click out of 3
@@MinecraftBudderHub 4 is binding...
Kaguya Houraisan and we are in a false set
Nothing on 1
When I was a kid I thought the key locks were for nukes to be launched by the librarian if we didn't bring back books that we checked out.
I'm cracking up. That is totally such an elementary schooler thing to think.
War Zone o
Because you lived in the West. Our teachers merely beat us with sticks and had no computers at all.
Our teachers beat us up only if we tell on a bully. Then he beat up the bully because he allowed to be talled on. Then when out parents came to pick us up he beat them too.
Our teachers like to hit things .
Cavare Envius your school sounds awesome I wish I went there
My grade school computer lab had old pc's with locks. It also had shag carpet and no shielding. You could rub your feet on the carpet, zap the lock with your finger and cause the computer to reboot
good old days. my new pc build's mobo will die if zapped.
😂
Nowadays you could rub your mobo on the carpet and it's more probable to come out alive and working than not :P
+Flash:
I don't think so.
Visit newegg or some other such site and look at the reviews. There are tons of people with dead CPUs, dead mobos, dead RAM. Probably because they touched the circuit and they blame the company.
The company tests each part. They have a QC department. How did the part get damaged? Did the packaging department blow the CPU/mobo/RAM?
@@louistournas120 I've been zapping boards for longer than I can remember with these carpets in my workshop and none of mine have died yet. Especially GPUs during those odd times skin makes contact with a pin or the pcb
Imagine filming a video, then hearing a faint sound at your doorstep.
"Click out of one... two is binding..."
I know that reference is from the lock picking lawyer
lmao
We should ask LPL to make a video on opening CPU key locks from the 80's and 90's.
4:58
Old password: farts
New password: wetfarts
I'm tellin ya
Old password: wetfarts
New password: tacobellfarts
And the chain continues
To those asking, yes this is a re-upload. I got several complaints about the background music being distracting, so I removed it and also took the chance to add more commentary. Hope you enjoy!
Now that's dedication.
Lazy Game Reviews thanks!
Your dedication to your channel is astounding! Keep up the great work. :)
What background music? I didn't even notice the first time. Wow, people complain about everything nowadays
Ah no wonder i couldn't find it heh.
My dad used to lock my PC and take the key... I managed to make my own lock key using a screw driver and a Cola can opener. I used the flat opener, and made it cylindrical shape, just about the same size as the key, and just hit a knife on the tip of the cylinder for the bump. And i unlocked the PC every time my dad locks it... 27 years later, never told him about this :)
Note to self: To prevent kids from using the computer, take out the RAM.
rickonami never underestimate a kid who needs their fix
Yemto that is just evil
rickonami my mother would use a password and take the power cable. My solution was to buy a new power cable and click cancel on the password. when she figured out I was doing this she started checking to see if the computer was warm in the back so I used ice packs.
akihiro kina, No it's both evil and effective. Since the computer don't start without them
I remember when I first starting my real "grown-up" job back in the mid-90's, in a hospital, the PC's had those locks. Even for the time period I worked there in the 90's, those PCs were dated, but the hospital kept them in use as long as they could before basically being forced to upgrade because of medical records software not being able to run efficiently on the old PCs.
We were assigned a key, and threatened within an inch of our life and job, that if we lost it, we were in trouble. We never used them though, for anything. I can't recall one time I ever needed to lock or unlock my computer for use, but maybe I did....and just can't remember because it was so long ago.
It was such a big deal then, that HR said if we didn't turn in our PC key if we quit or got fired, that they would hold our final check (which is illegal, but no one seemed to be aware of that back in the 90's) and there were people who got all upset over it when they misplaced it.
Turns out, it meant nothing at all and by the late 90's, it was just forgotten about as those dinosaur PC's were being phased out for new PC's (which are all dinosaurs now, several times over)
Haha they probably thought computers would be too heavy to steal forever
Computers with full tower cases, four DVD recorders, two floppy drives, two 20 inch tube monitors, would easily disappear back then. Weight was never an issue when it came to stealing a computer. I never found out how some of these very elaborate systems managed to get stolen out of guarded floors of a business. It was not something that happened occasionally. It happened a lot.
@@indridcold8433 Speaking as someone who's worked in security, I can safely tell you that even the most barebones uniform will let you go anywhere, and walk out with anything. When something goes missing like a ghost took it, look at the local pigs.
As a retro computer enthusiast/nerd and a locksmith/door hardware specialist, this video is right up my alley. Thanks Clint!
Quite welcome!
The Dust Collective pretty specific 😂
When I was a kid in the 80s my dad put a key lock on the side of our only TV that would keep it from turning on if they didn't want us watching too much. He was pretty handy with that sort of thing (still is), I'm not sure if it was a kit he bought or something he came up with on his own.
Me too. It would be so easy to make keys for those locks.
This interests me too, I've put a keyswitch inline with my power button along with a switch or two, just because, looks, not practical but it's cool
but how do modern day executives even sleep at night without key locks?
Softly knowing that even though they use the same password for everything they still have some poor IT guy to blame. :p
This comment contains 110% of the truth. Source: Fellow IT guy.
Thiago Coelho we don't.
Coffee is the true god
"The company was hacked! IT guy! It's all your fault!" "...sir, your password is 1234. I don't even know how you have that password, it's supposed to be a minimum of 8 characters and alphanumeric."
"EXACTLY! It was fool proof!"
