Is there anyway that I can password protect an entire directory folder. I am using MS Office, on Windows NT.
Please let me know as it will save me password-protecting the 1,200 files in this folder individually.
Thanks
bump - please help - someone, anyone…
Win2K lets you set permissions on any folder so that only one user can access it. Right click on the folder, choose “Properties” and then “Security.” You can then deny anyone but yourself access to that folder.
Now, if you log off the computer when you leave, anyone who logs on cannot access that folder.
If you’re worried about someone getting access while you’re away, you can lock the computer (I believe CTRL-ALT-DEL lets you do it). Anyone who comes by will be unable to access anything.
Well, I’ve often wondered how to password protect a folder, and the only way I’ve found is to zip it, and give the zip file a password.
I dont, however, know if any changes you make to the files in the folderwill still be there next time you open the zip file.
I’ll give it a try in a mo, and come back to tell you if it worked…
Cheers, Harry
OK, no, it doesn’t work. I tried it with a couple of word documents and you could only open them as read-only!
Sorry 'bout that then!
Here’s a software package called SecureFiles that will do it. There is a fee version you can download from that page as well.
Thanks All. Just as I suspected. With regards to Chuck, I agree with him and I do always lock my workstation when away from my desk.
It’s just that my boss (the one who’s not one of the digerati) has said that ALL files must be password protected. To make things worse, I work inside the mother of all firewalls / PSNs and they won’t let anything through - so much for evaluation version software… I am really at a loss. The Permissions thing is okay - I have already set that, so that I am the only one who can access these files… my boss wants passwords… tsk !
Is there no facility in Windows to password protect the entire folder ?
Sounds like your boss needs some education.
However, if you set permissions on folders, you are password protecting them. The protection is just transparent to the proper user.
Windows uses the permissions setup instead of passwords. The idea is that once the user is logged in and verified, there’s no need to keep asking for passwords each time. I don’t believe there’s any native way to require a password.
Which programs in Office do you want to protect? Are they Excel files, for example?
In Excel, if you click on Tools|Protection there are a few options available. You can password-protect a worksheet or a workbook (which I guess is the entire file); you can also share and protect a workbook, which will allow you to track any changes made.
chuck - couldn’t agree more with you on the boss thing. I already explained it to him, just like that - “once you’ve logged in, the system knows it’s you - so it lets you do whatever you want… blah blah blah…” He still wants passwords… I think I’ll just rewrite my procedures…
I think that a basic amount of PC-literacy should be a prerequisite for being a manager of people that use computers… you’d really be amazed…
Dantheman - no - it’s folders in Windows Explorer - some of these folders have upwards of 1500 files in them. I just wanted to get a password protect for the entire folder - regardless of what it contains. But since you asked, 95% are Excel…
Hm, and you’re on WinNT? If you right click on the folder and choose Properties and then choose Security, you should - should be able to allow only certain people to view and/or modify files in the folder.
Dantheman - you’re right. But we’ve been over this. I was wondering about an actual “ask for a password” jobby…
My boss is not normal, and so is not satisfied with the explanation that you and I and every other normal person is satisfied with…
Thanks anyway…
Thought I’d seen a PW thing on there, but nope - you grant permissions. Sorry.
And will you use the same password for all of these individual Word documents?
If your boss is that concerned, explain to him/her that passwords should be changed frequently, perhaps every 30 days in order to keep the data secure. Is he/she willing to have all that time off the books while you or someone else is constantly changing passwords?
From a business standpoint, password protecting the location of the data (the documents) is more cost-effective than protecting the individual documents.
You also run the risk when password protecting all of those documents with the same password that somewhere down the line a few of those documents will have the password changed by accident. So what will then? You will need to shell out bucks to obtain a (legitimate) password cracker just because someone in power with no business/computer sense is paranoid about security.
Finally, your boss is lucky this isn’t a Pit thread. 
In addition to what Duckster, it’s fairly trivial to break a password on an individual Excel file, especially if you can save the file and take it offsite. If you know where to look, you can download freeware password cracking software (I just gave a look and found one in about two minutes).
It’s much more difficult to break a Windows network password (though, of course, not impossible).
Guys - I’ve been there, and I agree with you. Back in the halcyon days before the packet-sniffing firewall came on the scene I was forever cracking passwords that some long forgotten idiot had placed on various files.
Also, since we have agreed that I always CTRL+ALT+DEL lock my PC when away from my desk, the folder actually is password protected… just my idiot boss…
To demonstrate his stupidy - (I’m not making this up) - when he types, and he wants to start a new sentence with a capital letter, he insists on putting on CAPS LOCK, typing the first letter of the word, and then taking off CAPS LOCK, and typing the rest of the word. I have explained about one-fucking-million times that that is what the SHIFT key is for, but it is actually like talking to a deaf monkey…
But it goes on… The only thing that actually amazes me is that he has risen to Senior VP…
The ultimate triumph of hardwork over stupidity I suppose.
Sounds like you got yourself a PHB.
Skipping over the rest of the messages (sorry, hurry) … but here’s the best option I’ve found:
Free for personal use. Encrypts using 128 bit blowfish alorithm. As simple as right-click folder/encrypt, right-click folder/decrypt.