What program to put the password on the folder. Using standard tools

22.06.2019 In contact with

In general, all methods for setting a password are as follows:

the user dumps all the data that he would like to protect into one directory;
sets a password for a folder;
the security system encrypts the data;
if necessary, you can enter the folder by entering the password.

The need to hide important files can arise not only when there is a likelihood of physical access, but also from outside penetration, for example, from the network using viruses.

How to put a password on a computer folder using the operating system tools

Unfortunately, there are no standard systems for setting a password in the Windows family. Therefore, you have to use external programs for this. But there is one trick that will allow you not to set a password, but to hide the folder as if it does not exist. Even switching to the hidden files view mode will not help. And only the owner will know where it lies. This method works best on directories that are on the desktop. First, we need any folder.

Right-click on it, select "Properties" and look for the "Settings" tab.

Here we are interested in the "Change Icon" button. After clicking on it, a window will open with several standard display options. You need to scroll the slider slightly to the right to an empty space and select it. After applying the parameters, you need to click OK, then again.

As a result, the folder will be left without any icon.

However, the name remains, which gives it away. Unfortunately, Windows will not allow you to save a directory without a name or with a simple space. But we can always insert a non-breaking space. This can be done using the Alt-code, that is, a set of characters that become available when you press the Alt key + a combination of numbers. Click on our folder, select rename and, instead of the old name, enter 0160 while holding down the Alt key. That's all, the folder is not visible, but it exists. The only drawback of this method is that you can "grope" it on the desktop of some versions of Windows, for example, 7, by moving the mouse over the desktop or by selecting an area with our folder.

Naturally, the method is the simplest, and a person who is well versed in computers will be able to find the hidden directory if necessary, but if there is no other possibility, then it can be used as an option. By the way, a table of Alt codes can be found on Wikipedia, which can sometimes help out when working with text.

How to password protect an Ecxel or Word file

Office suites Word and Excel have their own password protection systems for files. But there are a lot of versions of the programs themselves, so let's go through them in order. Versions of Word, up to 2003 inclusive, can be protected through the "Tools" menu, in which you need to find "Options", go to them and go to the "Security" tab.

In the block "Encryption parameters for this document", in the "Password to open a file" field, you just need to enter the password and click OK. Naturally, then the entire document should be saved.

How to put a password on a Word file? Here the scheme has changed a little. The Office logo is responsible for the menu, and you must click on it. The item "Prepare" will give us another menu, in which we need to find "Encrypt document". The system will ask you to specify the password, which must be saved by clicking OK.

Setting a password for a Word 2007 file

Before you password protect the Word 2010 file, you need to go to "File", "Information", then "Protect Document" and encrypt with a password. By the way, in newer versions, for example, 2013, this process is performed in a similar way.

Now a little about Excel. It is also presented in several versions, which were released at different times. Since the office usually comes out in batches, in Excel all actions are performed similarly to Word. That is, in Excel 2003, you can protect a file with a password like this.

In the 2007 version, just like in Word, you can password protect the file through the Office logo.

Well, in versions higher than 2010, the protection is set in almost the same way.

By the way, in other programs of the Microsoft Office suite, you can set a password as well.

How to make a password for a folder on a computer with archivers

Any archiver contains a mechanism for encrypting archives with protection. This can be used to hide important data. However, this is a rather inconvenient way, since you have to unpack the archive every time you need access. But it can be suitable in cases where you need to save data for a long time, for example, when leaving on a business trip or vacation. Before you can password-protect a folder on your desktop or directly on your hard drive, you need to have one of the archivers installed on the system.

How to password protect a folder on a PC using WinRar

Hiding a directory in an archive with WinRar is as easy as shelling pears. Before you put a password on a folder in Windows 7, you must first install this archiver. Find the folder that we want to hide, right-click on it and select “Add to archive” or “Add to archive” for the English version in the context menu.

A window will open that contains various settings for the future archive. We are interested in the button "Set Password" or "Set Password". She, in turn, will give out another window that will ask you to enter a password. After filling in the fields, you can click OK. And then again, after which an archive with a password will appear in the current directory, inside which our protected folder will be located.

Screen for setting a password in WinRar

By default, the WinRar archiver does not delete the original folder, so you will have to delete it manually.

How to encode a folder on a computer using 7-zip

7-zip is a free archiver that can handle a lot of archives. It can also be used to create a password-protected folder on your computer. The actions are almost the same as in WinRar. You need to right-click on the selected folder, select 7-zip and then "Add to archive".

A window with settings will open. Among them there is a block "Encryption", in which you need to specify a password for protection and save all changes. After that, you can find a new archive with the default extension of the 7z type.