I only could have a computer when I was 18 years old, I love learn more about these old machines, specially, about the secrets. Great video!
"One tubular key" It's incredible that it took until the 2000s for anyone to figure out you could open those things with a pen.
I used a straw.
Not all of them: some have tight tolerances and stiff springs, but that still doesn't stop them being picked with a dedicated picking tool that you can get for cheap.
I used a paperclip. Those things were ridiculously easy to pick.
I noticed way back in 198x that I could lock every single computer and disk box (yes, those were a thing) with one flimsy plastic key. I think I did an impressioning attack by accident.
My dad used this feature against me when I was a teen to ground me from using my PC. I used a mechanical pencil and unlocked it without a key. It worked until he caught me and then he took the power cord.
Similar story, but I used a red Lego key that worked well enough.
My family had a 95 that I broke by deleting system files, they got it fixed, and then kept me out by having the thing boot windows manually from the command line.
Kids tend to be very destructive when they're frustrated/annoyed/mad. One really doesn't understand how self-defeating it is when they're that young, and a lot of parents tend to forget how they felt at those ages.
haha same here
What a dick lol
And this is why we love LGR
4:00 Don’t worry, just send it to LPL, he’ll pick it open in literally 5 seconds with his tubular key impressioning tool.
@David Aguilar Me too !
It looks like its not locked at all.
Even having a lot of this info buried in my gray matter.... this was a wonderful trip down memory lane. I still remember my Dad bringing home the old out-of-date computers from the union hall when I was 8 back in `93. Learning the basics of a DOS operating system, playing Commander Keen.... Good times.
Not to mention the built in banana throwing game.... like Worms before Worms.
i remember my brother leaving the house and locking the old 486 with his key to prevent me from using it. little did he know that i could easily unlock it with an "extra key" that i had created using a pin and a clip. aaaah the good old day of dos pc gaming - when i was 6 and loading up prince of persia made me feel like a hacker.... :D
What machine did you have? I played on a CGA 8088 and any years later on a 486.
The real diffrence is the sound.... mi 8088 had only that PC Speaker...
What also killed the key lock was the drop in RAM price. RAM used to be stupid expensive, and schools and workplaces especially had to lock down the towers to keep people from stealing RAM from them. The locks started falling out of fashion as the ram prices dropped and it was less of a draw for thieves. These days, only major video or gaming enthusiasts need more ram than ships in their computers, and even if they do need more it's fairly inexpensive to purchase.
MrsRCharlton hell back in 1997 I was wstealing ram from the schools computers to resell
So far, I still don't need a ship in my computer.
Desktop towers are still secured with a Kensington type lock. It's usually to prevent people from taking them away, but the locking mechanism also doubles to stop the casing from being opened.
MrsRCharlton stealing RAM to play Rampage ? lol
That brief glimpse of the desktop with Slave Zero, Battlespire, Redguard, Interstate and Dungeon Keeper... that triggered my nostalgia hard.
what a nice video! Some years ago in the early 2000 when i case modded and played around a lot with computer hardware, i installed a lock that was just a keyswitch in line with the power button. It was so satisfying to use it, because it made me feel a little bit like powering up some serious machine or even a icbm launch control. :D Good old times.
tubular locks are hard to pick without a tubular lock picking tool, but if you have the tubular lock lockpick, its really easy to unlock a tubular lock... tubular lock.
tubular, dude
awe, well that's tube-bad
You can do it with a cheap plastic bic pen if you know how.
No. It's not any more difficult than a normal straight keyway. You can even use the same tensioner on some and you push the pins in one at a time, around and around, until you feel the sets.
... Are you getting paid every time you say Tubular Lock? Because I'd, tubular lock, like to get in, tubular lock, on that ac- tubular lock -tion.
Buttons beg to be pushed, and locks beg to be unlocked and locked. There is something very mammalian about the need to twist, turn, and push things. The more satisfying the sound or feel of doing that the better. Three cheers for computer locks and buttons!
So one cheer for buttons, and two cheers for locks?
Recommendations:
Video: Keylock computer.
Advertisement:
*KEYLOCK FOR DOORS*
refreshing video:
surgical key lock? wtf yt
That's kinda nice
i just realized, CZcams warned me to put a keylock on the doors because of...
*THE FBI*
same
for me it’s russian juice: fructoviy sad
I forgot about the lockable floppy covers. When usb thumb drives arrived on the market I heard of shops filling unused usb ports with epoxy to prevent users from putting "non-secure" drives in the ports.
I worked in a warehouse with about a dozen Dell GX150 (Pentium III) machines. They were minimally equipped, some with just 128 or 256MB of RAM for running XP. We received a shipment of computer goods to be scrapped, so I casually went through the container until I had enough ram to max out every system in the company. I grabbed a few for myself, and a couple weak AGP cards. There was even a couple PCI video cards in there, maybe an FX5200? Whatever it was - it was strong enough to run Return to Castle Wolfenstein on that little Dell. I needed something to pass the time on 3rd shift when everything was done!
256mb of Ram! Oohwee!
Great game Return to Castle Wolfenstein is!
