FAQ -- IDseal Cryptographic Engine (ICE)
- What is the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
- How do I get the ICE?
- What are the installation options for the ICE?
- Now I purchased
the USB removable drive and installed ICE on it.
Why don't I also install ICE on my hard disk for convenience?
- How do I start the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
- How are public and secret keys stored
in the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
What is the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
The IDseal Cryptographic Engine (ICE)
contains cryptographic and communications software
that performs cryptographic operaiont, manages keys,
and communicates with the web browser and the IDseal web site.
The ICE can be installed on a hard disk on the local computer,
or on a USB removable disk.
When the IDseal engine is installed,
a folder that contains the encryption/decryption keys
is also installed.
This folder must be installed in the same location as
the ICE executables.
How do I get the ICE?
The ICE software can be downloaded
from the member area of the IDseal web site.
To download, first login to your account. Then click
the "download" button at the top of the page.
When you see the download page, click "download"
on the appropriate version for your computer.
The downloaded file for the Windows platform is a self-extracting zip file.
You can unpack the ice files and folders by double-clicking on the zip file.
After downloading, you extract the files into a new folder named IDsealEng.
What are the installation options for the ICE?
You can install ICE on your hard disk, or you can install it on
a USB removable disk.
The main advantage of installing the ICE on a USB removable disk
is that it allows you to access your secure email messages
anywhere you go on any USB capable Windows computer.
For more details, refer to
What is the
difference between installing the ICE on a hard disk
versus on a USB removable disk?.
To install it on your hard disk, you simply move the folder IDsealEng
to the top of you "C:" drive.
Assuming you have done this,
we recommend that you make a shortcut of the file "C:\IDsealEng\IDseal.exe"
on your desktop.
To do that, you go to the folder "C:\IDsealEng", right click on the
file IDseal.exe, and then click "Create Shortcut".
When a shortcut appears in the folder,
drag the shortcut to your desktop.
You are now done. The installation step of ICE is very clean
as it puts everything inside the older IDsealEng.
It does not modify any other place in your computer,
and it does not require changing the Windows registry setting.
The next option is to install ICE on a USB removable disk.
In the future, the USB removable disk can be purchased from the
IDzap web site.
The USB removable is a portable disk that is about 4 inches long.
It is very light weight and can be easily carried with you
when you are travelling.
When the USB removable disk is plugged into the USB port
of a Windows computer,
it behaves like a normal disk drive.
If you run Windows ME, 2000, or XP, there is no need
to pre-install a driver.
When you plug it into the USB port, Windows will
detect that and automatically install a driver for you.
If you use a machine with Window 98SE, then you will need
to install a driver.
A driver for Windows 98SE is available for downloading
from the IDseal download area.
When the USB removable drive is plugged in and working,
you can install ICE by simply copying the folder IDsealEng
to the USB disk.
OK, now I purchased
the USB removable drive and installed ICE on it.
Why don't I also install ICE on my hard disk for convenience?
If you do use the USB removable drive,
you might not want to install another copy of the ICE on your harddisk
on the computer in your office or at home.
Instead, always use the ICE on the USB removable drive.
The reason is as follows:
When the ICE is installed, a sub-folder "keys" is created
inside IDsealEng. This sub-folder contains keyrings which
stores the public and secret keys.
In order to send an encrypted email message to a person,
you must have the person's public key in your keyring,
i.e. in your IDsealEng folder.
It is likely that you will import new public keys
into your keyring from time to time,
just like adding to your rolodex.
If you use multiple computers and keep a copy of your keys
on each computer, you will need to remember to keep them
all in sync with each other.
Therefore, we believe that it is easier and simpler to
just keep one copy for your everyday use,
and keep a back up copy somewhere in a fix location.
How do I start the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
There are several ways to start the ICE.
- If you have a shortcut for IDseal.exe created on your Desktop,
then you can start ICE by double clicking the shortcut item.
- On a Windows machine,
double click on "My Computer", then double click
the drive that corresponds to the ICE.
Next double click the folder "IDsealEng", and
finally double click the application "IDseal.exe".
- Open a dos prompt, then type
E:\IDsealEng\IDseal.exe
This assumes "E:" is the drive number for the ICE.
When ICE starts, it starts up a DOS window showing its status.
You should keep this window running.
If you stop this window by clicking the "X" button,
then the ICE is also stopped.
On the other hand, you can minimize the window by clicking the "_" button.
In this way, it will not clutter up your desktop.
It is convenient to configure IDseal.exe so that it is automatically
minimized when opened.
To do so, right click on the IDseal.exe Shortcut, then click properties.
Click the "Shortcut" tab, choose "Minimized" in
the Run bo, and click "Apply".
How are public and secret keys stored
in the IDseal Cryptographic Engine?
They keys are stores in specially designed files
called keyrings.
The keyrings are stored in a sub-folder "keys" where the ICE is installed.
In practice, you do not need to access these files directly.
A number of key management functions
are provided for you to manage the keys.
|