Screenshot of the window with archive settings

Naturally, after the folder is password protected, for example, on a computer with Windows 7 and 7-zip, then in order to read it on another computer and be able to enter the password, you will also need an installed archiver, and not necessarily 7-zip.

How to set a password for a folder with programs and a high level of protection

The best way to protect your data is to use third-party programs that can set a password for the directory, regardless of the type of operating system. In addition, they also encrypt the data inside it so that they cannot be read even from under other systems. There are several main popular programs.

Password Protect USB

The program is shareware, and its full version costs about $ 40. After installation, a new item "Lock with Password Protect USB" will appear in the context menu when you right-click the mouse. After clicking on it, a window will open in which you just need to specify the password and click OK. After that, when you try to enter the directory, you will be asked for an access password.

The program can block data on internal and external media.

Folder Lock

This program can encrypt folders on external and internal drives, password protect and manage them. You can set passwords directly from the program interface. You can also protect entire partitions on removable media and even CDs right from here.

Hide folders

The application, in addition to protecting folders with a password, can completely hide them from prying eyes.

The program constantly runs unnoticed in the background. Therefore, it provides reliable protection against viruses or unauthorized access. All settings and password settings are made directly from the program.

How to password protect a folder on a USB flash drive

There are practically no universal and standard solutions for the Windows environment. All methods, one way or another, imply the presence of installed programs on other computers, with the help of which the encryption and setting of the password was carried out. The most convenient way is the Lockngo program. It is paid, and for the standard version you will have to pay about 300 rubles. But it can be executed, regardless of the platform and the presence of the desired application in the system.

Hello dear readers of the blog site. For some reason, there are no built-in Windows tools that would allow you to close access to a folder for those who do not know the password to access it.

At the same time, any user of this operating system comes up with just such a simple way keep some of your data confidential- just put a password on the folder where the "hidden" documents (files or other directories) will be.

Well, the truth is, what could be more logical than password-protected access to a specific directory and put everything that you would like to protect from prying eyes (spouse, children, hackers, competent authorities, etc.). There may be many goals, but the solution seems obvious - to make from any folder a kind of safe, the code from which only you will know (and how to come up with it, read the article).

How to set a password for a folder by zipping it

However, there are still no simple solutions to this problem (built into Windows). More precisely, there are a number of methods that do not guarantee any confidentiality, but only provide "protection from the fool." It doesn't make much sense to rely on them. In the same publication, I want to focus on a method that allows make a safe of the highest security category from any catalog, but for this you have to install an additional program in the OS.

It was originally built on open source and a priori () did not contain tabs that allow developers to access your password-protected data. Unfortunately, the developers have now sold out BitLocker, whose products are already closed source, which means that your password folders, if desired, can be opened using backdoors. However, TrueCrypt can still be found and used for its own purposes.

But first, I will give you an easier-to-use, but less reliable way (competent authorities and specialists will be able to hack the directory, but your relatives and friends will not). It consists in the fact that the necessary the folder can be zipped with a password, so that a person who does not know him could no longer carry out the unzipping process.

All of you are probably well familiar with archivers. Among them there are both paid and free versions. But in addition to its main functionality - creating archives to save disk space and to speed up the transfer of data over the Internet, modern archivers allow you to encrypt the data contained in the archive and protect it with passwords. We will take advantage of this opportunity of theirs.

Let's try to archive a folder and put a password on it, first using the example of a free archiver (7-Zip), and then using the example of a paid one (WinRAR), which, however, is installed on almost all computers. I think that you have at least one of them, and if not, you can always install them by going to the official websites of the developers of these programs ().

How to zip and password a directory in 7-Zip

So, if you have an archiver installed on Windows 7-Zip, then in order to archive any folder (or a set of files and directories) in it, it will be enough to right-click on it and select the items "7-Zip" - "Add to archive" from the drop-down menu:

As a result, you will see the archiving settings window, where, in addition to other settings, you can set a password to access this archive, or rather encrypt the entire contents of the folder (while archiving it), and this code will be the decryption key.

A feature of "archiving with a password" of directories via 7-Zip is that you can enter the created archive (folder) without entering a password, and when you try to open any file, you will be required to enter it:

If you want to password protect access not only to the files in this directory, but also prohibit viewing the contents of this folder without entering a password, then just put a tick in the "Encrypt file names" box in the archiving settings window (the second screenshot from here). After that, when you try to view the contents of the archive, an invitation to enter a password will pop up.

