Passwording Folders on XP

[Dean C]

I want to be able to password folders on windows xp home. You can't do this standardly so is their a program somewhere that would allow me to do this?

Note: this needs to be a full product that doesn't expire after 30 days and it must be free lol

Thanks in Advance

- miSt

[Joe Gronlund]

have you disabled simple file sharing, in my computer , tools, folder options, view?

[Wayne Luke]

You can try PGP 8.0 (www.pgp.com) which works with XP. The version with disk encryption isn't free but it is a solid package.

The alternative is to make the folders private and only move the stuff you want to share with others to a publicly shared file. If you upgrade to Windows XP Professional, you can assign passwords to your shares.

[Lil Kid]

Make sure also that your hard disk is in NTFS format for making things private etc, you can't do it with FAT.

Sam

[Dean C]

Wayne - can you upgrade from xp home to xp proffesional then?

- miSt

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by Mist
Wayne - can you upgrade from xp home to xp proffesional then?

- miSt

Yes...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...ing/matrix.asp

[Dean C]

Thanks Wayne

I might just go n get me xp proffesional soon

- miSt

[CeleronXT]

It would be nice if Microsoft would just put a built-in feature to password protect folders. It's been a desired feature for a long time, and it's rather surprising that it hasn't been added yet.

[Techguy1]

Well with NTFS who needs folder passwords? I think permission-based system is much more efficient. You can pinpoint the permission you want.

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by Techguy1
Well with NTFS who needs folder passwords? I think permission-based system is much more efficient. You can pinpoint the permission you want.

You don't have those permissions in the HOME version.

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by CeleronXT
It would be nice if Microsoft would just put a built-in feature to password protect folders. It's been a desired feature for a long time, and it's rather surprising that it hasn't been added yet.

Actually XP Professional has this built in. XP Home is built for just that... The most common scenario in a Home Environment is one computer and the Private folders handles all the security that you need to have and keep people out of your files. That is a standard feature in XP Home.

At the most with XP Home, you will have a peer-to-peer network. 95% of the consumers in this world do not need server level security like Linux pundits would have you believe. They control who accesses their machines physically and therefore control their files. At this level you do not need to have password protected directories. That feature is better left to the business desktop where you have domain controllers, shared resources and lots of people on the network with little control over direct access to PC's.

By tying password protected folders and shares with the advanced networking capabilities of XP Professional, you are not needlessly confusing the average consumer.

Technically according to Microsoft's own website, most people who use this website will be underserved by XP Home and should be using Professional anyway and would have the features they need to do this built in.

[CeleronXT]

Yeah, I need XP Pro, but don't have the cash for it. :-/ Would you say that the few extra features that XP Pro has over Home is worth an entire $100 extra? Especially considering that the entire XP Home is $100, would you say that Pro has a solid double set of features than Home?

Otherwise I'd get it.

[Wayne Luke]

Personally, I feel that the money invested in XP Pro is well worth it in the capabilities it adds to the table of a developer.

[CeleronXT]

So in your opinion, Pro does have 2x the features and is therefore worth 2x the cost? I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, I've never used Pro in a production environment.. The most I've ever used it is 1-2 mins in a store.

[Wayne Luke]

No, I am not saying it has twice the number of features. I am saying that the added features it does have are worth the added cost. Some features are worth more than others. I would say that IIS is worth more than say Calculator and the capability to connect to a properly secured network is worth more than being able to hook up a peer-to-peer network. File Encryption and Security services are definately worth more than the simple crippled NTFS system that XP Home supports and worth the added cost on their own. Being able to use MSDE and the .NET development tools is another big plus in my book that justifies the cost of XP Professional.

I look at the value I get for the whole package though instead of trying to assign a dollar value to feature X, Y, and Z. On the other hand, your opinions and priorities might be different and therefore you will not perceive the same value for the package as I do.