Password protect folder in xp ?

By Groovedude
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Grand Master

RadishTM Veteran

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The only way i know of how to do password protect a folder or now allow users or ppl to see it is EFS (Encrypting File System)

I use FAT32, so i would know how to do it, but i searched Help & Support and found this -

Encrypting File System (EFS) allows users to store their on-disk data in encrypted format.

Encryption is the process of converting data into a format that cannot be read by another user. Once a user has encrypted a file, the file automatically remains encrypted whenever the file is stored on disk.

Decryption is the process of converting data from encrypted format back to its original format. Once a user has decrypted a file, the file remains decrypted whenever the file is stored on disk.

EFS provides the following features:

Users can encrypt their files when storing them on disk. Encryption is as easy as selecting a check box in the file's Properties dialog box.

Accessing encrypted files is fast and easy. Users see their data in plain text when accessing the data from disk.

Encryption of data is accomplished automatically, and is completely transparent to the user.

Users can actively decrypt a file by clearing the Encryption check box on the file's Properties dialog box.

Administrators can recover data that was encrypted by another user. This ensures that data is accessible if the user that encrypted the data is no longer available or has lost their private key.

EFS only encrypts data when it is stored on disk. To encrypt data as it is transported over a TCP/IP network, two optional features are available--Internet Protocol security (IPSec) and PPTP encryption.

Hope this helps....... :)

Radish.

Grand Master

RadishTM Veteran

Posted
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more.........

Encrypting File System Overview -

Encrypting File System (EFS) provides the core file encryption technology used to store encrypted files on NTFS file system volumes. Once you encrypt a file or folder, you work with the encrypted file or folder just as you do with any other files and folders.

Encryption is transparent to the user that encrypted the file. This means that you do not have to manually decrypt the encrypted file before you can use it. You can open and change the file as you normally do.

Using EFS is similar to using permissions on files and folders. Both methods can be used to restrict access to data. However, an intruder who gains unauthorized physical access to your encrypted files or folders will be prevented from reading them. If the intruder tries to open or copy your encrypted file or folder he receives an access denied message. Permissions on files and folders do not protect against unauthorized physical attacks.

You encrypt or decrypt a folder or file by setting the encryption property for folders and files just as you set any other attribute such as read-only, compressed, or hidden. If you encrypt a folder, all files and subfolders created in the encrypted folder are automatically encrypted. It is recommended that you encrypt at the folder level.

You can also encrypt or decrypt a file or folder using the cipher command. For more information see Cipher. For more information about manageability, see Management and Administration.

When you work with encrypted files and folders, keep in mind the following information:

Only files and folders on NTFS volumes can be encrypted. Because WebDAV works with NTFS, NTFS is required when encrypting files over WebDAV.

Files or folders that are compressed cannot also be encrypted. If the user marks a file or folder for encryption, that file or folder will be uncompressed.

Encrypted files can become decrypted if you copy or move the file to a volume that is not an NTFS volume.

Moving unencrypted files into an encrypted folder will automatically encrypt those files in the new folder. However, the reverse operation will not automatically decrypt files. Files must be explicitly decrypted.

Files marked with the System attribute cannot be encrypted, nor can files in the systemroot directory.

Encrypting a folder or file does not protect against deletion or listing files or directories. Anyone with the appropriate permissions can delete or list encrypted folders or files. For this reason, using EFS in combination with NTFS permissions is recommended.

You can encrypt or decrypt files and folders located on a remote computer that has been enabled for remote encryption. However, if you open the encrypted file over the network, the data that is transmitted over the network by this process is not encrypted. Other protocols, such as Single Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) or Internet Protocol security (IPSec), must be used to encrypt data over the wire. WebDAV, however, is able to encrypt the file locally and transmit it in encrypted form.

Radish.

Mentor

sp00nman

Posted
Posted

Winability also has a program called "Folder Guard." Very nice program, except the only problem is it's shareware and expires after 30 days.

HOWEVER, I still use it.. the free trial version only allows you to guard one folder, and after the trial expires you'll get notices saying "Folderguard has expired. Would you like to unprotect this folder?" every so often. BUT... you can eliminate that by guarding it through folder guard first and then ctrl-alt-del and deleting the folderguard.exe file and it wont give you those messages. Only downside is that it you have to do this every time you reboot because the .exe automatically appears when you restart, but it's still a good way to get around it.

If you dont want to go through all of that just get the other apps, but remember this as an alternative because it is very reliable and easy to use.

Collaborator

Kosh Naranek

Posted
Posted

Right Clicking on a folder and then propertiesadvanced ...

Then you wil have a total of four options, one of them being to encrypt and secure the contents of that folder.

However this won't work if your friends can log on with your account.

If they can't ... then it's pretty secure

Apprentice

cp6un

Posted
Posted

The built-in NTFS encryption option is useless if they have access to the same account. You could create your own personal and password-protected account and then another one without password for general use. That way, whatever you encrypt in your password-protected account will be unreachable through the other account. It's probably much safer than using programs which could perhaps be disabled through the Windows task manager or bypassed some other way...

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