okay people i had a member ask earlyer how to lock folder and or a file and i had the answer, and i though to my self after i had written it maybe everyone may need to do thsi so ill post it into a tutorial, okay so i wrote this for someoneelse earlyer and am posting it here for all to see:

you dont need software to lock a folder or add a password to a folder right okay this is my little tutorial on how to lock a folder, here we go first things first you need a random folder or the folder you wish to lcok then put what ever you want to lock into the folder, then right click on the folder and click send to>compressed (zipped) folder, ok then when you have your zipped folder hide or delete the old folder as it is the zipped folder that you need to lock it, okay then double clikc on your zipped folder and it will open up then, click file then you will see extract all files then under that you will see add password then clikc that and then a dialouge box will open up and ask you for a pass word entre your password and then clcik ok,

now the folder is locked ok now just test that it works clcik your way througha dn try to open teh file you have, then it should bring up another dialouge box asking you to enter your password enter the password and oyu can see the file you locked, wiht this method you have the ability to lock thousands on files all with the same password, the only problem is that when its locked it is locked and theres not a way top get around the locking process so i recomend that you have a backup of the files you have locked, so there you have it you can now lock and unlock files, thanks for reading and i hope that this has helped, so what are you trying to lock anyways why dont you want anyone to get to thsi secret file? anyways hope this has helped!

really hope this has helped some people and i hope it was easy to follow and good luck with locking you files and folders, as i siad earlyer please remeber to keep a backup of the files so that you dont lose your work, good luck and have fun with it,

cant you hide the folder and add a password?

if you really want to hide something, you should also get a file/harddrive encryptor. there are many free ones out there that allow you to scramble the data the way you want to.

yeah you could do that but to keep the data even more secret what you could do is the above and then left clikc on it and then select hidden and the way the folder is shown, thats one way to do it but like you say you would be best to get a free encryption soft ware liek you say there are millions as a matter of fact i ahev a few on my pc, these rock and can work very well although it will never be impossible for people to hide files totally as there are hundreds of ways to get the data back, although the best way to eliminate any one gettign any of you data is to get a big baseball bat and smash the hell out of you hard drive then it would be near impossible to retreive the data, although i say near impossible because i suppose oen very clever person may be able to get it back, but there we go im starting to drabble on and its late so i gotta go to bed now see ya later guys and have fun with hiding all you files and password protectign them,

i think one programs do that
i think thats name is lock folder , 2 years ago i download it form www.download.com website . but its not free software .
this software allow to you put password on folders . when you want to view folder you must enter password .

I thi nk that one of the things he mentioned in his tutorial was that this was the free way of doing it. I also wanted to mention that making the file hidden on top of passwording it is definately a good idea. My computer is passworded but I have it set up so that it will login on its own after a few seconds. My personal files are not passworded but you would have to have the password to get to any of the system files. So if anyone was to try to mess up my system they would have to get my password first.

Oooo, this is an interesting thing, I've never thought that it was possible to lock folders and files on a computer. This will be very helpful if it works, I'm going to go try it now. lol, thanks for this. Hopefully I won't mess up and will get it right.

Its not really locking it, its compressing all the files in that folder into one file, then being able to unzip it all when u need it, or unzip individual files and use them. u cant use this for an executable file that relies on one or more other files int aht same folder cuz theyd be compressed when u tried to load the exe

also, just another suggestion, before trying this on any major files that may be on you computer, you should make a file and name it anything and put a bunch of blank documents or somthing in there, and THEN try this process of locking the folders on that foler befoe you try it on an important file because lord knows there is no way of reteiving the lost password if it doesn't work as well as you want it...

that is another thing to keep in mind, you cannot retreive the password if you ever loose it

Any way to do it that doesn't involve compression?

there is a more simple way then how you when you say zip folder and the window pops up for you to select a path you can just click add password and set they encryption type, locking folders without encryption hmmm.. not sure maybe if you look on google i know u can do it to harddrives.

You can do it without using compression using one of the web's many free utilities. I've used Steganos Security Suite before and it supports file hiding/encryption.

lol. .i don't know if anyone has mentioned it.. but you could try an encript your files. This is a lot safer to do because there are programs that allows you to decript the password in zip file. It might take a while for them to get the password but it is definitlly possible.

On the other hand, encripting the file is much harder to try to descript without the right security certificate. Even if a hacker get into your computer and steal the file, it would be harder for them to open the file.

Note: before you try to encript all your files, make sure have backed up all your security certificate. Without it, you won't be able to access the file yourself.

To encript a file, right click on the file and select properites. Then under attributes, click "advanced" and select encrypt contents to secure file.

