Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows Vista and 7 => Topic started by: chad on August 23, 2008, 10:03:37 PM
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Hi ALL
I'm about to go OS for a month and have a house sitter coming to stay who will feed the fish and email me from my own computer with updates...
I've set her up a password protected user account in XP and passworded my own acount, but I want to make all my own files and folders inaccesible to her... currently her account can view everything in my C and D drives, this no good!
I'll need to spend a day burning and saving emails, photo's, chat conversations etc that I'm not keen for her to stumble across... is there an easier way to make all my folders unavailable in her account? I've had a good look around Windows XP with not much luck...
thanks... !
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Are you using Vista?
If you are, just hide all the folders you don't want them to see, and then turn on User A/C Control.
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What do you think your house sitter will do on the computer?
I'm pretty sure he/shewon't be able to access your files but Program Files will be accessible.
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Right click the file you don't want her to see and select properties.
Click the Advanced button and put a check mark next to "Encrypt contents to secure data"
This should make the file unreadable to other users.
Make sure by logging into her account and trying to access the file from there.
Hope this does it for ya.
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Are you using Vista?
If you are, just hide all the folders you don't want them to see, and then turn on User A/C Control.
nope, XP
What do you think your house sitter will do on the computer?
I'm pretty sure he/shewon't be able to access your files but Program Files will be accessible.
Not quite sure, but it's a housesitter from an agency in my home, just wanna feel comfortable and protect my emails, pictures, and documents if I'm giving them access to keep in touch with me. :-) And currently they can see a lot more than just program files... the entire C and D drives are available.
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What about encryption? You can encrypt drives with a program called TrueCrypt.
You will need feedback from Zylstra (another member) because I know he has experience with that program.
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Encryption is a great solution for making sure that if someone takes your computer, they cant access your information.
However, if you encrypt the drive, whoever needs to use the computer MUST have THE password. (You cannot set up multiple "usernames" for encryption...)
TrueCrypt www.truecrypt.org is my favorite encryption program (heck, the only one I have ever used/wanted to use.)
It doesn't noticeably slow your computer down. Just be sure to read every bit of information on every instruction page in the drive encryption wizard. You will need to burn a recovery CD (Keep this safe!), which, I see you already understand burning. (You need to burn an ISO file, thats a little different. Do you understand how to burn an ISO?)
Of course, if you want your house sitter to be able to use your computer, then the best option is to create a second account on your drive as a limited user. Log into that account, can you still access your photos on your own account while logged in as the limited user? If so, something must be a bit off with your setup.
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Log into that account, can you still access your photos on your own account while logged in as the limited user? If so, something must be a bit off with your setup.
Yes, I can definitely still see every file and folder from that second account... I have set it up as limited, and I have passworded mine as protected. hmmmmm...
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In your account settings, somewhere, there should be the ability to make the account private.
(Or: "Prevent others from seeing my account" something like that... sorry for the vague description.)
*looking right now to see if I can find it...*
Nope, sorry. It should be there somewhere though, under the Settings area of the administrator account..
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If you have a limited user account for the House Sitter why not just Hide the files you want privite? Right Click the Folder or File that you want privite, select Properties, and select Hidden from file attributes. Unless she logs in with your password, she won't be able to see the Hidden folders or files.
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If you have a limited user account for the House Sitter why not just Hide the files you want privite? Right Click the Folder or File that you want privite, select Properties, and select Hidden from file attributes. Unless she logs in with your password, she won't be able to see the Hidden folders or files.
Unless, you simply go to:
Tools> Folder Options> the "View" tab, and select "Show Hidden and System Files"
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If you have a limited user account for the House Sitter why not just Hide the files you want privite? Right Click the Folder or File that you want privite, select Properties, and select Hidden from file attributes. Unless she logs in with your password, she won't be able to see the Hidden folders or files.
I don't think that would work... but I tried it in case... nope. Zylstra and my instinct is spot on.. it reappears if you go into the folder options tabs...
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Hmmmm.....what do you think guys, do you think attrib +h +s would be useful here?
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whats attrib +h +s?
