Software to password protect folders

[sram]

Hello. I'm an admin for a small network at work. Some people want to lock their folders so that only them can access them. They can see them, but not enter inside.

I know they are various methods this is done and one of the easiest is just putting things in a RAR file and putting a password on it. I also tried some software that locks folders but I didn't like how they work.

What I want is simply something that will make some folders I specify accessible only by entering a password-as simple as that.ie: you double click the folder, and you will be prompted to enter a password. So, only those who have the password can enter.

Please tell me of a program that can do this or something very similar to it.

Many thanks,

sram

 

[Snowknight26]

Why not just use NTFS permissions?

 

[sram]

Why not just use NTFS permissions?

Can you please tell me how exactly? The network is a workgroup, can one peer create a folder and limit access to it?

I don't exactly know how that's done, and I'll be grateful if you can show me how.


Thanks.

 

[sram]

Can you please tell me how exactly? The network is a workgroup, can one peer create a folder and limit access to it?

I don't exactly know how that's done, and I'll be grateful if you can show me how.


Thanks.

To make it more clear:

All peers in the workgroup network access a huge shared drive connected to the main machine(if you wanna call it that just because it has the storage). This drive is shared of course and people can read and write from/to it. In this case, are permissions made when sharing the drive in the machine having the drive? Or can a peer later create a folder in the shared drive and limit the access to it? And how? I don't see how a peer can prevent another peer from accessing a certain folder in a shared drive from a third peer using NTFS permissions. They are all peers you know.

NTFS permissions is one of the things I haven't ever used really in windows...

 

[zero2dash]

Good article on NTFS permissions (pertains to Win2k, but the information is still correct with XP/Vista/7).

You can't hide folders or files, but you can deny access to them based on user account/name or account credentials (user vs administrator, hr vs accounting [group vs group] etc). You have to set the permissions to allow or deny access on each folder or file by user, and when they try to open the folder, they are either allowed access and can view the contents of the folder/file, or they are given an 'access denied' message.

My suggestion to you would be to give each user or department their own folder, dump all the files into that folder, and then assign permissions to the folder itself - similar to using user groups to consolidate specific users into having certain permissions or resources (rather than having to specify on a per-file basis).

 

[sram]

Good article on NTFS permissions (pertains to Win2k, but the information is still correct with XP/Vista/7).

You can't hide folders or files, but you can deny access to them based on user account/name or account credentials (user vs administrator, hr vs accounting [group vs group] etc). You have to set the permissions to allow or deny access on each folder or file by user, and when they try to open the folder, they are either allowed access and can view the contents of the folder/file, or they are given an 'access denied' message.

My suggestion to you would be to give each user or department their own folder, dump all the files into that folder, and then assign permissions to the folder itself - similar to using user groups to consolidate specific users into having certain permissions or resources (rather than having to specify on a per-file basis).

Okay thanks, I'll read that article. BUT, I have a workgroup network, not client/server type. Correct me if i'm wrong, but my understanding is that in a client/server environment, the server will be creating users and give them permissions. However, in a workgroup, all computers are just peers and no one have power over the other, right?

In the NTFS permissions window, ; you can create a group of users and give it certain access rights, but is it that designed for client/server network?

Forget workgroup network, say i'm only talking about one computer( in a family house for example), and there are 3 user accounts; can one user restrict access to a folder he created from other users using NTFS permissions? How can he do that ? If it is possible that is.

 

[bigdogchris]

You could just have them use EFS to encrypt the folder. Then they will be the only person that can open it and there will not be passwords, but it has to be on their own computer

But MAKE SURE they back up their account certificate with the credential manager. Put the backup in a safe location. If you wipe the machine, it crashes, etc., without first unencrypting the data, and you don't have a backup of their certificate, you're screwed.