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IBM/PS1 After dark password protected How to defeat password old pc new to me.

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Radioguy

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Mar 21, 2010
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Arizona
It appears the previous user of my newly aquired PS/1 computer password protected it.
Not the bios but after dos begins.... a program runs.
I believe it is a screen save called "After Dark"

I do not have software to redo the HD.

I would like to get this old pc running to run some old dos software I have that requires a slow pc.

the specs are:
80486SX 33Mhz
model 2168 s55
bios date 1/22/93

it is called a ps/1 expert !

The password is smarter than I am... All I can do is look at the bios settings.

Any ideas would be great .
 
Can you boot from a floppy, then modify config.sys/autoexec.bat on the hard drive so it doesn't load After Dark?
 
Also if DOS is new enough you can hit a key to bypass the startup files
 
I'd have to look at a manual but find the manual for that version of IBM DOS and you can figure out the bypasses for the autoexec. In Microsoft dos you can actually just hold down shift and bypass the config.sys and autoexec.bat or there are a few function keys that I haven't used for too long so I can't remember that will bypass or step and ask you about each line in the config with a yes or no. It's definitely not anything you'll need to reformat for, you just need a boot disk or bypass those config files and take the line out.
 
If I remember right, After Dark installed some nasty hooks in DOS (either config.sys or autoexec.bat) called AD-DOS, and something in Windows called ADWRAP.DRV (or ADW30.386) that keeps your computer from booting all the way without the password. Usually it doesn't do anything special, but the point was if the computer was rebooted while the screen saver was on, the wrap-around password driver would kick-in and need the password to continue booting.

Just boot from a floppy (or try holding F5 when 'starting MS-DOS') pops up, and then remove all references to AD-whatever from your system files.

Good lucK!
 
I can access bios by using f1 or shift key... after leaving bios and before/during bootup nothing stops computer before after dark takes over. I think carnangil is right the program grabs hold before dos or windows is up...

I tried booting up with a dos 5.0 and a 6.21 bootdisk from bootdisk.com...
Result was the a: prompt

at the c prompt in response to DIR I get 1 files xxxxxxx bytes...
Not sure where to head now...thanks for the responses. I'll let everyone know if I figure out a way through this.

Radioguy
 
Unfortunately, it seems likely that the disk has a compression method not on DOS 6.21. DIR /ah or DIR /as should show the hidden files and identify which compression method was used.
Then, you will need a bootdisk customized with that compression software to edit the config.sys and autoexec.bat to remove afterdark.

I think IBM standarised on Stacker but I don't know if any PS/1 had it by default.
 
If I understand you correctly, you say that you are able to boot with a floppy. My question now is, do you have a set of DOS disks? If yes, no problem. If you don't have DOS system disks, send me a PM and I can help you along with that. You're probably not interested in what's on that HD (are you?). So, if you can get to the "A" prompt, you most probably will be able to FDISK & FDISK /MBR that HD and your problem will be solved.

Good luck!
 
Plasma said:
Can you boot from a floppy, then modify config.sys/autoexec.bat on the hard drive so it doesn't load After Dark?
Click to expand...

After Dark is likely loaded from one of the .INI files in the Windows directory, as it's a Win3x app. I'd bet SYSTEM.INI.


What I'd recommend:
- Start the machine.
- As soon as it says "Starting MS-DOS..." start spamming Ctrl+C over and over.
- It should ask if you want to terminate the batch process, referring to autoexec.bat.
- You should now be in the copy of DOS on the HDD, with access to the files.
- Edit SYSTEM.INI to remove After Dark.
- While you're in there, remove the line including "win.com" or "win" from autoexec.bat so you don't have to do that again if you somehow fail to stop After Dark from starting. Use "win" to start Windows by hand from DOS.

I realize this thread is about a month old, so he might have already wiped it, but I figured I'd put my solution here anyway - might turn up in a search.
 
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