Windows gives this below, but it works with ONE folder only... only my 'named' document folder in C, My Documents. The option to Make Private comes up under 'properties' in every single folder on the computer, but it is 'shadowed' or non-clickable...
I'll need to move everything to C-My documents?? we can put man on the moon (didn't happen) but we can't hide folders to different user accounts...! Ah the humanity... :)
To make your folders private
Open My Computer.
Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
Double-click your user folder.
Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties.
On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box
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Hmmmm.....what do you think guys, do you think attrib +h +s would be useful here?
Nope, thats the same as right clicking, going to Properties, and selecting "Hidden" and "System" which will be shown in Windows Explorer if you set it to show System and Hidden files...
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Which flavor of XP are you using?( Home edition, media center, Professional)
Log into that account, can you still access your photos on your own account while logged in as the limited user? If so, something must be a bit off with your setup.
Yes, I can definitely still see every file and folder from that second account... I have set it up as limited, and I have passworded mine as protected. hmmmmm...
Did you log out of your account before acessing the new one?
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Try Magic Folders - it's an awesome, easy program. Folders that are 'hidden' just don't show. Period.
http://www.pc-magic.com/
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Which flavor of XP are you using?( Home edition, media center, Professional)
Log into that account, can you still access your photos on your own account while logged in as the limited user? If so, something must be a bit off with your setup.
Yes, I can definitely still see every file and folder from that second account... I have set it up as limited, and I have passworded mine as protected. hmmmmm...
Did you log out of your account before acessing the new one?
Yes... I logged out. And I'm using Xp Pro.
It's not do-able... Windows says (above) that it can only hide files and folders to another user in ONE SINGLE FOLDER.... My Doc's. It says in Help that the option to make private is only available in this one single C-Drive folder! Good ol' MS.
I've just burnt/moved everything so thanks all for your imput...
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Right click the file you don't want her to see and select properties.
Click the Advanced button and put a check mark next to "Encrypt contents to secure data"
This should make the file unreadable to other users.
Make sure by logging into her account and trying to access the file from there.
Hope this does it for ya.
If you are using XP Pro that was formatted using NTFS then that should have worked.
Did you try it?
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Chad - For futures, this program is awesome and will hide any and all folders.
FYI.
Try Magic Folders - it's an awesome, easy program. Folders that are 'hidden' just don't show. Period.
http://www.pc-magic.com/
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Warning
I know nothing of Magic Folders - BUT
I have used a folder hiding programme to hide a folder on my external hard drive.
I accidentally discovered that what was hidden to my operating system was NOT hidden to any other computer to which that external drive might be attached.
I believe this is a common limitation to folder hiding programs,
Regards
Alan
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Warning
I know nothing of Magic Folders - BUT
I have used a folder hiding programme to hide a folder on my external hard drive.
I accidentally discovered that what was hidden to my operating system was NOT hidden to any other computer to which that external drive might be attached.
I believe this is a common limitation to folder hiding programs,
Regards
Alan
Not true for Magic Folders.
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O.K. I will accept that Magic Folders is superior to what I experienced.
My experience of whatever it was I had installed was that it worked on folders in the internal drive C:\, and also on any folders in the External USB connected partitions, BUT suddenly the external hidden folders became public - I then realised that investigating a problem on a totally unrelated product, I had examined exactly how that product operated "NOW" and then restored a disc image taken when I thought that product worked properly - and in the restored "OLD" state the external folders suddenly appeared - they were no longer hidden. That was when I realised that the "Folder Hider" software had NOT hidden my folders, it had merely blindfolded my LATEST version of the Operating System to ignore what should have been hidden, hence I deduced that anything "hidden" on my external drive, or anything hidden on a Flash drive, what NOT be hidden if that device was taken / stolen and plugged into any other computer.
I complained to the "Folder Hider" supplier (can't remember the exact name) and it was they who assured me that all such programs had this limitation.
Sorry to cast a slur on Magic Folders - I just wanted to warn others of an unexpected possible pitfall.
Regards
Alan
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Sorry to cast a slur on Magic Folders - I just wanted to warn others of an unexpected possible pitfall.
