How to set a password for a folder without additional programs. Programs with a high level of protection. Setting a password for a folder is necessary if

A computer that is accessed by multiple people may need to protect the data stored on its hard drive. An office machine with personal work or a home PC with storage on its hard drive. secret information- not important.

There are two ways to solve the problem - either, or protect separate folder. Then neither curious household members nor equally inquisitive colleagues will be able to view the contents of the “secret” folder without permission. To learn how to set a password for a folder, read further in the text of our article.

Option 1. Protection using Windows

For PC with OS Windows versions XP and older provide an extremely simple method for putting a password on a folder on your computer. He doesn't require additional download applications or software installations.

To implement it, several conditions must be met:

1. The folder (file) must be stored in the file section NTFS system. To display file system you need to go to START – My Computer – Required Disk(in the screenshot this is drive C).

2. The user must create a separate account with a password in advance.

In order to put a folder under a password, you need to hover over the desired folder(folder “Password” in the example) and click right click on the icon. In the window that appears, in “Properties”, check the “Cancel” box. general access to the folder." After clicking “Apply” and confirming the password, the folder is closed to outsiders.

This was the first of many methods - the simplest and quick option protect folders with valuable information.

Option 2. Using third-party utilities

Third-party programs for setting passwords on folders – great way data protection. Among the numerous programs it is worth noting such as:

Anvide Lock Folder – a serial compact program, to use which there is no need to install the application on your computer. The program file can be stored on removable media(flash memory, external drive);
Password Protect USB– performs the same functions. Designed to maintain the confidentiality of data in folders stored both on the hard drive and on USB drives;
File lock– the utility is convenient to use. Allows you to protect folders with a password and saves the passwords used for each folder. Using the program you can do complete removal files or folders (it will not be possible to recover deleted data - the utility clears the area on the disk previously occupied by the folder).

The operating principle of such useful utilities can be considered using the example of one of the most popular programs- Password Protect USB. You can download it both in a trial version and in “full volume” on some software portals.

The first use of the utility requires running it:

in the window you need to select Lock item Folders;
specify the path to the desired folder;
Set password.

After making sure that the program works correctly, without errors, you can proceed more succinctly:

right-click on the icon of the desired folder;
select “Lock with Password Protect...” in the dialog box;

Enter the password twice in the appropriate lines to set the password and confirm it;
You can use a password hint by checking the “Password Hint” checkbox.

The appearance of the folder will now change - the “brick” on the icon will indicate the set password. Unauthorized attempts to open a folder protected in this way will be met with a prompt to enter a secret code:

To unlock, just right-click on the folder and select in the window the desired line. After entering the password, the folder will again be open to all PC users.

Option 3. Using archivers

Strictly speaking, now we’re not really talking about setting a password for a folder. This method password protects not the folder itself, but its zipped version. Wherein this option is distinguished by a certain elegance - after all, archivers are usually used only for their intended purpose. So creating a password protected version of the folder can be thought of as interesting way data protection.

First of all, you will need the archiver program itself. By downloading and installing the WinRAR program on a PC, the user is able to securely hide important data behind a password. In addition, the document archive takes up much less usable space on your hard drive or flash drive.

How to use the utility to protect folders? Right-clicking on the folder icon will open a window in which you need to select the “Add to archive” line.

In the archiver window that opens, select “Set password”:

All that remains is to ask required password and remember it - recovering passwords to archives is quite difficult.

Now you need to delete the original folder. The saved archive will be reliably protected - each time you try to extract information, you will be asked to enter a password.

When you try to protect personal data, you probably set a password to boot the system or create an account with appropriate access rights. Sometimes you just need to secure some information. Therefore, users begin to look for materials about.

You can, of course, simply hide the folder, but this will not help you in any way from a security perspective. All you have to do is see it when you go to the directory where it is located. So this method is unsafe.

Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not provide the ability to put a password on a folder, but there are other ways using third-party software. Again, this will not protect your folders from being deleted, for example, so there is no 100% guarantee.

Now let's look at the following password setting methods:

Archive programs;
Special utilities;
Using a hitrov bat script.

How to put a password on a folder using an archiver

The main purpose of archivers is to pack one or more elements into one file with the possibility of compression. We will use these tools to set passwords for folders in Windows 7. These programs include:

WinRAR
WinZip
7-Zip
Hamster Free ZIP Archiver
A lot others.

Let's consider this feature using the example of WinRAR and Hamster Free ZIP Archiver, since others operate on the same principle.

