How to make folder private?

[kali goddess]

Hi - I hope this hasn't already been covered, but I'm trying to find the best

way to protect the privacy of my models. Is there a way to lock a folder or

encript a folder so other people using the computer can't see what's inside? I

share a server with my housemates, and while I don't think they'd look at my

stuff intentionally, I'd like to be able to ensure that they can't. I don't

need to lock all of my folders, just the one for my photography. Is this

possible?

 

Thanks for any info you can share.

[william_fong]

I store all my pictures on an external hard drive because I have two computers. You could do the same and just plug in the drive when you need it.

[seland]

Have a look at PGP

 

http://www.pgp.com/

 

I'm sure there are other good alternatives as well.

 

-espen

[Matt Laur]

Kelly--

 

You're not saying which operating system you're using your own computer (Windows? What flavor? A Mac?) or what operating system is running on the shared server. Or what versions.

 

Assuming for the moment that your server is running on a version of Windows (not a desktop operating system like Windows XP, but something like Windows Server 2000, or 2003... or some flavor of Linux), you would need to get administrative rights on that server, create a user account, and then be signed in AS that user when creating the directory in question. Then, you'd need to change the ownership and access properties of that directory so that only your account can see/edit them.

 

Or: you can use a product like PKzip to archive a folder's contents into a ZIP file that has a password on it. Basically, an entire folder full of files gets compressed down into one big file, and during that process, you can specify a password that would be needed to UNzip the files. This works relatively well, but adds a layer of irritation when you want to go back in to work on the files. Your best bet would be to work on the files on your local machine, and then when you've reached a stopping point, ZIP (with password) the files up to the server for storage.

 

There are about a zillion variations on this sort of advice, which will depend on all of the stuff you haven't mentioned. The most important thing to know is that when other people have physical access to the machine storing your stuff, there's no practical (read: not expensive) way to truly, really lock down your stuff against a determined snooper.

 

If you're getting work with models that's generating any sort of income, you might seriously consider some external storage devices that will allow you to simply plug them in when it comes time to work. That way your data simply isn't present on the shared machine when you don't want it to be. Good luck! You need the nerdy boyfriend of one of your models to help out on this. Oh wait... nerdy guys don't GET model girlfriends (much)! Good luck, and don't forget to worry about backups as much as you're worrying about folder security.

[jon_shiu]

Hi, assuming you are using Win XP and the folder is in Kelly's Documents folder, go to my computer and then navigate to the folder and right click on the folder and select security and mark it as private... I'm sure you can figure the process out.

 

<p>

Jon Shiu<br>

Elk, California<p>

 

Mendocino Coast Black and White Photography: <a href=http://www.jonshiu.com>www.jonshiu.com</a>

[rainer_t]

Assuming you're using Windows or Linux, have a look on

 

http://www.truecrypt.org/

 

It let's you create a physical or virtual drive that is completely encrypted.

 

Rainer

[norm_h]

Have a look at TrueCrypt: http://www.truecrypt.org/

<br><br>

While you can assign read/write access rights to a user as described above, it won't prevent someone with admin rights to peek into a restricted folder (and maybe all the users log in via the admin account?). With TrueCrypt you can create an encrypted container file, that can be mounted as a drive (you load the container file, type in a password and a new drive - just like e.g. a CDROM - will show up). It's a very secure way to prevent unauthorized access to your files.

[bobatkins]

Truecrypt is excellent. I use it and I used the earlier version on which it's built. It's very secure, very reliable and fairly easy to use. Just don't ever forget your passphrase or you'll never get your data back!

 

However, easier and simpler is the encryption that is built into Windows XP Pro if you use the NTFS file system. If you use FAT32 or XP home, you don't get that option though :-(

[kali goddess]

Wow! Thank you everyone - I'll check into all your fabulous suggestions. For the record the computer I'm using is running Windows, but I *think* the server is running Linux. Unfortuanely I don't really know that much about the set-up. I've left that to my nerdy boyfriend. ;-) He couldn't think of a good way to protect just my folder, but I figured somebody here would know how. Thank you all so much! The people on photo.net are the best.

 

PS - no, I'm not making money yet. I'm just very lucky to have some girlfriends who are willing to model for me. These pics are mostly for my own learning curve, that's why it's important that no one else can see them. They're trusting me, and I want to keep that trust.

[danield]

To "make sure that they can't" is a bit tricky. Unfortunately computer security means being nerdy and paranoid. To see where things can get to, even if you were to use an encrypted/protected file system, you'd still have to make sure one can't get remote access to your machine and snatch your pictures while they are displayed on the screen... Most home networks I have seen allow for that. You may think your mates won't be doing that, but what about your mates mates, etc.

 

I'd say if you really want to protect things (and especially because someone else relies on you for their privacy) then get your own computer and never share it with anyone else and never connect it to a network if you don't know what you are doing.

[bill koenig]

Kelly,Truecrypt is very good, easy to use, plus, its freeware.

Highly recommended.

 

http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php

[kali goddess]

Thank you everyone for sharing your expertise. I have installed truecrypt and it's working great.

[olga_zaretskaia]

Hey - I'm using Rohos mini- free encryption software. The Disk encryption Wizard page helps you to establish an on-the-fly-encrypted volume (Rohos disk). On-the-fly encryption means that data are automatically encrypted or decrypted right before they are loaded or saved, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read without using the correct password (or USB flash drive). Until decrypted, a Rohos volume appears to be nothing more than a series of random numbers. Entire file system is encrypted (i.e., file names, folder names, contents of every file, and free space). Rohos never writes decrypted data to any storage device. I've been enjoing using it for months now.