Old ram sticks can be very valuable but they do need to be the largest size available for the era. When 256mb ws common, you need to find 512 or 1gb stick of the same type. Those are more valuable than gold, they are used in old legacy systems that are still needed 24/7. So it only makes sense to get the pinnacle of the technology of that era, the last versions that come out before the next version starts dominating: they are so robustly tested by that point by millions of people running trillions of read/writes per day in all possible combinations of hardware, manufacturing has solved every minute issue and you can easily push for the theoretical limits of the medium. And of course, if you do have a legacy system that can't be replaced, you want to give it the best chance you can to keep running so you buy the very best of components for it. I am not just talking about PCs but also about industrial machines that used the same RAM as the most common found in the market.
One good example are McLaren supercars from the 90s. The compapny had to hunt down a specific model of IBM thinkpad from the era to run their custom software. They have a storage room full of them, running bespoke software that is designed to run in that particular machine, you can rent one and it travels with a mechanic. Maybe it would work on some other combination of hardware but it will for sure run on this one known combination. Procuring RAM for those kind of cases means no expenses are spared and you may get hundreds from just one 512mb RAM stick from the 1995. Lower sizes and early models are still worth less than crap.
My graphics card’s fan just turned on at the precise moment when you pressed the TURBO button in the video. That was awkward.
Or magic lol
s4ndwichMakeR since the video went turbo you had to up you graphic processing
XD
CZcams is a graphics card eater... it's such a heavy program you'll need the best graphics cards on the market...
DavieJones1111 You’ll need a Nvidia Quadro.
There was a WOOD GRAIN computer? That's amazing!
Lgr did that himself. In another video. I actually like th look of it. Reminds me of a system76 computer.
Back then there were wood-grain cars too, and even wood-grain timber
@@prnothall9302 Wood grain wood, they made, wood grain wood?
There was a period where a lot of things were decorated with a wood grain finish. I always like to say those things were from the "wood age" (like the stone age)
dickcheney6 My 92 Bronco had wood grain trim. In the 60's, a "woody" was a station wagon with real wood trim. Mostly used by surfers. i.e., in the Beach Boys' " Little Surfer Girl ".
Okay, now I want to know about the *turbo* button!
czcams.com/video/p2q02Bxtqds/video.html
There you go.
The turbo buttom actually slowed the computer down to be able to run older software. Release it and you could run at the full 40 megahertz. But I am a computer geek. I have an Intel 486-DX2 66Mhz and I am going to upgrade to an AMD Am5x86 133Mhz! I am also getting Matrox Mystique SVGA video card with 8 megabytes of ram! Speaking of ram, I am upgrading my 1 megabyte of ram (already an impressive amount) to 4 megabytes of ram, a near God-like amount. Wolfenstein 3D will running swimmingly smooth! With a SoundBlaster Awe 32, you may worship at my computer's 17 inch 0.25 dot pitch screen! You probably only have 512 megabytes, EGA video card, and a Cyrix 486sx 33Mhz.
@@indridcold8433 You don't need a 486 Dx2-66 to run Wolf3d smoothly. It ran perfectly on my 386sx16 with an Oak Technologies non-VESA 512k video card (max resolution 800x600 @ 16 colors; but usually ran in MCGA mode [320x200x256colors]). 80MB hard drive [that always had the stoned virus, lol].
??? And a Matrox Mystique 8MB RAM video card?? They came out in 1996/97... What are you doing with one of those and a 486? Spend the $ on a Pentium or Pentium Pro first.
And I had 4megs of RAM on my 386sx16. If you had a 486dx2/66 you would already have 8megs (if you were smart) or 4megs (if you were cheap). 1meg of RAM doesn't even let you run Windows 3.1 - so everyone had at least 2MB. Windows 3.1 was a killer app for 386/486's.
When I upgraded to a 486dx2/50 we couldn't afford to get more ram. This was very frustrating as some games (like Ultima8) needed 8MB by '93-'95.
And by the time 486's came out, no one had an EGA card unless they were still on a 286 or XT. Even the sorriest souls with a 386 or better had a VGA card that could run 640x480x16 or 320x200x256.
I always knew RAM cost a lot back in the day and my father worked as a lorry driver and on one delivery was asked to deliver a massive load to an IBM factory, when he arrived he was taken out, explained the situation and a single guy walked out, walked up to a specific pallet, at a specific row and took one small container. Turned out it contained £2million(pounds not dollars) worth of RAM. He then was allowed to leave. Also had the same situation with Intel, went to a factory and had a single box that contained silicon chips worth millions, turns out it's safer to use small transport companies for this type of thing.
I still have old keys for computers which I quite like.
For some reason, this brought me so much nostalgia! Not that i had much to do with key locks, but just the FEELING from the era. How one was connected to the computers, so invested. The enthusiasm, the dirty keyboards, the horrible crunches, company drama with power struggles, the hair.
The boss sweating over his gold-plated keys and company secrets, sitting on a silk pillow through nights, searching for one from the jaguar backseat in midst of crocodile laced shoes and suits, (not for the last time) scanning on a golf course sand trap, as it got slinged from the silk pants after many frustrated swings. Yeah, talking from experience no doubt.
It's pretty interesting to see that so many systems chose tubular locks for security when they're such a weak type of lock. I imagine that it's because they're designed to stop casual theft rather than making the system truly impenetrable, as Clint had mentioned in passing in the video. Excellent overview of PC key locks! Wish more modern systems had something like this today.
A wood grain tower?! Who time traveled a nonexistent personal computer from the 70s?
Robert Sides Rich, Colonial styling. Just like the ginormous floor based color TV I grew up with in the 70’s....Or our station wagon....OMG, that stuff was ugly.