Yep, I downloaded the same exact thing. Its a really good program until 2 weeks or so when the trial time runs out. I used it to keep my noisy family out of my private files except it just stopped working so I had to find a new software. I couldn't find anything better so now I just create archives by using WinRAR and put a password on the archive so when you try to unRAR it, it asks for a password. This is an alright tecnique until your file size reaches above a gigabyte because it will take about 2 minutes to unRAR the entire archive unless you only want to unRAR one file at a time.

I cant findmy files..
How To Lock A Folder And Keep It Private

I've downloaded programs which can hide and lock your folders/files.
I installed them at that same day, and then lock some of my files and folders.

I've deleted some of the programs, and then when I looked at my files
I cant seem to find them. I already uninstall and deleted all the remaining programs but still I cant find my files.

When I checked my main folder (I mean where my locked/hidden folders were) the size of it is still the same but when I opened it the folders werent showing.

I hope you understand what I said. ..Its kinda confusing I know..Please help me. Email me. I need to find my files.

-reply by lehteb

how to lock the folder/file??
How To Lock A Folder And Keep It Private

Yes you can lock your folder or file using command prompt.



-reply by ritesh

Hi,


If you are using a shared computer and do not want to allow other users to access your files, and you have Windows XP Professional or Windows NT 4.0 installed on your computer then the following procedure may help you: (The procedure for Windows XP 2000 Server or Windows XP Server 2003 is different.)

Requirements: (You have to log on as an administrator or as a member of the administrator group to perform the following operations.)

1. You must have NTFS file system on the target hard drive which your folder(s) are stored in. If you are not sure which file system you have on that hard drive then right click the drive from My Computer and then click Properties from the menu (see Figure. 1) and proceed. If not you can easily convert your desired FAT or FAT32 drive to NTFS using the "convert" command from the command prompt. (More help on this command is included in your Windows OS Help and Support Center.)
   
   
   
   Figure. 1
   
   
2. Right-click the folder you want to set as private and then click Properties from the menu.
   
3. Click the Advanced button and then check the box which says: "Encrypt contents to secure data" (see Figure. 2) and then press OK. Press OK again.
   
   
   
   Figure. 2
   
   
4. If you have followed up the procedure correctly the target folder will show up in green and you are done. Now your folder will not be accessible for other accounts on the same computer such as guest accounts or other administrator accounts. Nobody except you will be able to decrypt, copy, modify, open, or execute them.
   

At the end I want to share a common problem with you that I faced it once and I lost all my own encrypted short stories, articles, and poems.

Do not forget to decrypt your files or save a backup to a FAT or FAT32 hard drive, or write them to a portable media, before you decide to install a fresh copy of Windows.


I wish you a great time.

Regards,

CyrusX

(The original material and photos offered here do not provide any guarantee for the user. It is a little note just to help others. Any possible damage caused by this procedure will be the user's own responsibility.)

Hi,

Using third-part software to provide file and folder-level security..Mmm.. It's not the solution I usually recommend to users. What I actually recommend is what I described in nearly full details in this same topic. But to offer you some solution I will try to open a path to your lost files if you are using Microsoft Windows 9.x, Me, 2000, NT 4.0, XP (all four editions), Windows 2000 Server, or Windows Server 2003. (I know how it feels because I lost my files once dude.)

• To begin, please go to Start>Run and then type "cmd". The Windows command prompt appears.
  
• Then change the directory with "cd" command and enter the exact path to your desired destination when you think you lost your files and press Enter.(If your files were/are in a different volume rather than the default root then first change the hard drive and then proceed with the instructions.)
  
• At the prompt type

  CODE

  dir /a
  first and press Enter(or Return key) to list the main directories along with the hidden files in your folder. If it scrolled up use a pipe like

  CODE

  dir /a | more
  to see the directories page by page. If you cannot see your files go to the next step.
  
• Type

  CODE

  cls
  and press Enter to clear the screen output and then type

  CODE

  attrib -h /S /D
  without braces and press Enter. The attribution of all hidden files in the directory will be set to visible. Try again using "dir" from the command prompt or simply close it and browse with Windows Explorer to see if your files are there again. (more help on command "attrib" is available by typing

  CODE

  help attrib
  in the command prompt.)
  
• If you are still unable to see your files then open command prompt again. Change the directory to the desired destination and then use

  CODE

  attrib -s /S /D
  to make all super-hidden system files visible. (This action is not recommended for Windows beginners.)
  
• If it does not solve your problem again you might be infected by a virus. The settings are still available from the Windows Registry but it does not recommended if you are not an advanced user of Windows.
  

Let's help each other. Chekhov once said: "Happiness does not and should not exist. If life has some meaning it is not to reach happiness. But it is to do good things for people as much as you can...".


May God bless your soul.


