Password protection for folders

[Lost]

Title basicly says it all. I want to be able to put password protection on some of the folders i have on a drive that is shared over a network. Any way to do this without using a 3rd party program and if not, what are some good free programs?

Thanks in advance!

[Kohan]

What operating systems are you working with?

[Lost]

Windows XP 32bit

[deliphas]

i'm on vista 32bit and would love to do the same.

[SephYuyX]

Shouldnt Windows EFS work fine? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307877
I havent used this in a long time, so I cant remember if it works the way you want it on shared folders. Though in theory no one can access it but your user name, but since people are accessing it on a share under your username.. meh.

Itll take 5mins to test it, have at it.
If that doesnt work, then you can mess with User/Group permissions.

[Day]

Can't you just right click > sharing and security ? Or am I losing my mind?

[SephYuyX]

He probably wants to access the files himself, which you can do without having to share the folder anyway. You can do it, but it works best when you in a domain, and youre using Pro edition.

Your best bet is to use the group policy stuff. Right click My Computer > Manage and the things youll need to edit are under Shared Folders and Users/Groups. It's kind of involved, so it's best to read up on it. Google Group Policy, and Active Directory; itll most likey refer to server editions, but it still works on non servers.

[Kohan]

Can't you just right click > sharing and security ? Or am I losing my mind?

You can do this, if the user is on Windows XP Professional and not Windows XP Home. They also must have formatted the HDD with NTFS, or it won't work regardless. However, depending upon where you put your passwords, they'll only apply to network users and not the people locally using your PC.

This should help you:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000705.htm

[Day]

Sorry I deal a lot with active directory and XP Pro, with machines on a network at work so it's easy to forget such things.

[Kohan]

Sorry I deal a lot with active directory and XP Pro, with machines on a network at work so it's easy to forget such things.

It's okay, I can somehow find a way to forgive you. Helps that you read TFD.

[Day]

+50 cool points for Kohan.