It’s seriously so nice to see these computers. So many good memories. I remember playing “where in the world is Carmen San Diego” on a late 80s IBM computer in my school in the early 90s. I remember thinking how great those computers were and thinking that they couldn’t get any better. My first own computer that I owned was a 94’ compaq in 1994. I thought it was so cool. Sucks how time flys. As much as I love my iPhone X and MacBook, I still very love those old computers. Pretty much up until 2000ish. Then after that I liked Macs and the rest of their products. Even the day i got the first iPhone after waiting 8 hours online. Great time and memories.
I had one of those, when I got rid of it I kept the lock and it used it on an old vending machine I found. Fit perfectly
I'm jealous, you got an actual 486DX2 Classic Key Case. Always wanted one those years ago. Great video, Awesome memories. TYVM
I totally remember these!! I haven’t thought about this in forever! They had these on the computers when I was in elementary school. We got to play Oregon Trail, reading rabbit, and all those learning games featuring “the master of mischief” lol. Man I feel old haha...they actually had “typing” as a mandatory class in 3rd grade (1993). When I got to 4th-6th that’s when we started jamming with the “games” I mentioned.
The metal bar one ... probably designed by a former car thief.
that system has been used to lock toolboxes for years
fun story.. I worked at a ski resort around 1989 / 1990. I was fired for being mouthy to my boss. So they sat me down in the managers office with one of these older PC's and I carried a key with me. I had a IBM 386 something or other at the time. So I locked the keyboard while I was waiting to get fired.. good times :) I wonder if they ever figured it out.
Yeah sure that happened "wink"
So you're saying you had one of the keys, and it just happened to work? What a crock of shit, they're not just tubes. They're actual locks with pins. Lying old fuck.
Awesome example of petty revenge!
@@smittywerbenjagermanjensen1051 Manufacturers only use so many possible combinations. If you have a car key without a microchip go around a parking lot and try it in every car that's the same make and model. You'll find that a rather disturbing amount of the time the key will work just fine. Even with chipped cars, you can still open the door even if you can't start the car. Of course it'll be fun explaining to the cops why you're running around trying to open random vehicles, but that's the price of experimental verification.
@@Invisifly2 so youre confessing of opening random vehicles that dont belong to you in the name of science?
the funny thing is tube locks are some of the easiest to pick
Oh yeah. I've opened one with a plastic straw for a bet.
They only kept the honest people honest. But back then password software was aftermarket. MS-DOS, PC-DOS, IBM-DOS, OS2 Warp, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, and Windows 3.11 for Workgroups had no password software. There was a basic one for Windows 3.11 but all you had to do was go into MS-DOS and look into a file to find the password. The keyboard lock was the answer back then. Today, the passwords are better than the key locks could ever had been. The key locks merely gave the illusion of security. Some cases also had a configurable LED number read out that could be configured to say anything at all, though the idea was to put the speed of your processor. You would put a 66 in the front for an Intel 80486DX-2 66Mhz processor. I liked putting 300 in the front and everyone thought I was a god because processor top speeds were only 200Mhz back then.
@@indridcold8433 - Remember a software called 'DIRECT ACCESS'... great menu system for ms-dos
I got into one with the end of a paperclip. Took a few minutes on my first attempt.
@@JaxMerrick straw would be hard to pull off but you just need something soft and tube shaped. I've heard the plastic Bic pen is the best.
Very interesting and well presented, IMO. Thank you.
I've actually looked into this.
Locksmiths still make tubular/cylindrical keys for this purpose, and cost little more than a typical four-pin key for most modern locks today (~$4).
If you happen to get a PC without a key, take the PC to the locksmith and they'll make you a key for it.
Or alternatively, buy an impressioning tool online and use it to open the lock
I always wonder why people still use tubular locks for both car safes and server racks - it's a terrible lock, why are you still using it?
i've seen a lot of computer locks in my time - but only very few keys. most people i know just threw them away.
I always wondered what those were for. Thanks for the research and explanation
I worked in a government department when IT started being rolled out. Damn things got pinched all the time. Some of our offices were even ram raided. As soon as we replaced them they got stolen again. We ended up putting the base units into steel cages that were bolted to the metal frame of the desk.
In a few years there will be a video like "why cars had locks and did not recognizes the owner".
KoalaLumpUhr around the same time as the video "why were they called smartphones?! When 99% of users played games and watch cat videos on the toilet with them?!"
in the future, it will be "why phones were touchscreen and used for multiple things" while back in the day phones were used for calling and texting today it's just social media and gaming
Why did humans once use phones? Well, Timmy, back before we had satellite internet uplinks installed in our spinal columns at birth, humans used to be totally unable to access databases, play games, contact other humans, or watch cat videos on the toilet without some sort of external device, meant to be operated with their hands. In the late nineteen-hundreds, "phone" devices could be as big as your entire thumbnail... Or even bigger! Then, of course, in two- uh... er... Sorry, kids. I'll be back to finish this lesson in six hours, as soon as Comcast stops throttling my brain down. stupid unlimited plan...
Except, "Recognize" will probably be spelled correctly
In 2060 grandparents will tell their grandchildren why people would talk with strangers and take a trip together with the stranger using the stranger's vehicle of choice.
