Password Protection?

[Burn]

Is it possible to password protect a folder on my hard drive so that a user on my computer currently logged in under my login cannot access the folder without the right password? My OS is Win2k, thanks.

 

[MulLa]

Well depends on if you are logged in as the Admin or not. If not then you can use the file encryption feature of NTFS. Only the owner of the file and the Admin and access and read it.

 

[Burn]

My drive is formatted win FAT32. Are there any other ways in Win2k, or utilities that make it possible?

 

[DAM]

i highly recommend you get a util to do this, to go tucows or download.com and poke around theres a ton out there.





dam()

 

[Burn]

DAM - Do you know of any in particular? I must be an idiot, but I am having great difficulties in finding one.

 

[Damaged]

PGP

PGP will do it.

 

[Burn]

I still need some help... Thanks

 

[Thygod]

You can get PGP Freeware at the http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html. After you install the programs follow the directions to create your keys and to set up the different features. During install do not install PGP Net since it modifies your dial-up connections and you don't need it. After it is installed use the PGP Disk program to set up a virtual encrypted file wich contains the files in the folder. PGP will let you mount and unmount this file as a separate drive. You can even access it through the network.

Hope this helps.

Mario Acevedo

 

[Burn]

Maybe I did not make myself understood. All I want to do is password a folder... Thanks

 

[jaywallen]

PGP will do it. It just does a lot of other stuff, too. Once you get it installed, you can right-click on any folder of file and encrypt it.

 

[Burn]

<edit>

 

[Burn]

Okay, I will keep on trying...

PGP is not what I want. I just want to put a password on a folder. I don't want to &quot;encrypt&quot; the contents of the folder. You know when someone has a password on their computer and you try and access it through a network? That is all I want, surely there must be something.

 

[jaywallen]

Well, a lot of suggestions have been made. You can make use of in-built Windows security, making use of ownership and permissions to accomplish the fact, but that depends on using the in-built strategies, including use of the NTFS file format, to prevent other users from gaining access. But, unless you are the sole Administrator, ultimately at least one other person (the Administrator) will have the potential to access the folder. By definition, anyone logged in under your user profile has your permissions. If I understand you, to accomplish it the way you want to, so that another person on the machine under your personal login has no access to the folder, I suspect you'll have to encrypt or archive by some third party methodology, because that would be the only means of securing the folder and its contents as a password-protected entity. I can assure you that PGP would be one of the more powerful solutions, if you need real security.

Perhaps you could explain what you wish to do and why in a more thorough and precise way. Armed with more information, maybe someone will have a bright idea. I can't think of any way to accomplish what I think you wish to accomplish.

Regards,
Jim

 

[Burn]

Hehe, thanks...

My problem is this:

I have files on my harddrive that I do not want others to access, unless they know the password. I know how to put a password on a folder so that people on the network cannot access the files, but I want to do the same for people using my computer.

In other words when my younger brother sits down at my computer and tries to open my folder (named &quot;Burn&quot I want the computer to ask for a password. These files are not top secret or anything. I just want to make accessing them difficult for the others who may use my computer.

I hope that is clearer. Thankyou...

 

[jaywallen]

Hi,

Well, it sounds like you need to either make use of the multi-user security features of W2K (When you leave the computer, you log out. And anyone else must log on under a different user name. If you're the administrator, you can set the system up so that only you, in either the Administrator role or your user role, can access the folder and its contents.) or you'll need to use password protected third party encryption or archiving (Zip, for instance). Though they're not what you envisioned, they will do what you want. You just have to &quot;clean up&quot; after using your files. (And PGP can wipe specific files, too, BTW.) But I can't think of any way you can have other users using your profile and still reserve access to a specific folder only for yourself without using third party software. Remember, sharing part of a drive , and not sharing part of it, with other users on a LAN is really the same thing. Those other users on the LAN that have restricted access to your drive (some folders yes, some folder no) aren't logged in on YOUR user profile. Why would you expect to be able to handle them any differently locally? It's just not the way the OS was designed. It enforces security through user profiles.

Does this help any?

Regards,
Jim

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

well i have a tip maybe you can use it dont use a password but you can hide it and no one will know..first right click on the folder and go to properties and check hidden, then click on view in your tool bar and make sure that no system or hidden files can be seen and its gone..when you want to get into that folder you need to go back and click show all files to get in ..its kinda a pain in the ass but it works for me my girlfriend hasnt found my goodie folder yet

 

[jaywallen]

Well, hiding a folder and setting Explorer to not show hidden files will work if the other people using his profile are not in the least bit knowledgeable about the OS, but it's not a surefire way to keep his younger brother out of his personal files. With this GUI, it's easy enough for a newbie to fiddle with settings and wind up seeing hidden folders and files. After all, the settings are on a dialog box one level deep in the main menu for Explorer. And if you got there, wouldn't anyone make the decision to see the hidden files?

Regards,
Jim

 

[Burn]

Thanks for the tips guys. Not the solutions that I want, but I guess it will be as good as it gets.