Shoutbox

What's the best way to password protect a folder?

I just want to password protect a folder in My Documents.

I've tried downloading programs, but most of them hide the folder aswell. I did download a program that just asks for a password, but it's a bit of a hassle and not really what I'm looking for. I just want to double click it and it asks for a password, so no family members can access it.

Is there a way I can do this in windows, without a program?

P.S. Just a simple password protection, no encryption or anything.

you can disable access to my documents from other accounts if that what you want

control panel > user accounts > and i think it asks you when u add a password to your account. i'm not sure since i already have one and i dont want to remove it then readd it

Don't use a folder but a password protected Archive (RAR, 7zip)

All security built into Windows is account level -- it won't ask for a password for a certain folder, but it could allow or deny access to the folder based on which Windows user account is trying to access it.

To use that, you'd want to password protect your Windows account.  If you currently use only one account on the computer, you would need to switch to separate accounts for yourself and others.  That is a good idea anyway -- it lets everyone have their own preferences, favorites, documents and so forth. 

I am afraid that is all you can do if you don't want to use third party software. 

quote:

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Originally posted by Adeptus
All security built into Windows is account level -- it won't ask for a password for a certain folder, but it could allow or deny access to the folder based on which Windows user account is trying to access it.

To use that, you'd want to password protect your Windows account.  If you currently use only one account on the computer, you would need to switch to separate accounts for yourself and others.  That is a good idea anyway -- it lets everyone have their own preferences, favorites, documents and so forth. 

I am afraid that is all you can do if you don't want to use third party software.

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I didn't notice microsoft got rid of this until a couple of months ago
I remember being able to password files and folders that you wanted to back about 15 years ago and I thought I was just blind that I couldn't find how to do this until I did some research and found the answer.  I wish microsoft would bring this back, it was quite useful.

quote:

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Originally posted by markee

quote:

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Originally posted by Adeptus
All security built into Windows is account level -- it won't ask for a password for a certain folder, but it could allow or deny access to the folder based on which Windows user account is trying to access it.

To use that, you'd want to password protect your Windows account.  If you currently use only one account on the computer, you would need to switch to separate accounts for yourself and others.  That is a good idea anyway -- it lets everyone have their own preferences, favorites, documents and so forth. 

I am afraid that is all you can do if you don't want to use third party software.

---

I didn't notice microsoft got rid of this until a couple of months ago
I remember being able to password files and folders that you wanted to back about 15 years ago and I thought I was just blind that I couldn't find how to do this until I did some research and found the answer.  I wish microsoft would bring this back, it was quite useful.

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I've been passwording folders since I was 3 too.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Adeptus
All security built into Windows is account level -- it won't ask for a password for a certain folder, but it could allow or deny access to the folder based on which Windows user account is trying to access it.

To use that, you'd want to password protect your Windows account.  If you currently use only one account on the computer, you would need to switch to separate accounts for yourself and others.  That is a good idea anyway -- it lets everyone have their own preferences, favorites, documents and so forth. 

I am afraid that is all you can do if you don't want to use third party software.

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That will work but won't be save... you can just login with another admin account delete the password for that account and login...

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris4
What's the best way to password protect a folder?

I just want to password protect a folder in My Documents.

I've tried downloading programs, but most of them hide the folder aswell. I did download a program that just asks for a password, but it's a bit of a hassle and not really what I'm looking for. I just want to double click it and it asks for a password, so no family members can access it.

Is there a way I can do this in windows, without a program?

P.S. Just a simple password protection, no encryption or anything.

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Take a look at some relativly new tool from Microsoft for Windows XP: "My Private Folder".

This extremely small tool integrates perfectly into Windows XP and provides you with a password protected folder. Nothing needs to be run in the background. No other user except you will be able to access the folder.



note that you can't download it anymore from the official MS download center because of this.

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Also read this for another way which requires nothing at all:
http://www.infosrama.com/digitalseeker/2006/06/mi...how-to-set-as.html