I don't know that you did cast a slur; I have no interest in Magic Folders - have just used it for years and never had a problem with it. :)
I'm not sure I understand the sequence of events that you described above, but, I have not done a disk image with folders hidden; so, I don't know: a) if they would be imaged and b) if they are imaged, would they be visible after the image is copied.
Regardless, for the stated purposes of jj3000, to "hide" data on his computer from a snooping housesitter, Magic Folders would work great - and, I suspect that the program that you referenced would also.
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Short explanation in case anyone needs to know
Image is taken of System drive C:\
"Folder Hider" installed, and existing folder C:\Private is hidden
also create and hide folders C:\Secret and, on USB, F:\Keep_Out
Everything is hidden that should be hidden
From here on forwards, if drive F:\ is connected to a different computer, F:\Keep_Out is visible.
Restore previous image :-
C:\Private reappears exactly as it was before being hidden - as expected
C:\Secret just does not exist - no security breach.
Drive F:\ was not restored so \Keep_Out still exists, and is no longer hidden because the Operating System is no longer blindfolded.
OOPS
I wondered if magic Folders would work on FAT32 so I used your link.
I got no relevant information from XP help at http://www.pc-magic.com/mfxt.htm.
Relevant information from 95 help at http://pc-magic.com/emft.htm#t25
FAT32 - NO PROBLEM
Removable drives
You shouldn't use Magic Folders or EMF on removable drives. Although the files and filenames would remain encrypted and scrambled on other computers (if you're using EMF), the folders and files would not be hidden, for EMF or Magic Folders.
In addition, Magic Folders and EMF don't mark hidden folders, they just filter file requests against your list of hidden folders. Therefore any removable media with folders with the same name as the one you hid would have their folders hidden as well, and in the case of EMF, their files would be encrypted too. We may in a later version include the disk ID or volume name in the hidden folder list, but we haven't done that yet.
That supports my fears and warning.
NB Even Drive C:\ is removable, and hidden folders will be public, should it be taken out of your P.C. and connected to another - e.g. because you took it to a computer service man, or because your computer has been stolen.
Regards
Alan
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Removable drives
You shouldn't use Magic Folders or EMF on removable drives. Although the files and filenames would remain encrypted and scrambled on other computers (if you're using EMF), the folders and files would not be hidden, for EMF or Magic Folders.
In addition, Magic Folders and EMF don't mark hidden folders, they just filter file requests against your list of hidden folders. Therefore any removable media with folders with the same name as the one you hid would have their folders hidden as well, and in the case of EMF, their files would be encrypted too. We may in a later version include the disk ID or volume name in the hidden folder list, but we haven't done that yet.
This is still the case with MF. If it is contemplated that security will be needed if a drive is removed, then Encrypted Magic Folders is necessary. Then, in the event a drive is removed, the files will become "unhidden" but the contents will still be encrypted.
Some perspective is in order: I suggested this program for this OP's situation, which I would classify as a low threat situation. I do not mean to imply (and perhaps I did) that MF is a high security program for critical security or privacy applications, clearly it is not. For "paranoid" situations, I would use True Crypt. For normal, "I don't want the wife to see my picture collection," situations, or, "I don't want the boss to see my resume," I would use MF or EMF.
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If you have a limited user account for the House Sitter why not just Hide the files you want privite? Right Click the Folder or File that you want privite, select Properties, and select Hidden from file attributes. Unless she logs in with your password, she won't be able to see the Hidden folders or files.
Unless, you simply go to:
Tools> Folder Options> the "View" tab, and select "Show Hidden and System Files"
Zylstra,
That's not true. Activate the "Guest" account on the computer and allow the sitter tho use that account. Your account on the other hand should be password protected to login, so no one can log into your user account. Any files, other than program files, in your user account can't be seen by anyone unless they log into your user account. You can't go to Explorer and see folders in other user accounts that are "Password Protected" Even if you try to go to C:\documents and settings you can veiw the accounts but you can't access them if they are "Password Protected"!!
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Still, its not secure to do that, I guess thats what I am trying to say.
It hides them, but, with effort, they can always be found.