How to set a password when archiving a folder in WinRAR

You can also use the capabilities of the second of the above archivers to simultaneously archive and password-protect the folder - WinRAR... As I already mentioned, it is paid, but for some reason they don't really take this into account in Runet.

If WinRAR is already installed on your Windows, then simply right-click on the directory for which you want to set a password, and select the "Add to archive" item from the context menu:

In the window that opens, go to the "Advanced" tab and click on the "Set password" button:

Here you will be prompted to come up with and enter a password that will become the key to your zipped folder, and you can also check the "Encrypt file names" box so that no one can view the contents of the archive without entering a password (we already talked about this a little higher):

After that, double-click on OK and try to enter the created archive using the password you invented. If everything worked out, then you can delete the original folder, the contents of which need to be hidden from prying eyes. And as needed, you will simply enter this archived and password-protected daddy. It's a little stressful to enter a password all the time, but security requires sacrifice. IMHO ()

How to put a strong password on a folder using TrueCrypt

As I mentioned just above, there are various programs that allow you to implement the idea so obvious to Windows users - to close access to a folder with a password. There are quite a lot of such programs (for example, Folder Lock, DirLock, Anvide Lock Folder, File lock, Lim LockFolder, etc.), but a user who understands a lot about computers is likely to be able to bypass them. Therefore, if you want to hide something from your household or colleagues at work on your computer, then they will suit you perfectly.

But often something more radical is required, when cracking a password-protected folder will take enormous effort and computing power, which will naturally deter most potential attackers. This type of tool includes the TrueCrypt program, which allows you to put a password not just on the directory, but even on the entire computer (completely encrypt the system partition, if you need it).

I have already written in some detail about working with her:

Unfortunately, today the developers no longer release new versions of the program, because they switched to work in BitLocker (Microsoft), but you can download TrueCrypt one of the latest versions by this link. In any case, it works fine for me.

Let me explain a little what it means in TrueCrypt to "put a password on a folder", because this is somewhat different from the options discussed above. In this program, you create a container from any file you have just created on your computer.

It will be very difficult to detect that it is a container for something, and besides, inside this container (in fact, folders with files and other directories), you can create a hidden container that no one will guess about. Hackers very actively use this program to hide, for example, their correspondence, because it is difficult even to find corrupted (encrypted) information, not to mention hacking it.

So, this very container is encrypted and decrypted on the fly (you won't even notice it) and it will be possible to work with it as with a regular directory (even more like with a portable hard drive or flash drive, because this password-protected folder is connected to Windows exactly as a new virtual disk).

That. it will be possible to copy something there, delete it, transfer it using the standard means of the operating system (through Explorer or, for example, Total Commander).

At the end of the work, you simply unmount the virtual disk, and no one can get access to your data (who does not know the password). A wonderful thing.

For all the details of working with TrueCrypt on setting passwords to a USB flash drive, folder, or even an entire computer, see the links just above. And remember that there is no absolute protection (you can tell the password yourself under pressure), but among all other data protection methods, this program is one of the most optimal options. IMHO.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

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Option 1. Windows protection

For PCs running Windows XP and older, there is an extremely simple method to put a password on a folder on your computer. It does not require additional downloading of applications or installation of programs.

To implement it, several conditions must be met:

1. The folder (file) must be stored in a partition with the NTFS file system. To display the file system, you need to go to START - My Computer - Desired Disk (in the screenshot this is drive C).

2. The user must have created a separate account with a password in advance.

In order to put a folder under a password, you need to move the cursor over the desired folder (the "Password" folder in the example) and right-click on the icon. In the window that appears, in the "Properties" checkbox is checked in the item "Unshare this folder." After clicking "Apply" and confirming the password, the folder is closed to outsiders.

This was the first of many - the easiest and fastest way to protect your folder with valuable information.

Option 2. Using third-party utilities

Third-party folder password programs are a great way to protect your data. Among the numerous programs, it is worth noting such as:

Anvide Lock Folder- a serial compact program, for the use of which there is no need to install an application on a computer. The file with the program can be stored on removable media (flash memory, external drive);
Password Protect USB- performs the same functions. Designed to preserve the confidentiality of data in folders stored both on the hard drive and on USB-drives;
File lock- the utility is easy to use. Allows you to protect folders with a password, saves the passwords used for each of the folders. Using the program, you can completely delete files or folders (you will not be able to recover deleted data - the utility cleans up the area on the disk that was previously occupied by the folder).

The principle of operation of such useful utilities can be seen on the example of one of the most popular programs - Password Protect USB. You can download it both in trial version and in "full volume" on some software portals.