In order to password protect the folder with the WinRAR utility, perform the following steps:

1. Install WinRAR.

2. Right-click on the folder and select “add to archive” in the context menu.

3. The “archive name and parameters” window will open in front of you. On the “general” tab, you need to specify the name of the archive, select its format and the “normal” compression method. In general, you don’t have to change anything here; I don’t recommend changing the compression method, since our goal is just to protect the folder with a password, and not to waste precious time.

5. In the “password entry” window, check the box next to “display password as you enter” so that you can see what you are entering and only once. If you do not want the contents of the archive to be seen, check the “encrypt file names” checkbox. Set a password and click OK.

6. After the completed actions, the window will have the name “archiving with password”, in which you must click the OK button. An archive will be created, upon clicking on which you will be required to enter a password.

In the event that it is driven in wrong password You will see an error message and will not be able to access your files.

In order to password protect a folder in Windows 7 with the Hamster Free ZIP Archiver program, follow the following procedure:

1. Install Hamster Free ZIP Archiver.

2. Right-click on the folder and select “add to archive.”

3. You will see the utility interface where our folder will be displayed. Click on “password”, check the box “show password” and enter the desired combination.

4. Click the "archive" button and select "save to computer." Then specify the location to save the password-protected archive.

If you enter wrong phrase, the program will warn you about this, so try again.

Special programs for setting a password

Such utilities use encryption of elements, with the help of them we will try to password-protect a folder in Windows 7. Even if these programs are uninstalled, the files remain inaccessible. By setting passwords to enter the applications themselves, you will increase the level of security for your folders. Let's look at an example: Flash Crypt and Anvide Lock Folder.

With Flash Crypt use the steps:

1. Install Flash Crypt.

2. Select the desired folder and right-click, in the menu click on “protectwithflashcrypt”.

3. You will see a window where you need to enter a password of at least 4 characters twice. Leave the rest unchanged and click “protect”.

4. Wait until the folder is encrypted, after which the Flash Crypt icon will appear on it. Left-click and see a password request window pop up. If entered correctly, the folder will be decrypted and will be available in its original form.

Anvide Lock Folder is portable and does not require installation. There is a possibility password-protect the program login. Perform the following manipulations:

1. Run ALF.exe.

3. Click on the plus sign and specify the folder that you want to password protect and press the F5 key. Set a password and select the “close access” button. If necessary, you can also provide a hint.

4. After which the folder will disappear from view and will be accessible only from the program.

5. In the program, click the F9 key, enter the specified password and click “open access”. After which the folder will again be available in Windows Explorer 7.

How to password protect a folder using a bat script

This method, unlike the previous ones, is the most unsafe, since it uses the usual hiding of folders in Windows 7. A user who knows how to turn on the display hidden elements, will see this folder without any problems, so before using the script, make sure this option is not enabled.

To begin, create a document with a .txt extension and copy the following code snippet into it:

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Folder
if EXIST "Secretno" goto DOSTUP
if NOT EXIST Folder goto RASBLOK
ren Papka "Secretno"
attrib +h +s "Secret"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:DOSTUP
echo Vvedite parol, chtoby razblokirovat papku
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%== moi-parol goto PAROL
attrib -h -s "Secretno"
ren "Secretno" Papka
echo Papka uspeshno razblokirovana
goto End
:PAROL
echo Nevernyj password
goto end
:RASBLOK
md folder
echo Papka uspeshno sozdana
goto End
:End

Then save it and . This is done from txt to bat. At this point the batch file is ready for use. The essence of this script is this:

The first time you click on it, a folder named “Papka” is created, into which you copy the secret content.
The second click creates a “Secretno” folder, which is assigned the hidden attribute and disappears.
The next time you click, you are asked to enter a password. If the input is incorrect, the script closes, so run it again.
After entering the correct data, the folder will be visible and have the name as in the first step.

If you want to change your password, then instead of MOI-PAROL, type yours in Latin characters.

With this we have sorted out, how to password protect a folder in Windows 7. Using archivers and special programs, perhaps the most secure options, but no one is safe from deleting a file or forgetting a password. effective when you focus on inexperienced users PC. Besides, who bothers to open a batch file in notepad and burn through all the data.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. For some reason, there are no built-in tools in Windows that would allow you to block access to a folder for those who do not know the password to access it.

At the same time, this is exactly what comes to mind for any user of this operating system. the simplest way save some of your data in confidentially - just put a password on the folder where the “hidden” documents (files or other directories) will be stored.

