# Can I require a shared folder have a password to access?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 21, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034 "2006-12-21T06:58:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034/1 "2006-12-21T06:58:58Z")

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I have a shared folder that I want to have at a LAN party but I don’t want everyone to have access to it. I know I can set permissions on a folder so only certain users can access it but I would prefer to only need a password to be entered to access the folder. I’d really like to avoid making people create a new user to access the folder. Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034/2 "2006-12-21T07:05:49Z")

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I THINK this will do what you want…

Go to MY COMPUTER and click “tools” at the top, then “Folder Options” then “View.” At the bottom there’s a checkbox that says “use simple folder sharing (recommended)”. Un-check that and apply.

Then you can create a user and give it a password. Set perms for that user on that folder. When someone wants to access that folder they will be given a login prompt into which they type newusername and newuserpassword.

Is this what you mean?

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**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034/3 "2006-12-21T07:09:25Z")

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well I tried that, but when I attempted to access the folder across the network, it didn’t give me the option for loging in. It simply said I didn’t have the permission to access the folder.

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**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-require-a-shared-folder-have-a-password-to-access/385034/4 "2006-12-21T21:43:46Z")

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bump