6:01 I remember my father having a computer with that kind of keylock with an embossed arrow in it. He used the lock to prevent me as a kid in the early 90s from using the computer when he didn't want me to. But that lock was crappy enough to be able to be opened using a simple screwdriver on the arrow! So that stupid arrow actually made the lock less secure :)
I remember trying to drill out the lock on one of those IBM's after the keys were not present... I was 14 and the computer was a school throw-away I asked to take home (and was given permission). My dad was not happy with the condition of the expensive large drill bit when I was done. Took forever to drill it out.
Waste of time. Just insert a pin or paperclip and slide the mechanism over. Those things were not useful in locking anything.
A year late but nevermind, i just wanted to say my first PC in the 90s had a keylock for a power button to keep people off my stuff, it wasn't anything special just a home built one, made me feel like I was starting a car (especially with all the fans I had in the thing powering up, loved that thing.
Awesome!
Here's my relatively recent experience with a computer key lock:
The computer I bought about 5 years ago happened to come with a lockable panel that closes over the power button and drive bays. I thought I might like to use the lock whenever I was gone from home since at the time we had a friend frequently visiting and bringing her son who has no personal boundaries. (I once caught him on my brand-new computer -- which wasn't session-locked at the time because I'd just been using it before leaving the room -- clicking every icon on the desktop, and instead of reacting like, "Oops, I got caught doing something I shouldn't," he just said, "Where are the games?")
Anyway, I looked through all the computer boxes and couldn't find the key. I called the shop that built my computer and asked them about the missing key. They swore that the key must have been put on one of the boxes, which it couldn't have been since it wasn't in any of them.
I ended up just making sure I always locked my session whenever I left my computer if that kid was around, and I eventually forgot about the key.
...until a few years later, when I decided to upgrade my RAM. I opened up the tower, and discovered a cardboard box, small but sizable enough to potentially block airflow, packed away in the back corner. I had to remove the harddrive to get the box out. Inside I discovered all the extra screws and attachments that came with the tower, along with the lock key! I guess the shop guys really did "put the key in one of the boxes."
I tested to key to make sure it works, and haven't touched it since.
I remember using a lock on removable hard drives.
In those cases it was to keep the hdd in so it didn't pop out while in use.
I remember this too, almost like it was yesterday.
Oh wait, it was yesterday. All our servers have locks to prevent the hot-swap drives from being removed.
Some removable drive bays still have a key lock. Others do not, so you have to look for it if you want it.
I seem to remember these keys being everywhere at one company I worked for in the very early 90s. And, since they seemed to be increasing the number of desktop units continuously while i worked there, I mean literally everywhere. The systems were bought in bulk and they all had this feature. But, apparently, nothing outside of the mainframe room was deemed valuable enough to merit locking down.
Heck, their attitude was so trusting and generous that I was allowed to stay after hours to teach myself how to better use our equipment and software. In the end this was a smart decision, since I became quite the power user. The programs I was able to learn in depth included Word Prefect and Lotus 1-2-3. With the basic programming skills I'd learned in high school, I was able to make many of the functions in our department semi-automated. This allowed employees with limited skills to generate polished reports and correspondence without additional training. These skills also became the backbone of my career as I moved on, always taking advantage when an employer would allow me to do so as the field continued to grow.
Also, it's the reason why I still use Word Perfect over MS Word. Once I'd discovered the control which came with "reveal codes" I could never find the work involved in fine tuning a Word document anywhere near acceptable. I mean, have you ever tried to move a graphic once you've placed it in Word? It's hell. Just because something is everywhere doesn't mean it's the best.
4:53 i had to pause here .This one moment literally took me back into my childhood days
Is it bad I want to add a key lock to my PC?
Not weird at all. Since the jumper the key lock uses often matches the jumper for the power button you can simply insert the key lock jumper onto the power button posts instead of the power button leads. Then again you'd have to find a way to lock the case so that the power button can't be switched back (or the posts shorted) by a casual interloper (much like was covered in the video). Only other thing is that the key would have to be turned on and off again quickly (to simulate the brief time a power button is usually pressed) instead of simply leaving the key turned (or else it'd be like leaning on the power button for an extended time. May cause the PC to turn off after 10 seconds again). I've thought about using a key lock for a power button but lost the key for the key lock I liberated from an old Zeos 286 I used to have. Still looking for an old computer that still has a key to go with its key lock.
1 word PASSWORD
I can just imagine someone walking up to old school computer locks like that and being like "I'm gonna hack the mainframe!" and then just wiggling the lock loose with a screw driver and reconnecting the wires with a paper clip. #hackerman
Nah, I kind of want one. Hackers can figure out your password but they ain’t got the key 😂
You may not need to after this one weird trick.
I'm sure Apple could charge 300 more for a key lock and 500 more for a turbo button and be called innovative.
Dan Mac This...
And then I’d ask, “Why bother with a key lock? It’s already a pain in the ass to get into an Apple computer anyway.”
Macs are already slow enough
Limitless Nothingness could you please explain your argument concerning android phones?
Chris1111116 They are better in terms of operating system, customizability, price, business model, and nearly everything - the only exception being the hardware itself, especially when made by Samsung. Basically every concern I've ever had with my Galaxy S6 was remedied when j upgraded to Google Pixel and the GP is honestly one of the best microdevices I've ever owned in my life.
Edit: I am not the guy you asked but this is my take.
RAM was super expensive in the day, too. Wasn't unusual in an open lab environment to worry about someone raiding your PCs' RAM.
