Is there a way to make a user require to use a password to run an executable on my computer? Like, say I didn’t want someone running a program, can I passwordify it, or make it invisible and somewhere weird (C:\1342\hf-tH2\program.exe or something) where only I can run it from Run feature?
One idea that comes to mind is that you could encrypt the executable so that only a person with the proper password could unencrypt the file and run it. You should be able to go to a download site (http://download.cnet.com/ for instance) and download a file encryption utility.
Hiding the executable in the fashion you mentioned would work I suppose, but this is more along the lines of “security by obscurity”, which really isn’t security at all. I certainly don’t recommend that route if the executable is important enough that you don’t want others to find it.
Something like launch10.zip?
Either I’m not doing that Launch 10 program right, or it doesn’t do what I’d like. The security isn’t actually an issue, because the only person I’m screening for is someone who’s not too good with computers. So, how does one make a directoy invisible? Making it “Hidden” doesn’t work, because I have folder options set to Show Hidden Directories/Files. I hope that’s not the only way…
As Caldazar said, a download site is a good place to look. You might try Dave’s Central as he has both Linux and Windows apps.
BTW what I did once was create a batch file (.bat) which renamed the program (the .exe extention, that is) back and forth for me to run it. If the interloper tries to run it, he gets a ‘file not found’ condition.
What operating system are you using?
If the answer is any of the NT family, including 2000 and XP, you can do so by creating separate user accounts for each individual and controlling their access to particular directories. You can create user profiles in 9x but they’re not nearly as capable. I have no experience with ME so 'm not sure whee it falls on the hierarchy.
If not, other than a progam similar to Launch10 (and I’m only assuming it can do this based on the prior recommendation), there is no why to hide a directory.
If, on the other hand, the user you’re trying to defeat is not very up on technical issues, it should be pretty easy. Just remove the program’s entry from the Start menu. Then create a BAT file that can start the program in question and give it an odd name. When you want to run the program yourself, open a DOS window and type in the name of the BAT file. I recommend against using the Start->Run method because the entries are stored and anybody can see what you typed.
The program ftg linked to might work for you if you don’t need security. Basically, it’s just an executable front end. You configure the a launcher to run the executable, similar to a batch file, and place a shortcut to the launcher in your start menu, desktop, or whatever. You run the launcher, enter the password, and it executes whatever you tell it to. The executable has to exist on your hard drive somewhere, though.
The encryption software I use can be found here. It gets the job done, and it’s free for personal use. However, if you run the executable frequently, it might be annoying to have to constantly unencrypt the executable and then re-encrypt it when you’re done. Your call, though.