protecting folders 1

[cmpgeek]

hey yall... i am using Windows XP on my home PC and was wondering something.

My lil girl is 6 and since they are already using PCs in kindergarten now i have gotten her some learning CDs and such so she can use them at home. Usually i would sit there with her and or be sight of her while she was playing her games; but a couple times now i have gone to switch loads of clothes in the washer or something and come back and she has wuit one game and wanted to start another; but instead of opening the folder with all the games listed, she hit the wrong folder and opened one of my important folders... (my quicken program for example)...

someone has told me there are ways of putting passwords on certain folders so that they can not even be opened without it. is that true? also, does that work on shortcut icons as well or just the main folder?

thanks for your time... ShannonLea
Computer Coordinator 4 Surgical Services
Athens Ga

 

[hfriberg]

where to start with this one, are you using XP home or Pro?

There are many ways to protect your files yes, as long as you have formatted your Hard Disk to be NTFS. If it is NTFS first thing to do is setup different accounts (profile logins) for members of your family (make yourself administrator) so you can setup the icons on the desktop for them to use only and for your use also. If you are using NTFS go to the properties of the files you want to protect and change there permissions and only give yourself the rights (administrator rights)to go into these folders (basically password protect every directory that you want exclusive access to.)

If you have no idea what i am writing about you will need to learn alot about setting up this correctly. It will be nice if you do set up user profiles and you will be worry free about your files.

 

[Comtech]

Yup, the simplest way is to set up a limited user account, and let your daughter use that.
Just remove everything that might be tempting for little fingers, from the start menu and desktop.
You can password protect any folder on the computer, and you don't need NTFS to do it. Just open Explorer, and right click the folder, select sharing and security, and go from there.
Logical folders to "lock out" would be c:\windows and c:\documents and settings Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[cmpgeek]

i am using XP home... i had set up a seperate ID for her before; but it seemed to be more of a pain than it was worth at the time... that was why i was wondering if there was a way to password protect my checkbook files and such so that i wouldnt have to do that again... (what i am really hoping to do is find a cheap older PC that we can load her games on and that would completely solve the issue)

thanks for your help ShannonLea
Computer Coordinator 4 Surgical Services
Athens Ga

 

[smah]

For possibly the simplest solution to your specific problem - set a password in Quicken.

 

[bullhlms]

You could also set the folder's attribute to hidden and use tools/folder options to not show hidden folders. Of course you would have to switch it back to access them yourself.

 

[1ian123]

You could also try magic folders. You can download a trial version for free and after 30 days if you like it will cost you $30.00.
The beauty here is you add any folders to your magic folders and password protect. That magic folder is then not accessible to anyone but you.

Can't remember URL. Just do a google seach for MagicFolders

 

[cmpgeek]

1ian123...
i found Magic Folders and downloaded it this weekend - i like it alot... it was exactly the kind of thing we were hoping for... thank you so much for your suggestion!

ShannonLea