Password Protection

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry Bennett
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Terry Bennett

I am grateful to Bruce and Rick for their kind responses to my query
yesterday about password-protecting folders, but the suggestions haven't
really solved the problem.

I am simply trying to limit access to a single folder on an external hard
drive so that, should this ever be stolen, the contents would be difficult
(maybe not impossible) to access. Is there a simple way of doing this?

(Bruce/Rick - perhaps I should have been more specific. Your solutions
sound great but none of them work for this particular application!)
 
Terry said:
I am grateful to Bruce and Rick for their kind responses to my query
yesterday about password-protecting folders, but the suggestions
haven't really solved the problem.

I am simply trying to limit access to a single folder on an external
hard drive so that, should this ever be stolen, the contents would be
difficult
(maybe not impossible) to access. Is there a simple way of doing
this?

(Bruce/Rick - perhaps I should have been more specific. Your
solutions sound great but none of them work for this particular
application!)
Click to expand...

You may want to encrypt the files. I certainly wouldn't do this with
Microsoft's EFS (and if you have Home Edition I don't believe you can,
anyway). Here are links to third-party software. I haven't used any of
these programs myself, but I got the links from MVP Torgeir Bakken.

SafeGuard PrivateDisk
http://www.utimaco.com/indexmain.html

(Torgeir is using their "SafeGuard Easy" product for local hard disk
encryption on all laptops, and is very satisfied with the product).

More on encryption from Torgeir: A friend of mine has tested a free
product called TrueCrypt to encrypt data on USB sticks, and he was very
satisfied.

TrueCrypt - http://www.truecrypt.org/

The BestCrypt product found at http://www.jetico.com/ also looks
interesting. Just be sure to export any encryption keys and save them
in a safe place (outside your computer).

Malke
 
Thanks Malke. Having looked at these, and bearing in mind the solutions
suggested by Bruce and Rick, I think the answer to my question is 'no',
there isn't an easy way of doing this. Al of the encryption stuff just
looks far too cumbersome and it's not possible to put passwords on zip or
compressed files on my version of XP.

I just find it very surprising that there's no solution for what would
appear to be a very straightforward issue!

Thanks anyway.
 
Terry said:
Thanks Malke. Having looked at these, and bearing in mind the
solutions suggested by Bruce and Rick, I think the answer to my
question is 'no',
there isn't an easy way of doing this. Al of the encryption stuff
just looks far too cumbersome and it's not possible to put passwords
on zip or compressed files on my version of XP.
Click to expand...

Use WinZip then. You can password-protect zipped files with WinZip. I
don't know if you can also encrypt but I'm sure their website has that
information.

Malke
 
Sun said:
Use WinZip then. You can password-protect zipped files with WinZip. I
don't know if you can also encrypt but I'm sure their website has that
information.
Click to expand...

As does the help file. :-)

There are two choices, "Zip 2.0 encryption" (not recommended by
Winzip) and AES.

Winzip is really excellent product and I heartily recommend it. It's
one of the VERY few system tools that I routinely use in GUI rather
than command line.

http://www.winzip.com
 
Stan

All I am trying to do is to prevent unauthorised access to a single folder
which is stored on an external hard drive. There were various solutions
suggested for this but I either didn't understand them or couldn't make them
work. The same, I regret, is the case with your own suggestion .

Although I can easily create a new compressed folder I can see no way in
which this can be password-protected. Can you tell me, specifically, how
this is achieved?

Many thanks.

Terry
 
Fri, 16 Dec 2005 21:44:54 -0000 from Terry Bennett <terry.bennett1
@virgin.net>:
All I am trying to do is to prevent unauthorised access to a single folder
which is stored on an external hard drive. There were various solutions
suggested for this but I either didn't understand them or couldn't make them
work. The same, I regret, is the case with your own suggestion .

Although I can easily create a new compressed folder I can see no way in
which this can be password-protected. Can you tell me, specifically, how
this is achieved?
Click to expand...

Run Winzip, and check "Encrypt added files" in the dialog box that
appears when you add files to the archive.
 
Thanks Stan but really far too cumbersome. Seems to want to add a password
to every file in the folder which is not what I want to do, and comes-up
with error messages in the process.

Think I'll just have to accept that this can't be done.
 
Terry said:
Thanks Stan but really far too cumbersome. Seems to want to add a
password to every file in the folder which is not what I want to do,
and comes-up with error messages in the process.

Think I'll just have to accept that this can't be done.
Click to expand...

On the contrary, it *can* be done and you were given a lot of different
ways to do it. For whatever reason, you didn't want to use third-party
encryption programs like SafeGuard PrivateDisk or WinZip, or use XP's
built-in zipping functionality, etc.

You might consider taking the machine to a local professional and have
them set you up and then give you a simple "click here" set of
instructions. I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings; we all have
our areas of expertise. But to say that you can't protect a file folder
is inaccurate.

