Otzaria USB Lock

Prepares a USB drive for safe distribution of Otzaria: formats it to NTFS and locks write access so only your own account can write to it. Every other computer can read/run from it but not write to it, blocking the main way flash-drive malware spreads.

Built with PySide6 (Qt for Python) rather than Tkinter, specifically because Qt's text engine implements the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm natively - Hebrew displays correctly automatically, with no manual character reordering needed.

Get the exe (no Windows machine needed)

Push this folder to a GitHub repo. The included GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/build-exe.yml) builds the .exe on a Windows runner automatically and attaches it under the run's Artifacts. You can also trigger it manually from the Actions tab ("Run workflow").

Build it yourself on Windows

Requires Python 3.10+ from python.org (check "Add to PATH" during install).

build.bat

The finished file is dist\Otzaria-USB-Lock.exe - the only file end users need. Double-click it, approve the UAC prompt, done.

Using the tool

1. Plug in the USB drive.
2. Run Otzaria-USB-Lock.exe (approve the admin prompt).
3. Pick the drive from the list.
4. If it isn't already NTFS, click "Format to NTFS" (erases the drive - you'll be asked to retype the drive letter and the word ERASE/מחק).
5. Click "Open drive to copy files" and copy the Otzaria installer on.
6. Click "Lock drive for distribution".

To add or update files later, plug the drive back into this same PC. "Reset to normal permissions" undoes the lock if needed.

Limits worth knowing

• Blocks the main infection path (malware writing itself to any writable drive it finds), not a guarantee against every attack.
• A local administrator on another PC can still override the lock.
• Try it on a spare/cheap USB drive before relying on it for distribution - it hasn't been run on a real Windows machine yet.