The first use of the utility requires launching it:

in the window, select the Lock Folders item;
register the path to the desired folder;
Set password.

After making sure that the program works correctly, without errors, you can act more succinctly:

right-click on the icon of the desired folder;
select in the dialog box "Lock with Password Protect ...";

enter the password twice in the corresponding lines to set a password and confirm it;
you can use the password hint by checking the “Password Hint” checkbox.

The appearance of the folder will now change - the "brick" on the icon will say about the password set. Unauthorized attempts to open a folder protected in this way will be met with a proposal to enter the secret code:

To unlock, just right-click on the folder and select the required line in the window. After entering the password, the folder will be open again for all PC users.

Option 3. Using archivers

Strictly speaking, now we are not talking about setting a password for a folder. This method does not password protect the folder itself, but its zipped version... Moreover, this option is distinguished by a certain elegance - after all, archivers are usually used only for their intended purpose. So creating a password-protected version of a folder can be seen as an interesting way to protect your data.

First of all, you need the archiver program itself. By downloading and installing the WinRAR program on a PC, the user is able to reliably hide important data behind a password. In addition, the document archive takes up much less useful space on your hard drive or flash drive.

How do I use the folder protection utility? Right-clicking on the folder icon will open a window in which you need to select the "Add to archive" line.

In the opened window of the archiver, select the "Set password" item:

It remains only to set the desired password and remember it - recovering passwords to archives is quite difficult.

Now you need to delete the original folder. The saved archive will be reliably protected - each time you try to extract information, you will be prompted to enter a password.

If you have a need to protect certain personal data, you can, of course, set a password when loading the operating system or create a new account with adjusted rights. But often only a small portion of your information needs to be protected. Therefore, many users are looking for answers to questions about how to password-protect a folder on a computer.

Content:

The most obvious way would be to simply hide it, but this is not the best option. As soon as the function of displaying all hidden files is enabled in the settings, the folder will immediately be seen. So it's not worth doing this if you really care about the safety of your files.

Surprisingly, Windows doesn't have the ability to set passwords for folders. You will have to use third-party software. It should be borne in mind that this approach will by no means protect folders, for example, from deletion or transfer, so be careful.

The most common options for setting a password are archiving programs, specially developed utilities and bat-scripts. To learn more about how to password protect a folder in Windows, let's take a look at each of these community features.

Initially, archivers were created in order to be able to pack one or several files into an archive, while being able to compress the final volume of the occupied information. But, in addition, these programs can be used to set a password for the required data folder. The most suitable options would be WinZip, WinRar, Hamster Free ZIP Archiver, and 7-Zip.
Let's analyze the setting of a password in Windows using the Winrar program as an example:
1. Install Winrar software on your computer.
2. Using the right mouse button, open the context menu of the required pack and select the "add to archive" item in it.
3. Next, you will see the "name" and "archive parameters" window. By clicking through the various tabs, you can change the type of compression and many other parameters, but do not waste time on this, because we only need to set a password.
4. Find in the "advanced" tab the button "set password"
5. In the "enter password" window you can enter it. Beforehand, it is recommended to click the "show password" checkbox so that you are sure that everything is correct. If you want the files to change their names after that, you can check the box next to "encrypt file names". Then click OK.
6. After these actions, the window will change its name to "password backup". Click ok, and you will receive an archive, to open which you need your password.
In turn, if you enter the wrong password, you will not get access to the files.

Utilities of this kind use encryption of elements. Even if these programs are removed, the files will remain locked. In addition, you have the opportunity to set a password for entering directly into the programs themselves, making the data even more secure. Using Anvide Lock Folder or Flash Crypt applications, you can easily figure out how to password protect a folder.

Let's consider setting a password using Flash Crypt as an example:
1. Install Flash Crypt software on your computer.
2. Call the context menu on the required folder, and there select the "protectwithflashcrypt" item.
3. In the window that appears, you need to enter your password twice, which must be at least 4 characters. Do not change the rest of the fields, then click “protect”.
4. After the encryption process, a Flash Crypt icon will appear on the folder. If you enter the correct password, the folder will be decrypted and you will be able to access the data.

Setting a password using a bat script

This method is the most insecure, as it simply uses simple hiding of folders in Windows. A user who understands how to enable viewing hidden data will easily gain access to information. So this option is suitable only for those who are sure of the inexperience of someone who can search for hidden folders.

