Okay, so I have all these important word files on Windows (Microsoft Word 2000). The thing is, I have other tenants living with me who have access to my computer, and hence my computer files.
Now one of the other tenants has a computer too, and what he has done is that he has password-enabled the computer. This means that when you start up the computer, you have to enter a personal password to even get to the STARTUP page.
Q: How did he do this?
Now I don’t want to seem quite so paranoid. What I would ideally prefer is a way that I can code the files I want to keep secret, or at least code the font I am using to make the words untraceable. I am not talking about writing out the whole darn document in a Leonardo Da Vinci-esque code, as that would be pointless. But to be able to change the whole font of the existing originals would be brilliant. But it has to be untraceable (or practically very difficult).
Q: How do I go about doing this?
Now remember that I’m not a computer whiz folks, so if you’re gonna use words like “Vintop tracing” please explain and elaborate on what they mean (to a novice like me, for example).
You need to mention what Operating System you’re using ?
Generally speaking, Win 9x/ME won’t give you the protection you want. But Win 2000/XP will. You’ll need to go to Control Panel -> Users and then set a password for all accounts that you have.
In another possibility (from your phrasing, it’s not clear) your co-tenant has set a barrier at the Power On stage. This can probably be done in the BIOS. If this is so, report back with the BIOS you have (Press Del during Power-Up, you’ll be directed to a menu on a blue background, note the name and version.)
This is untenable if you don’t encrypt the file. If you simply highlight everything and change the font, someone can just change it back to a Roman script font. The measures you need to take will depend on how computer-literate (and intrusive) your co-tenants are.
If you’re using Win 2000/XP, you could simply create a directory where you store ALL your files. Then put a password on that directory. I haven’t done this since I don’t have a need. Either Google this or someone else will come along and enlighten you.
Would I be able to encrypt a particular folder as well? Because rather than having to store ALL my files I could then just store the important word documents in this particular folder. Would that be possible?
What do you mean by all the accounts? All the particular files that I want stored safely?
Did I not mention this in my OP? I am using Windows 2000 (or is it something else you are looking for?).
I’m doing this approach now but I don’t want to keep running around with floppy discs all over the place. It’s easier just to have them encrypted on my computer.
Ah, terminology. Directory is same as folder. You can put whatever files you want in it.
Windows 2000 is by default, a network operating system.
Which means, at any given time, a specific user is logged onto the system. If you don’t type a password when starting Windows, it’s because the OS is set to automatically log in a certain user.
If you set up passwords for all user accounts, anyone wanting to log in, will need a password. Of course, this is all getting ahead.
It seems someone has already mentioned about ‘Document Protection’. This should be adequate for your needs.