Well, really, what could be more logical than to password-protect access to a certain directory and put there everything that you would like to protect from prying eyes (spouse, children, hackers, competent authorities, etc.). There may be many goals, but the solution seems obvious - make a kind of safe out of any folder, the code for which only you will know (and how to come up with it, read the article).

How to set a password for a folder after archiving it

However simple options solutions to this problem (built into Windows means) still no. More precisely, there are a number of methods that do not guarantee any confidentiality, but only provide “fool protection”. It doesn't make much sense to rely on them. In this same publication I want to focus on a way to make a safe of the highest security category from any catalog, but for this you will have to install an additional program in the OS.

It was originally built on open source and a priori () did not contain bookmarks that would allow developers to access your password-protected data. Unfortunately, the developers have now sold themselves to BitLocker, whose products already come with closed code, which means your password folders, if desired, can be opened using backdoors. However, TrueCrypt can still be found and used for your purposes.

But first, I’ll give you something easier to use, but less reliable way(competent authorities and specialists will be able to hack the directory, but your relatives and friends will not). It lies in the fact that the necessary the folder can be archived with a password, so that a person who does not know it would no longer be able to carry out the unzipping process.

You are all probably very familiar with archivers. Among them there are both paid and free versions. But in addition to its main functionality - creating archives to save disk space and speed up data transfer over the Internet, modern archivers allow you to encrypt archived data and protect it with passwords. It is this opportunity that we will take advantage of.

Let's try to archive a folder and set a password for it first using an example free archiver(7-Zip), and then using the example of a paid one (WinRAR), which, however, is installed on almost all computers. I think that you have at least one of them, and if not, you can always install them by going to the official websites of the developers of these programs ().

How to archive and password protect a directory in 7-Zip

So, if you have it installed in Windows archiver 7-Zip, then in order to archive any folder (or a set of files and directories) in it, it will be enough to right-click on it and select “7-Zip” - “Add to archive” from the drop-down context menu:

As a result, you will see the archiving settings window, where, among other settings, you can set a password to access this archive, or rather, encrypt the entire contents of the folder (while archiving it), and this code will be the key to decryption.

A feature of “archiving with a password” of directories via 7-Zip is that you can enter the created archive (folder) without entering a password, and when you try to open any file you will be required to enter it:

If you want to password-protect access not only to the files in this directory, but also prohibit viewing the contents of this folder without entering a password, then simply check the “Encrypt file names” box in the archiving settings window (second screenshot from here). After this, when you try to view the contents of the archive, a prompt to enter a password will pop up.

How to set a password when archiving a folder in WinRAR

You can also use the capabilities of the second of the archivers mentioned above to simultaneously archive and password protect a folder - WinRAR. As I already mentioned, it’s paid, but for some reason in RuNet they don’t really take this into account.

If WinRAR is in your Windows already installed, then simply right-click on the directory for which you want to set a password and select “Add to archive” from the context menu:

In the window that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Set password” button:

Here you will be asked to create and enter a password, which will become the key to your archived folder, and you can also check the “Encrypt file names” box so that no one can view the contents of the archive without entering the password (we already talked about this a little higher):

After that, click OK twice and try to enter the created archive using the password you created. If everything works, you can delete original folder, the contents of which should be hidden from prying eyes. And as needed, you will simply log into this archived and password-protected folder. It's a little stressful to have to enter your password all the time, but security requires sacrifice. IMHO ()

How to put a strong password on a folder using TrueCrypt

As I mentioned just above, there is various programs, which allow you to implement something so obvious to users Windows idea— block access to the folder using a password. There are quite a lot of such programs (for example, Folder Lock, DirLock, Anvide Lock Folder, File lock, Lim LockFolder etc.), but a user who understands computers will most likely be able to bypass them. Therefore, if you want to hide something from your household or work colleagues on your computer, then they will suit you just fine.

But often something more radical is required, when hacking a password-protected folder will require monstrous efforts And computing power, which will naturally deter most potential burglars. These types of instruments include TrueCrypt program, which allows you to set a password not just for a directory, but even for the entire computer (fully encrypt system partition, if you need it).

I have already written in some detail about working with her:

Unfortunately, today the developers no longer release new versions of the program, because they switched to working in BitLocker (Microsoft), but you can download TrueCrypt one of the latest versions via this link. In any case, it works great for me.

Let me explain a little what “put a password on a folder” means in TrueCrypt, because this is somewhat different from the options discussed above. In this program, you create a container from any file that is on your computer and has just been created.

It will be very difficult to discover that it is a container for something, and besides, inside this container (actually a folder with files and other directories) you can create a hidden container, which certainly no one will guess about. Hackers very actively use this program to hide, for example, their correspondence, because it is difficult to even find corrupted (encrypted) information, not to mention hacking it.

