pen drive

[ljonesj]

is there a program that will let you use a jump/pen drive as a device to keep a mac from booting or even not let the os log you on with out it

 

[green86]

is there a program that will let you use a jump/pen drive as a device to keep a mac from booting or even not let the os log you on with out it

uh... no.

 

[angelwatt]

I've seen such things for Linux, but haven't for OSX. You could potentially get Linux into the mix here for a solution, but I'm guessing the process would be a bit involved and require a decent level of geekiness.

 

[larkost]

Yes, this is possible, but you need to write an AuthenticationPlugin to do it, and it is not going to be easy. I did write a template that would at least get you around some of the issues. But the hardware issues are going to take some time to work though.

 

[angelwatt]

I tracked down one solution from Rohos. I know nothing of the people who made it so can't safe how good or safe the product is. And I'm not necessarily recommending you go this route. Requiring a piece of hardware to exist to login puts you at risk of losing all your data is that device is ever lost or damaged. The Rohos software by default won't require the device and still allow username/password login.

 

[ljonesj]

ah ok well it was worth a shot to bad my microsoft fingerprint reader wont work as far as i know as for some reason i dont mind if family get on my windows machine but to get on my mac mini them getting on it scares the hell out of me i do have it password protected but not protected when it comes back from the screen saver as i use it during the day so i forget to turn it back on before i leave for work and such

 

[angelwatt]

I'd recommend turning on the keychain menu item that has an option to lock your workstation, and also you really should have your screen saver password protected if security is that much of a concern to you. It's a very basic and easy thing to do.

Turn on keychain menu:

1. Open Keychain Access
2. Preferences
3. General tab
4. Check box for Show Status in Menu Bar

This will give you a lock icon in the menu. From there you'll see an option to lock screen. Just use this whenever you're leaving your machine for a while. Alternatively, you could always just log out of your account.