Some Usenet newsgroups are specifically designated to carry adult material. This can pose a problem for News Rover customers who wish to access these newsgroups but need to selectively protect other family members from adult material. You also may need to protect private material when News Rover is used in an office environment. The News Rover password privacy option can handle both of these cases.

Our privacy option is not a separate program you have to download and install: it's fully integrated with the standard program and is licensed for an additional $9.90 charge.

Read the following feature summary and decide whether the privacy option is right for you. You can order the option when you register News Rover, or add it later.

Protected mode and privileged mode: Once you set up the access password, News Rover runs in two modes depending on whether the password has been entered. If you enter privileged mode -- and provide the correct password -- you will have access to all newsgroups, interest groups and filing folders; but if News Rover is run in protected mode (which is what it always starts in) then restricted newsgroups, interest groups and filing folders are hidden. This permits other family members to enjoy News Rover in protected mode and assures you that inappropriate material will be completely invisible to them.

Designate restricted newsgroups: Once you decide which newsgroups are appropriate and which ones should be restricted, the subscription list no longer displays restricted newsgroups in protected mode. Restricted Newsgroups you have subscribed to are not displayed when in protected mode, but you may freely access them in privileged mode.

Protect Autoscan interest groups: You can also designate some or all Autoscan interest groups as password protected in which case they are completely hidden when running in protected mode.

Protect filing folders: Password protection applies to News Rover's integrated filing folders too. Hence you can have public filing folders accessible to all users and restricted filing folders which only appear in privileged mode.

Encrypt attached files and messages: In addition to preventing restricted Autoscan interest groups, newsgroups, and filing folders from appearing, you can elect to have messages and file attachments for any newsgroup, interest group or filing folder encrypted. When encryption is engaged for a newsgroup, all downloaded messages and files are encrypted automatically by News Rover as they are received. The messages and files are decrypted automatically as they are needed for display (when running in privileged mode), and they are decrypted when you export them from News Rover to an external directory (using Save or Save-as).

Scrambled file names: When you encrypt attached files, even the names of the file attachments are changed so that their contents can not be ascertained by their names.

Automatic 'on the fly' decryption: When you play a file, view it, look at a thumbnail image in the gallery, or save it to an external folder, News Rover will automatically and efficiently decrypt the file. So, for example, you can browse the picture gallery for an encrypted newsgroup and see the pictures either in thumbnail or full size, but the files on disk are encrypted.

Always easy to change your mind: Protecting a newsgroup or interest group is not a one way decision. The privileged mode user can always change the option at his discretion. If you change between encrypted and unencrypted modes, News Rover sweeps through all of the stored messages and files and encrypts or decrypts them as appropriate.

At only $9.90, the News Rover password privacy option could well be the best value in peace of mind on the net!

Is the password option a separate program? No, the password option is part of News Rover and does not involve installing any additional programs or components.

What versions of News Rover support the password option? You must be running News Rover version 5.0 or later.

I've already registered News Rover, how can I get the password option? If you've already registered News Rover, you can enable the password option for a cost of only $9.90. All you have to do is install version 5.0 or later and order a registration key that enables the password option. Note: News Rover versions 5.0 and 5.2 are free upgrades for existing customers, but the password option is not enabled unless you purchase a key that enables it.

What can be protected with the password option? You can mark as password protected any newsgroup, interest group, filing folder as well as your e-mail Inbox and Outbox. Password protected items are completely hidden when running in protected mode.

Can News Rover scan restricted newsgroups and interest groups while running in protected mode? Yes, News Rover can scan restricted newsgroups and interest groups while running in protected mode. However, the name of the newsgroup being scanned is not displayed and the subject of the message being downloaded is not shown.

What else is restricted when running in protected mode? In addition to hiding restricted newsgroups, protected mode also prohibits display of the duplicate file name list, the list of pending multi-part files and the event log. The names of restricted newsgroups are not shown while Autoscan is running and the subjects of messages in restricted newsgroups are hidden while they are being downloaded. The options to password protect newsgroups and encrypt files are not displayed when running in protected mode.

Can I protected my personal E-mail? Yes, you can password protect your e-mail Inbox and/or Outbox.

Can I allow access to some newsgroups while protecting others? Yes, you can turn on password protection for some newsgroups and leave others unprotected. When running in protected mode only subscribed newsgroups, interest groups and filing folders that are not password protected will be shown. In addition, when in protected mode restricted newsgroups are not shown in list of newsgroups avilable on the news server, and messages may not be posted to them. You can password protect newsgroups without subscribing to them.

Is it easy to switch between privileged and protected modes? Yes, just click the "Control" option on the main menu and select which mode you want to run in. Of course, you must enter your password when switching into privileged mode. News Rover always starts in protected mode.

What happens if I forget and leave News Rover running in privileged mode? If you wish, you can engage an option that will cause News Rover to switch automatically into protected mode if there is no activity at your computer for a specified amount of time. So if you leave your desk while News Rover is running in privileged mode, you can relax because your sensitive information will be protected after a short while.

What happens when attachment encryption is engaged? News Rover automatically encrypts both messages and the contents and the names of files as they are downloaded and stored on disk. Thus a file whose real name is "mary.jpg" might be stored with a name such as "aqrz.wyt". Even if the file is renamed using an external program, its contents are scrambled and cannot be viewed. Thus your files are protected and cannot be viewed or played using external programs. If you engage encryption for a group that already has files, News Rover sweeps through the files and encrypts each one. If you decide later to turn off encryption for the group, News Rover sweeps through the files and decrypts them. Thumbnail picture images are encrypted as well as the full-size image files.

How do I decrypt my files? News Rover does this for you automatically. When you click on the name of an attachment in a message (the unencrypted name is shown), or view the thumbnail image in the picture gallery, or access the file in any other way from within News Rover, it is automatically decrypted on-the-fly. When you use the 'Save' or 'Save as' options to move the file from within News Rover to an external directory, it is decrypted as it is moved.

Can encryption be used with any type of file? Yes, any type of file -- jpg, gif, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, etc. -- can be encrypted and decrypted by News Rover.

Can I use an external program to view or play encrypted files? When you click on the name of a file within News Rover, and it is of a type that News Rover cannot display itself (e.g., avi, mpg, mp3, etc.), News Rover makes a temporary unencrypted copy of the file and invokes the appropriate program to play or view the unencrypted file. The temporary file is automatically deleted by News Rover when it is no longer needed.

What happens if I forget my password? If you lose your password you must uninstall News Rover, delete the "\program files\newsrover" folder, and then reinstall News Rover from scratch. You can save unencrypted files before reinstalling News Rover, but all files that were encrypted will be lost.

Click here to Order the Password Option now