Yeah, heard about that happening a lot at some of the shadier local places. "Duncan's" had a bad name.
I use to sell these systems, average cost $4000.00 the key lock kept people out that are not from the IT Department . Most customers where business and they had to install network adapters ethernet and or token ring .
Really informative video! I always wondered about these!
And heh...I saw the original post in my list but couldn't find it by the time I got around to it. So glad it's back!
ahahaha same! I saw the notification and tought "uhh, a new LGR video! I'll save that for after dinner" and then..it was gone :( But now it's back!
He posted a comment 5 hours ago explaining why it was re-upped.
Our first PC, a 486 from 1994 (I believe) had a key lock, though it only physically locked the case. Was unaware that some also/instead locked out I/O
486SX, or DX was around 97, shortly before the IBM Stealth was released for about a 1/4th the cost of a upgraded 486, live & learn.
I liked the 'woodgrain effect case', as if this would tilt a potential buyer's purchasing decision. ("it's so poweful, and just look how it matches our dining set!")
Very nice video. Thanks for posting and have a nice day too.
I for one think there is a lot of room for security improvements below the OS level on modern systems and keylocks making a come back could be part of that. And the thing is, if the motherboards were designed for them they could be just as trivial to implement as they were in the old days. All you really need is a switch that cuts the data lines for USB. You can leave the power lines along and people could still use the ports for charging while the machine was locked. Taking it a bit further you could have a DIP switch block on the MB for switching individual ports on and off with a front panel keylock that connects for a disable all function. On the software side the BIOS/EFI/UEFI could have a option for which USB device types to pass on to the OS and which ones to eat and have the system act like it was never plugged in at all. It could be as simple as allowing only HID device or all devices. A gated system where items were sorted into tiers gauged by possible security risks. Or it could be a checklist for allowed or disallowed items to pass to the OS or eat.
This could make a MASSIVE improvement for large companies and government offices for security. Worried about webcams being accessed by a virus to take covert images? Disable USB imaging devices. Concerned about employees taking custom records? Disable mass storage, mtp, etc...
Yes, you can disable those things at the OS level but none of that helps with a clever user that can boot another OS. Add a keylock that can keep the case from being opened AND disables all the ports and you are as near to perfect security as is physically practical.
I had no idea this is what keylocks did on older PCs, but it makes perfect sense. Great video!
Thank you!
I just got childhood memories of playing with the floppy disk case, locking and unlocking it over and over again
There are tubular lockpicks for those chicago locks. The cool thing about them is that once you've picked them you can read the key bitting off the pick and use it to cut a key to fit.
Beautiful! Thanks for another awesome video!! :D
If I had the option, I would like a key lock for my case that works like a car's ignition lock cylinder.
Cars Simplified, that sounds like a cool, not too difficult mod. and the same key can be used to unlock the case from the back. I remember reading about a mod to have your computer turn on by a car alarm remote control.
Technically, the easiest way to do this would be to use a gas-powered internal combustion generator to run your PC. Of course, for it to be really effective, you might need to be somewhere far away from electrical outlets...
My pc has a lock with a normal key from 2015
Got to love it when your case shows up in a video, and is called a "enthusiast case"
Wow, this takes me back. I remember seeing these when I was a kid and having no idea what they were for. And speaking of my childhood, I saw Test Drive 4 on that desktop. :)
fast forward to today and people post all of their personal information on social media.
USB is way to modern for those locks
The only locks people nowadays uses is CAPS LOCK on social media
This is painfully true
AKFGFan I still don't. Number 1 rule.
@@NexuJin *YOU MEAN LIKE THIS?*
Honestly after watching a tonne of defcon talks I think maybe key locks should make a comeback. Then again what else I've learnt from those talks is people are stupid and wouldn't use them anyway.
"Then again what else I've learnt from those talks is people are stupid" best line ever :D
Neat informative video. You're good a narration dude
"This is the Lockpicking Lawyer, and today I have for you this IMB PS2 computer case."
This is pretty interesting, i actually have my build in an old school alienware case from the 2000-2005 era and it has a lock that prevents the front panel that covers the power button from being opened, as well as a lock to open the side panel. I removed the front panel lock and added my own variation on the "turbo" button in the hole, basically it just toggles on a couple extra fans and gives my GPU some fresh air for when i'm gaming.
Remember before NT when all you had to do was hold down the left-shift key while Windows booted to bypass the login screen?
I would just press Escape when I had Win 95 and 98. You don't hold it down. When you reach the login screen, hit escape and that's all.
Or you could just click on the Cancel button.
That login dialog in Windows 9x wasn't meant to prevent access to the computer, it was just to load your personal profile with customized theme and configurations.
Or DOS where all you had to do was walk up to the computer and you are already root.
Thats where the keylock comes in for DOS.
You can still easily bypass the security on a windows machine. Just pull the hard drive out and plug it into another windows pc. By default NTFS drives arent encrypted and file permissions can be trivially overrided in another windows install.
@@guitarman13021 "Root" is an understatement. DOS runs everything in friggin' _ring 0_ (and PCs before the AT were physically incapable of running anything other than ring 0)
Might be useful for old people who don't know how to create or can't remember a strong password
One of my earliest memories of computing is actually my dad using this key to 'lock down' the family computer at night so neither my sister or i would get up in the night to play games.
