Hiding naughty photos on my computer?

[Guest]

all i want is something simple to allow me to password protect a folder so that my computer illiterate girlfriend/relatives can't get in

 

 

 

Check out Hide Folders http://www.fspro.net/ I use it on XP to keep my kids out of my personal materials. Very easy to use. Paid version gives password protection and other options. Will hide folders and clear recent documents list with the click of a mouse or when you shutdown.

[SoiledCowboy]

You must be far more trusting than myself in others abilities, their curiosities about what is in that hiden folder and how to access its contents. When using tools to hide folders, that is exactly what it does, the bloody files are still there for all and sundry on your drive, they are only hidden when XP boots into the operating system and loads that program (generally) - don't boot into XP using a DOS startup disc (or rescue disc or whatever) and voila, your files are not being protected and are accessible. Hiding folders etc is all smoke & mirrors, David Copperfield stuff, only use it for convenience and never if you really, really DO NOT WANT others to know the contents if you can't afford the consequences.

[Guest]

Just trying to answer the mans question. I am under the impression that he is not trying to hide anything from a snoop but just looking for a simple application to keep someone from clicking on a folder and having his naughty photos pop out. Simple as that. bahnawk

[ALHOLK]

Hi!

 

 

 

You're correct about the swap file. What I haven't seen mentioned here is erasing file slack. While not an issue for naughty photos it is a potential security problem.

 

 

 

The 7 pass overwrite is probably sufficient but paranoid people don't trust it. The free program eraser overites a file 35 times by default. It can be downloaded from here:

 

 

 

http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/

 

 

 

There is also a link to a scientific paper on retrieving deleted information from magnetic surfaces.

 

 

 

regards

 

 

 

ALHOLK

[Guest]

Post deleted by DoxyBlue

[ALHOLK]

Hi!

 

 

 

Sorry about that, I should have tested it. It looks right in the post but links to http:///. I just cut and pasted from the site.

 

 

 

regards

 

 

 

ALHOLK

 

 

[Guest]

Post deleted by DoxyBlue

[SoiledCowboy]

Yes, I do realise what type of "security" or protection he is probably wanting, but I am still trying to get the point accross that simply putting a cover over the monitor will give him about the same level of security/privacy for his files/folders that a folder hiding utility or their ilk would effectively give - or taking the keyboard away with you when leaving the PC would do a similiar job - what's the point in paying good money for software that is so futile that it should be free? Everyones' time and money is precious these days so why not get "proper" software/protection for similiar money & effort? I reiterate, if you cannot cope with the consequences of your private data being revealed, eg little Johnny viewing your 3inabedwithmeinbangkok2002.jpg's etc, then afford them quality protection, it's too late to be sorry later.

[ALHOLK]

Actually I screwed up while cutting and pasting but have edited now so the original link should work.

 

 

 

regards

 

 

 

ALHOLK

 

 

[kingkong]

A good solution is to pack the files into a zip file with an anonymous name and then encrypt the file. I prefer Cryptext cause it's so simple to use. It's freeware and you can get it here: http://www.pcug.org.au/~njpayne/

 

 

 

If you choose to use the file system encryption in NTFS you MUST remember to copy the encryption key to a diskette sooner rather than later. Otherwise if you happen to reinstall Windows, your files will be gone forever. The encryption used in the latest versions use 128bit keys which means that you will NOT be able to crack it.