SecureUSB-VGuard - Windows
===========================

WHAT THIS IS
  The administrator tool that prepares the USB sticks shipping with the comic.

  It writes encrypted content onto each stick and stamps that stick with its own
  unique licence, so the content only plays from the stick it came on. Copying
  the files to a computer or another stick produces nothing that will open.

GETTING STARTED
  1. Unzip this folder somewhere permanent, e.g. C:\SecureUSB-VGuard
     (It will not work from inside the zip file.)
  2. Double-click "START HERE.cmd"
  3. Choose option 1 to pick the book folder for the sticks
  4. Plug in a USB stick, then choose option 3 (single stick) or
     option 5 (many sticks, hands-free). Both need a stick that reports
     its own serial number. For cheap media, use option 2 or 4 and read
     the warning before accepting.

REQUIREMENTS
  Windows 10 or 11. Nothing else - the tool carries its own runtime.

  The first time you run it, Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unknown
  publisher. Click "More info", then "Run anyway".

NOTES
  - Administrator rights are not normally required.
  - If you have a backup drive plugged in, batch mode deliberately skips it.
  - Keep the master folder - especially secret.json - off the USB sticks.
  - Full instructions: app\docs\ADMIN-GUIDE.md

WHAT GOES ON EACH STICK
  SecureContent\          the locked content (encrypted)
  Vguard-Reader-Windows\  the Windows reader (about 6 MB)
  Vguard-Reader-macOS\    the Mac reader (about 11 MB)
  Play (Windows).cmd      Windows readers double-click this
  Open (Mac).command      Mac readers double-click this
  HOW TO OPEN.txt         short instructions for the reader

HTML BOOKS
  Menu option 1 protects a book that is a set of web pages and opens it with
  Vguard-Reader, our own reader for Windows and Mac, which is built into this
  tool. You only pick the folder holding index.html.

  MAC READERS — SAME STICK, BOTH SYSTEMS (v2.3.0)
  Every stick now carries a second seal keyed to the stick's own USB serial number,
  which Windows and macOS both read from the device itself. So the same stick opens
  the book on Windows AND on a Mac — nothing extra to do, and the same protection on
  both (copy the files, or copy the stick's data to another stick, and it will not
  open).

  If a stick has no readable serial, the tool says so when writing it and only the
  per-platform seal is written; such a stick then needs the Mac pass on a Mac:
  double-click "MAC PASS.command" there (it needs only the master's
  server/secret.json). Full detail: app\docs\ADMIN-GUIDE.md

DEMO EDITION - NOT FOR PRODUCTION

Every stick this tool writes is marked as a demo: a large DEMO notice covers the book for two seconds every forty seconds.
For the production edition, contact WeScan.
