Overview

Clock Locking prevents the time or date from being changed from within Windows. The clock locking feature allows you to lock down the date and time to prevent it being changed by people or programs.

When activating Clock Locking in ClockWatch for the first time, you will be asked for the administrative password. This password is used to unlock ClockWatch from the System Tray when it is running in the lock-down mode.

In the lock-down mode the program continues to run hidden in the desktop. Its system tray icon is invisible – the regular ClockWatch clock face is replaced by a (gray) empty space in the system tray. Passing the mouse over the area will give an “OK”. Right clicking the mouse over the area will bring up the enter password screen, the gateway back into the ClockWatch application.

Notes:

• ClockWatch Sentry Pro can continue to set the correct time through external synchronization even when the clock is locked.

• Every attempted date or time change is logged in the event log.

Installation

Installation and Initial Configuration

1. Download the software from the web site or from the CD-ROM.

2. Start the ClockWatch application

3. Open the clock settings options page (Options->Settings)

4. Check the “Lock Clock” option to initialize locking

5. Choose “Startup Automatically” to start ClockWatch Sentry in the lock-d3on mode whenever the user is logged in.

6. Enter the administrator password or accept the default password “beagle”

7. Save the options (press “OK”)

8. To enable Clock Locking the first time you must exit then restart the ClockWatch application.

9. Upon restarting ClockWatch, notice the green “Clock Locking” light. This indicates that the clock is locked.

10. Minimize the application to hide it in the system tray and enter the lock-down mode. 

Operation

Clock Locking in Operation -

1.      Someone tries to change the time from the Windows control panel or another Windows application.

2.      ClockWatch Sentry detects the change and sets the clock back to its original time (within half a second).

3.      The unauthorized time change attempt is added to the event log (Program Files/Beagle Software/ClockWatch/eventlog.txt) specifying the date and time of the time changing attempt, the time it occurred and the time the clock was trying to be set to.

Administration

Bringing Sentry out of the Lock-Down mode

1. Locate the hidden icon by slowly moving the mouse from left to right in the System tray

Sentry is hidden in the system tray when in the lock-down mode

2. When you see the “OK”, call up the password field by right clicking the mouse.

Enter password to open ClockWatch

3. Enter the administrative password to open ClockWatch

Setting the Time (Sentry Pro)

1. To set the time to the Atomic Clock, bring Sentry Pro out of lock-down and press the “Set Time” button in ClockWatch to set the local time to an outside timeserver. ClockWatch will unlock the clock to allow the time change.
2. Clock can also be manually in Sentry Basic set by first turning off clock locking by first stopping ClockWatch. Always stop ClockWatch by pressing the “Exit” button on the main screen. Pressing Exit also turns off the monitor program.

Turning Clock Locking on and off

1. You can turn clock locking on or off from the Settings options tab with ClockWatch (Options->Settings)
2. You can also unlock the clock by stopping ClockWatch Sentry (remember to press the Exit button.)

Changing the administrators password

1. Open the Setting options tab within ClockWatch (Options->Settings)
2. Check the “Lock Clock” check box. (if already checked – uncheck and recheck)
3. The administrative password form will be displayed.

Changing the administrative password

Checking for Unauthorized time Settings

1. Every change to the date or time is logged in the event log.
2. To view Sentry’s event log, locate the file using Windows Explorer.
3. File is in the main ClockWatch program directory, usually C:\Program Files\Beagle Software\ClockWatch
4. Open the file, eventlog.txt, by double clicking.

Sample log file entry:

Event Log                  2/21/2003 10:50:10 AM
Date     Time      Type    Action
-----    ----      ----    -----
03-02-21 18:03:23  Warning Prohibited time change, attempted to set time to 19:00:00

This entry warns that at 18:03 on 2/21/03 someone tried to change the time to 19:00

The Sentry Monitor Application

1. ClockWatch Sentry includes a hidden monitoring application that ensures that ClockWatch Sentry is running.
2. If someone tries to disable the lock by terminating the ClockWatch application the monitoring application will restart ClockWatch and reset the lock.

4. The monitor application runs whenever Sentry starts with and Clock Locking enabled. It stops whenever a Sentry is stopped from the main screen by pressing the “Exit” button.