they used it in my school to stop us ne'er do well kids from playing scorched earth insead of working. we had floppies with so many shareware network games on them.
I bet this was marketed heavily to universities. A simpler solution would have been to just disconnect the floppy drive inside the computer case, then lock the case. LOL great video!
3.5" FDD are from the 1990's. In the 1980 FDD were 5.25". Back then in the 1990's, there were similar locks on some, or most, of the PC cases. If I remember correctly, one key opened them all, but I may be mistaken. :)
Consider the fact that booting on floppy could be used to get around the default OS and its password protection, and the BIOS was rarely secure and password protected, that could have been a critical computer security device.
I can see the lockpicking lawyer go for the next logical challenge, pick open the floppy disk holder lock. I'm sure the wafer lock on the "security" latch is difficult to pick.
Nah, it was meant to use on kiosks to prevent people from inserting their own disk into the drive and rebooting the machine and doing something else with it. Also for non-kiosks to make it harder to insert your own disk into the machine to steal data off it.
Is there a standard direction or method for numbering pins in tubular locks? I would have guessed it'd be clockwise from the top, instead of anticlockwise like you implied in this video.
I suddenly feel the need to plug in my floopy drive and see what is on the disks! I have the Welcom98.wav song on one of them. I like to use it as the start up sound on all our Windows pcs.
My parents had locks like this around the house that my brother and I would pick with either a corn holder or by taking apart a ball point pin and using the shorter half of the case. It was just as fast as using a key.
The intended application here were not what I expected. Thought it were going to be some portable diskette case for securely transporting data. But I guess that locking a drive is a novel idea only destroyed by existence of easily swapped external drives.
I’d like to see him pick one of those old locks on computer cases that prevent it from being turned on or keystrokes being entered or whatever after seeing him pick a floppy lock
Curious if you've picked one of these old 1960s deadbolts, they're everywhere in New Zealand. builderscrack.co.nz/trades/locksmiths/christchurch/jobs/74462/jammed-front-door-lock
Dear lockpickinglawyer, back in the days we dint use USB. These floppy drives were build into a computer. Could you pick it without having the entire floppy drive in one hand? That would make more sense for your conclusion if it was a usefull lock back in the day or not.
I still have a key exactly like that, but for a removable hard drive! I always kept it unlocked because I was aware that whoever really wanted it was going to get it, so it's more convenient for me to be able to yank it out in case of some semi-contrived emergency scenario. Nothing ever ended up happening to it one way or the other, but it's great to see a video discussing it a couple of decades or so later!
Reminds me of the floppy storage boxes I got, I have two with different locks but only the key to one. I'm a novice picker but still, was easy enough to pick the thing. But the picking made me realize the cut was awfully close to the other brand box, so I tried the key, not inserting it fully... Just one pin off. That worked.
Thinking of a good design, what i came up with was a multi turn lock which can only turn if these pins are set to turn it this much further, to then have to set those pins to turn it another 45 degrees and set those pins, until you reach the final set of pins which unlocks the lock. I feel as if a design such as this would provide an ample challenge if not finally be unpickable altogether seeing as the key needs to be in the key hole to keep all pins set and you can fit enough tools inside the lock to pick each pin. The key would be specialized so that if could only turn after setting a specific set of pins as well while inside the lock.
It was still relatively well working way to prevent the kids installing games and possibly virii among them onto dad's PC. On the other hand a lot of PCs also had a similar lock to prevent the machine from booting, although it was easy to override by just pulling the lock's connector off the motherboard as the switch inside the lock closed when it was locked.
So, question. For locks like these in your collection, that lock up specific things, do you keep them on their own, or with the things they're supposed to go with?
Would be interesting if you would try find and review locks that are worth buying. These gadget lock videos are not worth watching since every lock either have a very specific use and/or always are easy to pick/bypass.
I'm actually really curious if there's a lock he can't pick. Coz you know, if there's one, some might say he newbie. And if there's not, is he really a lock enthusiast or a professional lock picker? Or better a fugitive running with billions with his own island. 🤔🤔🤔
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