To start the encryption process, create a file in notepad and copy the script there:
: lable
cls
set / p disk_flash = "Vvesti buky flash drive:"
cd / D% disk_flash%:
if% errorlevel% == 1 goto lable
cls
cd / D% disk_flash%:
del * .lnk / q / f
attrib -s -h -r autorun. *
del autorun. * / F
attrib -h -r -s -a / D / S
rd RECYCLER / q / s
explorer.exe% disk_flash%:

After that, you need to change the file type, for this change the extension from txt to bat, after which it will be ready for use. The essence of the script is as follows:

The first time you click, a folder named "Papka" will be created, where you will need to copy all the necessary data.
After the second press, the "Secretno" folder will be distributed, which will immediately be hidden.
The next time you press it, you will be prompted for a password. If you enter incorrectly, the script is closed, and you need to enter it again.
After entering the correct password, the folder will become visible and will have a name as in the first paragraph.

Also keep in mind that any password you want can be used instead of MOI-PAROL.
Thus, you have become familiar with the basic methods of setting passwords. Now all that remains is to choose the appropriate one. The safest options are archiving programs or special applications.

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Very often, we are faced with a situation when we need to hide files and folders on our computer from prying eyes. Therefore, many users have a question about how to password-protect a folder on a computer. The developers of the Windows operating system did not foresee this possibility; we can only hide the folder from the eyes of other users by changing the attribute to hidden. This method will not work for us, so we will set a password. This will protect our files from copying and distribution, as well as from viewing by people we do not need.

Now we will consider the option of how to password-protect the folder using an archiver. Since archiver programs are installed on almost every computer, this method is suitable for almost everyone. In this case, it is possible not only to set a password, but also to hide file formats.

When opening an archive with a password, a password entry window will pop up even before opening the archiver. It is very difficult to guess such a password if the user does not even approximately know the combination of characters.

Note! Since setting a password for an archive only requires the user to have free WinRAR or 7-ZIP archivers, this method is suitable for all users.

To set a password for a folder, do the following:

Try to create a more complex password using upper and lower case Latin letters and numbers. The security of your information depends on the complexity of the password.

Advice! Do not forget to write down the created password in your notebook! Since quite often, because of haste, people forget the passwords they have invented and after that they have problems opening for the archived file. Since in this case it is almost impossible to recover the password.

Set a password for files using the PasswordProtect USB program.

If the above proposed method does not suit you, then let's consider the option of how to password-protect a folder on a computer using third-party software.

A huge number of programs are posted on the network to complete the task we have set, but some of them can lead to inaccessibility or damage to files after installing protection. Therefore, I recommend using proven programs. Which have proven themselves well. Consider the PasswordProtect USB program.

PasswordProtect USB allows you to put password on folders, as well as to remove it. The application has a fairly intuitive interface and a minimum of settings. Therefore, it will not be difficult to deal with it for any PC user. You can put a password on a folder both from the program menu and by right-clicking on a file or folder.

After selecting the Lock folder function, the program will offer to come up with a unique password, enter the password twice and press the "Lock Folder >>" button. After the password is set on the folder, an icon appears that the file is protected.

Folder Lock program, we protect the folder from hacking.

Folder Lock is a fairly popular program among users. Perfectly copes with the task of setting a password for a folder or file. If desired, the user can set a password for any file, be it audio-video recordings, photographs, documents.

After installing the program, run it, select the desired file or folder and set a password.

Advice! In order to put a password on a file or folder using Folder Lock, it is enough to drag the file we need into the program window or press the “Add” button and select the file on the hard disk of the computer.

After the program finishes, a password will be set for the desired file. And only a user who knows the password can open it.

How to set a password for a network folder?

If you have a local network at home or at work, then you often need to know how to password-protect a network folder on your computer so that not all network users can view its contents. In this case, only trusted persons will have access. For these needs, the Folder Hidden application is perfect for us.

Since the main purpose of network folders is the ability for all network users to view their contents. But sometimes you need to put a password on some network folders that store important data. This can be done quite simply using the Folder Hidden program.

Important! The set password for the file, with the help of this program, can be easily cracked by users of the same network. Therefore, come up with more complex code that will be too tough for many crackers.

We put the password on the text file.

If you work a lot with documents, then it will be useful for you to know how to set a password for a text file. With this option, you can increase the security of the document. Since a lot of information can be stored in a text file, setting a password will prevent you from leaking it. Also, for stronger protection of the document, change the file encoding. This is necessary so that if your password-protected file can be opened, then for the cracker there will be a new puzzle to determine the encoding. Since an open text file will not be readable.

In order to set a password for a notepad file, you need to create a new file and write the following lines in it as shown in the screenshot below.
Instead of the words "Your_password" we write the password that you have created. Next, save the document with the Bat extension. When you open the file, you will be prompted for a password, and after you enter it, a text document will open.