Under OS X, I created a second user account specifically for this. I do all my normal things under my “main” account, and when I want to look at adult materials I just log into the other account. When I leave my computer, I just switch back to my “main” account, where there is nothing suspicious. This method is mainly for keeping stuff away from the idly curious.
Handy tip: download Microsoft’s TweakUI Powertoy. It provides a lot of additional customization options for your environment, including a setting that clears the Recent Documents list after every session.
Re the question in the OP, depending on how much material we’re talking about here, it might be a good idea to get an external USB hard drive. I got a 40-gig model at Best Buy for about a hundred bucks. A quick unplug, and the personal stuff can be set aside completely, making it impossible for someone to stumble over (or me, by accident, while showing somebody something).
(While you’re at it, get two, so you can back up your computer with ease and regularity.)
While not dismissing TweakUI as an excellent tool anyway, if you want to meddle with your system further, X-setup is very handy
Put it on its own drive - create a new logical drive for any confidential files you have. Then you can use a utility such as TweakUI to hide that drive from the Windows Explorer. Any casual user of your computer will not even know that the drive exists.
TweakUI is a free download from the Microsoft website:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
For extra safety you can mark the files as Hidden and set Windows Explorer not to show hidden files and folders.
Another option is to get a removable USB hard drive to keep private files on and just remove it and keep it somewhere safe when you aren’t using it.
Also by default Windows does keep a list of the latest files you have used, which can be accessed from the Start menu. You should disable this by right-clicking the Start button, select Properties and then Customize Start Menu. Select the Advanced Tab and then clear the check box that says ‘List my most recently used documents’.
Oops… Sorry I didn’t see Cervaise’s almost identical post…
If you’re using NTFS (which I believe is standard for XP), stick the files in an alternate data stream of an innocuous file. Even if they are searching for porn on your computer, they’d have to know both the file the stream is in and the exact name of the stream. Without third-party software, there is no way to search for the presence of an ADS, no way to find the name of it if you know there’s one there, and no reported change to the host file’s size. The only indication one might have that an ADS had been placed on a file is that the “date modified” date will change, though you could bypass even that by changing the system clock before setting up the ADS.
Alternate Data Streams are apparently a pretty popular way of hiding viruses, so I won’t link to instructions for doing this unless a mod specifically says that I can.
Catalyst,
I just looked into ADS and that is really spooky for a lot of reasons.
I downloaded this but was not able to install it on my XP SP2 box. I kept getting error messages during the install saying that it (I assume the installer) couldn’t find the path to C:Program Files\TrueCrypt\etc. even though it did create the directory. Very odd.
[sub]not that I have anything to hide…[/sub]
I don’t want to sidetrack the conversation, but wouldn’t encrypting your porn stop you from getting at it quickly too?
Very good points. And I’ll add another detail, the fact that encrypted ZIP files show you the file names is what makes the encryption useless. Cracking programs use the file names as clues to break the encryption. The more file names and the longer they are, the quicker it is to crack the ZIP file.
In Russia, porn hides YOU!
(What I do to hide my porn is to put it in a folder on my external hard drive named “don’t open”. So far, no one besides me has opened it yet.)
My hubby likes to take pictures of me in various stages of…uh…you know ::smiles sheepishly::
When I move those pictures from my digital camera to the computer’s hard drive, I put them in a folder hidden deep within the Program Files and it’s called “knotty pix”
I’ve been wondering about the practicality of some of these suggestions myself. If you make the folder a hidden directory, does that mean that you have to use the command prompt to find your smut?
I just gave my porn folder an innocuous name and hid it among the dozens of folders in my root directory. I wouldn’t leave a guest to use my computer unattended, so I’m not really worried about snooping so much as I’m worried about someone spotting a folder called “Porn” or “Smut” or “XXX” or whatever while I’m showing them something else.
Only a very silly person should expect to maintain any kind of real privacy when guests (and especially their kids) have any kind of access to your PC. There are people that live (and I do mean “live” not love) to snoop.
If you’re serious about privacy invest in an outboard USB hard drive . Capacities are large, access is speedy, and prices are very reasonable. (IE 250 gig Western Digital for 149.00 after rebate). When guests are about simply unplug the drive, and store it away ina locked place.
That’s security.
For those of you who just hide their files in an innocuous folder; all someone has to do is run a quick search of videos or pictures to find everything. I know from experience. 
Diceman: Indeed. If I wanted to hide something I’d just stick it in my Windows directory, and remember to back it up if I fiddle with the OS.
Lakai: Not if you rename the extensions
Or, if yours is a laptop, just lock up the entire computer.
You want to use my computer? Oh, sorry – it’s in the shop for repairs.
Sort of a related question: What happens when you die? You don’t want your loved ones finding your more exotic porn, right? Not necessarily snooping, maybe they’re just cleaning up before they give the computer to some needy young’un.
Or failing to clean it out. :eek:
Anyway, is there some sort of program to handle that? As in, if you don’t run the program, after X daus it automatically wipes out the files in a given directory for you?
Or maybe you could have some sort of secret agenty setup: if you don’t run Program X each time BEFORE you launce explorer, bye-bye to the porn collection?
Perhaps it’s a failure of imagination on my part, but I’m unable to conceive a situation where access to porn is time-critical.
That’s easy: roommate’s coming back from class in ten minutes.
Now if only I could get him to actually write down his schedule and eliminate the guesswork …
I have a porn buddy. As I’ve mentioned before on here, I have a fair amount of porn - about 16 gigs that rest on a special drive. (dont bother hidding it.) In the event of my demise, my ex-girlfriend has sworn an oath to come over and delete all the porn off of my computer for me. She has her own special password and everything. I am bound to do the same for her.