I wish my "modern" PC could be turned on and off by the turn of a key like that XD
it can
if you have some basic DIY skills you can do it
here's how it works....
currently your computer is able to switch on by you pressing the power button that connects to THESE CABLES
www.google.com.au/search?q=motherboard+front+panel+connectors&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=fleHqKZOj6LREM%253A%252CoYDQM4VjWJGtQM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRUdV9BCSCe2ncMfah8bkDksG_1VA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyntmUy4TeAhWbdd4KHaZLAj4Q9QEwB3oECAAQDA#imgrc=fleHqKZOj6LREM:
actually it's only the POWER SW cable
and the 2 wires go to your motherboard that connect to the header called THE FRONT PANEL HEADER
this...
www.google.com.au/search?q=motherboard+front+panel+connectors&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=fleHqKZOj6LREM%253A%252CoYDQM4VjWJGtQM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRUdV9BCSCe2ncMfah8bkDksG_1VA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyntmUy4TeAhWbdd4KHaZLAj4Q9QEwB3oECAAQDA#imgrc=29EhZXjMc2nwEM:
from there
when you press the button
the button connects to a switch, the switch causes VIA THE WIRE to SHORT CIRCUIT the front panel connector
this short circuit causes RESISTANCE
this resistance is detected via the power supply and causes the green wire on the power supply to active the primary circuit in the power supply
essentially switching on your computer
so..... Long story short
Cut a hole on the front of your case that suits the size of your lock
go to jaycar or something similiar and buy the keylock or pull it off a computer that someone leaves on the side of the road
now since FRONT PANEL HEADERS no longer come with a keylock option
DISCONNECT YOUR POWER SW Cable
and connect the keylock cable to the POWER SW connector
what will happen is this
when you turn the key it will cause resistance and cause the same effect to occur
IF IT DOESN'T
DO THIS.....
get a multimeter and get the power button with the wire and measure the resistance that the power button produces
then.. get a resistor that is the same value if not similar and ON THE KEYLOCK WIRE solder the resistor in series with one of the wires
hence, when the key is turned , it forms a circuit, the circuit now has the appropriate resistance
and... VOILA instant power on via a key
i imagine that most high value resistors will do the job
i think anything 10k Ohm of higher should be fine
it's not hard
you are just substituting one thing for another on the front end, while utilizing the same start up principle internally.... simple
I joked about putting an inert Victrola crank on the side of my old-ass PC. It would baffle people whilst being helluh-steampunk.
That'd be awesome! I'm sure there's someway to make it power on the PC too, with a few cranks.@@VolcanoEarth
@Benjamin P
yeah, that'd work as well
Modern PCs shut down via ACPI, which allows the system to wind down and reach a safe state before shutting down. If you had a switch like this, it would circumvent that system and potentially lead to data loss or total filesystem corruption.
Haha i love you Lazy Game Reviews! ;) im not even interested in retro stuff, but you just happen to amaze me all the time ;)
Glad to hear it, thanks :)
Great video LGR
Not just older computer cases. I have a really new computer case from Corsair and it has a computer lock, too.
And yeah, I use it.
Any idea what the name of the case is? Been looking for a usable case with a lock for a while now
@@jonathanmiller4759 Mine is Corsair 600t. There is a lock to lock doors. (neatly hidden under panel) So components inside are safe.
I bought a Thermaltake case for my last PC build in 2017 that has a key lock. I use it as well. I have a lot of expensive components in there, so locking it up makes me feel a bit better, even though it would be pretty easy to pick and a lot of people probably have the same exact key.
@@KayleeCee omg a gamer girl
@@user-yr1hb4ix9j who cares?
Oh wow I remember that 486 with the turbo button, brings back memories!
That woodgrain PC is fantastic xD
You're missing a big reason for that time period. It was $500 for a 4MB stick of RAM. Yes, I said Megabytes not Gigabytes. That's why we locked our company's down. The cost of the hardware components, not access. Passwords have been around on software forever.
yes and with that kind of limited hardware, password abilities were limited, something like a smart card was unthinkable, so, in lue of a smartcard, you have a physical key to prevent access
Oh oh... Seeing the back of that old IBM PC made me remember that back in the day you plug your monitor to the PSU of the PC!! I had already totally forgotten about that.
We still have those keylocks at the work place. Without the proper key, unauthorised personnel can not turn of or reset the computers. Some files have to be synchronized to a server in an other country and it might take hours. If the PC were to be turned off, those files would be damaged and products would have to be recalled from customers. Also it would be problematic if random personnel would start messing around with the PC-s like swapping them because something is not working... (We had a guy who got a soldering iron from an other department and "repaired" something on a certified device for example. Since then we even have stickers and non removable parts so the PCs can not be moved / taken apart etc...)
Well I talked a bit about this on Twitter but I'll get a bit more in-depth here. This is going to be quite a long story by the way.
So I went to a secondary school in England that used floppy disk drive locks. This was around 1997 or 1998 and the computers were all new, purchased only a few weeks before I arrived and they were pretty good. They used (I think) Windows 95 OSR2 and were all connected to both the school's LAN and the internet. I was in to computers at the time though and noticed one decision they'd made that I immediately thought was an insane idea: No antivirus software. This was likely to try and save money on what must've been a very expensive project and their mentality was one of 'Prevention rather than cure' with a the computer labs declared a 'Floppy disk and DOS-free zone' in an attempt to prevent viruses from ever entering the network. We'll get in to how that worked out later.