Malke
 
Malke

What I should have said (and the prefix that I used in previous postings) is
that this cannot be done 'simply'. I studied all of the advice given (for
which I am, genuinely, very grateful) but each of the products suggested
seemed to offer a panoply of features way beyond what I need. For somebody
who has no occasion to use encryption or any of the more advanced features
of Widows, it needs to be simple.

I believe that this group is titled 'Windowsxp.**basics**'?!

So, I am afraid that I do remain of the opinion that there is no 'simple'
way of doing this ... although others may of course disagree.

Terry
 
Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:06:02 -0000 from Terry Bennett <terry.bennett1
@virgin.net>:
Thanks Stan but really far too cumbersome. Seems to want to add a password
to every file in the folder which is not what I want to do, and comes-up
with error messages in the process.
Click to expand...

What error messages?

As for passwording every file in the folder, you seem to be changing
the rules. Previously you did want every file passworded. But it's
simple enough (unless you're just trolling): add the files you want
to encrypt in one operation, and add the others in a second
operation. Winzip is quite happy to have some files encrypted and
some not.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
A: Maybe because some people are too annoyed by top-posting.
Q: Why do I not get an answer to my question(s)?
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
 
I've never said that I want every file in the folder with an individual
password - I simply want to protect the whole folder. I don't want to have
to input a password every time I open each of the 100+ files in the folder.

So, here is what I am doing:

a) Select folder that needs protecting
b) Right click
c) Select 'Send To', then 'Compressed (zipped) folder'
d) This then creates another folder
e) Select the new zipped folder
f) Right-clicking this gives no password options
g) Double-click zipped folder
h) Select folder within the zipped folder (same name)
i) Click 'File' on toolbar
j) 'Add a Password'
k) This then starts going through each file in the folder adding passwords
individually to each of them. This then 'hangs' after a dozen or so files
and generates the error message
l) The error message is "Cannot create output file"

I cannot find Winzip anywhere else on the PC (not in programmes list) - this
is the only way I can access it.
 
Terry said:
I've never said that I want every file in the folder with an
individual password - I simply want to protect the whole folder. I
don't want to have to input a password every time I open each of the
100+ files in the folder.
So, here is what I am doing:

a) Select folder that needs protecting
b) Right click
c) Select 'Send To', then 'Compressed (zipped) folder'
d) This then creates another folder
e) Select the new zipped folder
f) Right-clicking this gives no password options
g) Double-click zipped folder
h) Select folder within the zipped folder (same name)
i) Click 'File' on toolbar
j) 'Add a Password'
k) This then starts going through each file in the folder adding
passwords individually to each of them. This then 'hangs' after a
dozen or so files and generates the error message
l) The error message is "Cannot create output file"

I cannot find Winzip anywhere else on the PC (not in programmes list)
- this is the only way I can access it.
Click to expand...


That's presumably because you don't have Winzip installed.

Winzip is a third-party shareware program for sale, not part of Windows.

What you are using above is Windows XP's built-in zip handling feature, not
Winzip.
 
I've never said that I want every file in the folder with an individual
password - I simply want to protect the whole folder. I don't want to have
to input a password every time I open each of the 100+ files in the folder.

So, here is what I am doing:

a) Select folder that needs protecting
b) Right click
c) Select 'Send To', then 'Compressed (zipped) folder'
d) This then creates another folder
e) Select the new zipped folder
f) Right-clicking this gives no password options
g) Double-click zipped folder
h) Select folder within the zipped folder (same name)
i) Click 'File' on toolbar
j) 'Add a Password'
k) This then starts going through each file in the folder adding passwords
individually to each of them. This then 'hangs' after a dozen or so files
and generates the error message
l) The error message is "Cannot create output file"

I cannot find Winzip anywhere else on the PC (not in programmes list) - this
is the only way I can access it.
Click to expand...

Terry, using XP's zip utility (Compressed Folders), you would click to
highlight the zip file in Windows Explorer. Then click on File>Add a
Password. Using the screens that appear would password protect the zip
file. It's not very obvious where/how to do add the password but it is
possible to do.
 
Sharon - thanks but please see above. It's a folder that I want to protect
and that's what I was doing.
 
Sharon - thanks but please see above. It's a folder that I want to protect
and that's what I was doing.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand that but using XP tools only, your choices are a zipped
folder or encryption. Third party tools give all kinds of options and vary
in simplicity/complexity of use. Perhaps that is the direction you should
be looking in to protect that folder's contents?
 
Sat, 17 Dec 2005 20:21:23 -0000 from Terry Bennett <terry.bennett1
@virgin.net>:
I cannot find Winzip anywhere else on the PC (not in programmes list) - this
is the only way I can access it.
Click to expand...

Dude, maybe if you spent more time reading the replies and less time
complaining...

I gave you the URL for Winzip when I first suggested it.
 
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