is there a way to password protect individual folders?

[bhome83]

I was curious if there is a way to password protect individual folders in windows xp professional? There is one folder I dont want people to go into and was hoping i could put a password on it and only i could get into the folder after typing in the password.

[cmichael258]

Did you try right clicking on the folder, selecting Sharing and Security, then select the box Make This Folder Private

[bhome83]

that box is grayed out.. plus i think that has to do with networking. I want to take it a step deeper so anyone that uses my computer has to know the password before opening the folder.

[Strider]

http://www.truecrypt.org/ - is a great little encryption program and it's FREE! Not only will it protect folders (or entire disk) but it will make them invisible to other users. I think there's a way to make the folders visible to others if you want (I haven't played around with that yet).

[delikios]

Steganos Safe can create encrypted folders with a very high level of encryption. I think that version 7 is free for promotional reasons.

[rv15m]

You can also use Folder Lock (pretty looking interface too) from http://www.newsoftwares.net.

Folder Lock is a fast file-security program that can password-protect, lock, hide and encrypt any number of files, folders, drives, pictures and documents in seconds. Protected files are hidden, undeletable, inaccessible and highly secure. It hides files from kids, friends and co-workers, safeguards them from viruses, trojans, worms and spyware, and even protects them from networked PCs, cable users and hackers. Files can also be protected on USB Flash Drives, Memory Sticks, CD-RW, floppies and notebooks. Protection works even if files are taken from one PC to another on a removable disk, without the need to install any software. It locks files in Windows, DOS and even Safe Modes. Additional Options include Stealth Mode, Hacker Attempt Monitoring, Shred files, AutoLock, Auto Shutdown PC, Lock your PC, Erase PC tracks, 256-bit Blowfish Encryption and Context Menu in Explorer. It is Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT/Me/98/98S compatible and works on all kinds of disk types like FAT16, FAT32, NTFS. Folder Lock is the most downloaded file-security program in the market today.

[Fork]

Also, you can try Folder Castle (www.magneticsoft.com). Ascetic design, but imho more functional than Folder Lock.