So, this very container is encrypted and decrypted on the fly (you won’t even notice it) and you can work with it like a regular directory (even more like a portable hard drive or a flash drive, because this password-protected folder is connected in Windows exactly as new virtual disk).

That. you can copy something there, delete it, move it standard means operating system (via Explorer or, for example, Total Commander).

At the end of the work, you simply unmount the virtual disk, and no one (who does not know the password) will be able to access your data. Wonderful thing.

For all the details of working with TrueCrypt for setting passwords on a flash drive, folder, or even the entire computer, see the links given just above. And remember that absolute protection does not exist (you can provide the password yourself under pressure), but among all other methods of data protection, this program is one of the most optimal options. IMHO.

Good luck to you! Before see you soon on the pages of the blog site

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Setting a password using a bat script

This method is the most unsafe, as it simply uses simple hiding of folders in Windows. A user who understands how to enable viewing of hidden data will easily gain access to the information. So this option is suitable only for those who are confident that the person who can search for hidden folders is inexperienced.

To start the encryption process, create a file in Notepad and copy the script there:
:lable
cls
set /p disk_flash="Vvesti buky flash drive: "
cd /D %disk_flash%:
if %errorlevel%==1 goto label
cls
cd /D %disk_flash%:
del *.lnk /q /f
attrib -s -h -r autorun.*
del autorun.* /F
attrib -h -r -s -a /D /S
rd RECYCLER /q /s
explorer.exe %disk_flash%:

After this, you need to change the file type; to do this, change the extension from txt to bat, after which it will be ready for use. The essence of the script is as follows:

During the first click, a folder named “Papka” will be created, where you will need to copy all the necessary data.
After the second click, the “Secretno” folder will be distributed, which will immediately be hidden.
The next time you press, you will be prompted to enter your password. At incorrect input The script closes and you need to enter it again.
After entering the correct password, the folder will become visible and will have the name as in the first paragraph.

Also keep in mind that instead of MOI-PAROL, you can use any password you want.
Thus, you have become aware of the basic ways to set passwords. Now all that remains is to choose the right one. The most safe options There will be archiver programs or special applications.

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Probably, each of us at least once found ourselves in such a situation when personal information, stored on the computer, was accessible to prying eyes. Who will like it? After all, we often store photographs, documents and various information on our computer.

How to make sure that other users who also use your PC cannot see this? The answer is obvious: these documents need to be classified. To do this, you just need to know how to put a password on a folder on your computer. This is exactly what we will talk about now.

on a computer using standard Windows tools?

For this we need a standard one. It does not need to be downloaded anywhere, since it is automatically installed along with operating system. So, to put a password on a folder on your computer, you need to do the following:

Right-click on the folder that you want to classify and select “Add to archive.”
In the archiver window that appears, check the “Delete files after packaging” checkbox, then go to the “Advanced” tab and click the “Set password” button.
In the “Enter Password” window, enter the fictitious code 2 times and confirm it by pressing the “Ok” key.
That's all. WinRAR program created an archive that can be unpacked only after entering the password.

Unfortunately, this method is not convenient for everyone. For example, if the folder contains video files, then archiving will take too much time, and this is a significant disadvantage. Therefore, this method is used only with small files.

How to put a password on a folder on your computer using Anvide Lock Folder?

First, we look for the utility and install it. Using this program you can put a password on any files or folders. Moreover, they become hidden.

Launch the Anvide Lock Folder program.
In the window that appears, click on the plus sign in the upper left corner and mark the file that we will hide from prying eyes. Click "Ok".
Select the selected file and click on the lock icon.
In the window that appears, enter the password, confirm it and click on the “Close access” button.
Ready. Now files that have a password set will appear as hidden items.

In order to open it, you will need to launch the Anvide Lock Folder program, click on the open lock icon and enter set password. This is such a useful utility.

How to put a password on a folder on your computer using the Hide Folders program?

The course of action is the same - install the utility on your PC. The operating principle is the same as in the previous method:

Launch the Hide Folders program.
In the window that appears, click on the plus sign and select the files and folders that you want to hide.
Click the button labeled "Hide". Thus, we turn on the working mode, and all selected files become hidden.

To make folders visible again, you will need to launch Hide Folders and press the "Unhide" key. The only difference here from the previous utility is that one password is set. The program itself will ask for it at startup.

Putting a password on a folder, as you can see, is not that difficult. The main thing is to have at least one convenient utility in your arsenal.