Regards,


CyrusX

there is a freeware name TrueCrypt see http://www.truecrypt.org/
it can encrypt all your harddrive!! Its performance is good and fast.

The steps are
1. Create a large file as storage, if you create 1 GB file, you have a storage of 1 GB
2. The created file (*.tc) must be mounted using TrueCrypt and it becomes a new harddrive on your computer
3. Double click this harddrive, and you can move file into it, delete, play and copy or do anything that you can do on a real harddrive
4. If you dismount this drive, the drive is gone from your computer, all you have is that 1 GB large file. This file cannot be opened using any other tools because it is encrypted. The method of encryption is different from what is used in text base encryption, it in fact encrypt the header of the allocation table, while only a password can decrypt this allocation table, thus your file when stored in this 1 gb file is not stored based on sequence of free space, but it is randomly put inside.

Thanks for adding that part about NTFS permissions and encryption, CyrusX. I was going to do so myself, but you have done the subject justice. I would also add that having a USB thumb drive or similar removable storage device is also a good way to protect valuable data. That way you don't keep your information on the local computer anyway, so it is away from prying eyes. This method is also useful for when using publicly accessible computers, such as at a library, internet cafe, etc. Just make sure that when you connect the device, it is not automatically shared, otherwise some unscrupulous admin on the network can access and copy your files while the device is connected. I personally use my 2GB miniSD card from my smartphone to store any critical, sensitive files, and can connect to it using an inexpensive USB card reader that I plug into the USB port when I go to an internet cafe. This also contains an encrypted copy of my password database, so no matter where I am, I have access to all my passwords. Also, I keep my Internet favorites/Bookmarks on it so they are portable too. Kinda handy when you're away from your home computer a lot.

One way to make a compressed folder idiot proof (i dont know if this works on anything but windows)
Rename the compressed zipped folder, and remove the .zip bit, so that windows doesnt recognise it, it will no display a corrupted file, to get it back, rename it and add the .zip bit back.

I cant guarantee this will work, dot try it on anything important, and dont blame me if it goes wrong!

Is it just me, or is all this way too complicated? On Linux, a simple CHMOD to 700 will do the trick Only you will have access to it, and no other user will even be able to see it.



That won't work on Linux/Mac. Only Windows is foolish enough to trust the file extensions to determine a file type. Linux/Mac use the headers within the file to determine it's type. Hence the reason that you don't need file extensions on anything except Windows.

Let's open up the file in notepad.



HMM I WONDER!
It should be pretty obvious that there's a file hidden in there. Also I know that PK means it's a .zip..
Open it up in winrar and it works fine - you don't even need to change the extension
(worse method: compress into a .rar - the Rar! at the start when opened with notepad isn't at all obvious)

Also I'm pretty sure there's a script out there for windows that analyses the header and determines what file type it is - I've came across it some time a few years ago...

locking a folderHow To Lock A Folder And Keep It Private

This did not work for me as when it asks you to put a password in, it atual asks if there are any files that have a password. Not atualy asks for the passwords of the files. I still need an easy way to put a password on a folder. So when you click on it a popup comes up and asks for a password.

-reply by skeptic

locking a folder and keeping it private has never been so easy and secure,

1st we used to just right click and then gointo properties, then into hide.... and then in folder option we used to click on : "donot show hidden files"; but this is a very common technique, which can be easily identified.

As the technology improvised, more and more techniques of hiding a folder came to light such as those mentioned below:

1. hiding access to a folder by creating an "invisible" icon.
2. hiding access to a folder by encrypting it and making it unreadable.
3. hiding access to a folder by password protecting it.

but not all or most of them arent meant to be the best secure way of hiding it. still the technology has to evolve and then v can expect for a better way/best way of hiding a folder from unwanted access.

Works even in windows 7?How To Lock A Folder And Keep It Private

I want to make one of my folders private but I really don't know how to set a password on it. I cant find any tutorials that work on windows 7.All I see is website that needs to buy a software for that.Is there any way I can do it for free?Help me please.

-question by Hanna

Okay, IHow To Lock A Folder And Keep It Private

I've been reading your guy's conversation and I am totally lost. I am just trying to figure out how to put a password on a file, and I hit the 'Hide' button and I can't figure out how to get my folder back. Oh, I have Windows 7, by the way.

So my questions are: How do I get my file back? and How do I put a password on it? 

-reply by Morgan

Steps: 1- make a new folder ( name it as you like ) 2- inside this folder make a (.TXT ) file & copy the following inside it: CODEQuote: cls @ECHO OFF title Folder Private if EXIST "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}& ...more

Title sorta explains. ...more

I know that there may be some tutorials like this in the web, but I made this one a very long time ago . Simple Copy-Paste-Rename-Store-and LOCK. can work anywhere ...more