The drive locks were of course part of this, once it was realized that trying to monitor every student on the computer (of which they were over a hundred) was just not feasible. So the drive locks were installed, rendering the drives unusable unless removed, and removing them while locked would take the drive heads out with them. So, of course, with a bunch of 13-16 year old boys being the primary users of these computers, most of the drive heads were quickly torn out. At first this wasn't considered a problem since nobody was supposed to be using the drives anyway, but then weird things started happening.
At first computers just freezing or blue screening for no apparent reason, but this was Windows 95 and that happened a lot anyway. But then it started happening a LOT, to the point where it was difficult to get anything done, and then custom error messages started popping up leaving little doubt that a virus had got in to the network. Some people were surprised, but I knew this was coming. You know how I mentioned earlier about all of the computers being connected to the internet? Wondering what was stopping any random student from just going to any website? If your guess is nothing, well you're pretty much right! You weren't SUPPOSED to (without being supervised by a teacher) of course and if you did it in a computer lab you'd be told off and might even get banned from using the computers, but then came something where I'm going to bring us back to the topic discussed in this video.
I mentioned the computer labs, but the labs weren't the only place you could find computers. Most of the classrooms had at least one computer, probably intended for students to look stuff up during class, but if you went in to the classrooms during a break when no teachers were present (not difficult, I did it a lot) then there was absolutely nothing to stop you just turning the computer on and doing whatever. Now if they had actual key locks to stop anyone booting the computer or using the keyboard without the key, then there would've been no problem. But no, no proper keylocks, just the stupid drive locks. So I ended up seeing older students in teams (complete with one of them taking lookout duty) using these computers to do what teenage boys do. Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together and figure out where that virus came from.
You may ask now what I did about all this, since I clearly knew what was going on. Well the answer to that is... nothing. I just ignored them and went about my business. The primary reason this was that despite what was going on, the chief technician and his monitors insisting on treating ME (remember, I'd only just arrived, I was among the youngest students) as their biggest problem. The reasons for this are lengthy and personal, but long story short I really wasn't a troublemakers. I was just young, curious, and had a pretty big interest in computers. Had they not treated me so badly I'd have been willing to help, understanding how terrible it would be if the whole network went down. But instead they insisted on treating me like a criminal, so I ignored what was happening and figured they deserved what was coming up next.
Inevitably, the computers ended up entirely unusable and the entire network had to be taken down so they could spend some time (probably two, maybe three weeks) going around reformatting and reinstalling everything on every computer in the school. Which, since the FDDs in most of the computers were destroyed, first meant buying and installing new FDDs for them. Once this was done I noted that it had taught them at least one lesson: Every computer was now outfitted with antivirus software. Between the site licence for that, the new FDDs, the time spent getting everything back online, and the lesson time students lost while all of the computers were offline, they probably blew through two or three times as much as it would've taken to just buy the damn antivirus program they should've done in the first place.
I transferred out of that school not long after this happened but I do reflect on the whole saga and the lessons to be learned. But one question (that I will likely never get an answer to) still lingers. Whose stupid idea was it to not get antivirus software? The two scenarios I can think of are the chief technician getting a bit full of himself, thinking he and his monitors could prevent any viruses from ever getting in to the network, and convincing the headmaster that no antivirus software was needed. The other is the headmaster himself wanting to save money on the (as I said earlier) very expensive project so it could be spent elsewhere, saw how expensive an antivirus site licence was, and figured he could keep his students disciplined enough that they would NEVER break his rules, so he made the decision that antivirus software was an expense they could do without. Given their respective personalities, I could see either happening.
I... really don't blame you for keeping your trap shut. I was in elementary school at the time (I'm American), and I think most of the computer labs had either Apple ][e's or ones with some weird OS that I know next to nothing about anymore (I wasn't a tech-geek then) before eventually getting Rose computers with Windows 98 on them.
The "wierd OS you don't know about anymore" is probaly Linux.
+Anthony Seboe I don't think so. This was the mid-to-late 90's, around the same time +AmysFantasies was in secondary, and I doubt anybody there had the technical know-how, or even patience, to install any Linux distro. I'm sure it was UNIX-based, though. I can barely remember what parts of the OS looked like, and I don't remember if the mouse was used much, or if there was a mouse at all. If I could just find an image of the OS in question, specifically its "native" word processor, I could say whether or not you're right.
Remember, guys, this is public! The administrator may find out and want your Trojan "fixed."
...@Dragon Kentrol let's delete all of this and talk somewhere else. Maybe google hangouts? tonyseboe@gmail.com
Thank you for the info!
You briefly showed my first computer: the Gateway 2000 386/25 DX... That brings back memories
Where did they come from, where did they go
where did they come from, Tubular Locks Joe
i want a button that says Turbo on my pc.
Why just a button? Surely today's more advanced PC tech can let us control the CPU with a *gearstick*?... ;-)
I want the LUDICROUS SPEED BUTTON.
lieutenant805 Make it switch to low power no-fan mode when off, or switch to similar "safe settings" on "tuning happy" motherboards.
+BootlegScarce I assume that's a "virtual" one displayed in the utility, isn't it? :-)
I think a real gearstick would be better! :-D :-)
I had a red keycap that said...
PANIC!
Thanks for clarifying! I have seen them before. But did not ask a question. Now everything has become clear!)))
3:38 Still have one of those at my parent's place. It was the reason I clicked on this vid actually b/c I always wondered what that keyhole was for.