ok i feel kinda dumb asking this cause i feel that i should prob know but i was wondering if there is a way to put a password on a certian folder in xp?? i could have sworn there was a way but i can figure out for the life of me how to do it????

Thanks for the help

 

No, there is no way to natively password protect folders in Windows XP. It's one thing I'm pretty sure they added to Windows Vista.

There are however a freeware program that allows you to do this.

Axcrypt - http://axcrypt.axantum.com/index.html

It's the only free one that I know of at the moment.

 

There are ways to prevent people from getting into your files, but they involve changing registry keys or being added to a domain. More to the point, it would only really prevent people from accessing files that are within the folder. It wont password protect them. Both of which are beyond what you'd need for a home computer.

Like Burning Rom indicated, there are encryption programs out there that are available both freely and for purchase. You can also Zip/Rar a file and password protect it as well.

 

thanks for the info guys ...its just something ive always wondered about

 

Do you have XP home or pro? If you have pro there are some security changes you can do to individual files and folders.

In addition if you have XP home you can protect your files/folders under your profile folder, but it gives you no control on who has access, just restricts to your Windows user ID.