Your computer's hard drive may contain information that you would like to hide. It so happened that the standard means of operating systems of the Windows family cannot provide limited access to files and folders using a password. But it is possible to restrict access using user accounts.
It is necessary
- OS:
- - Windows 7;
- - Windows XP.
Instructions
Step 1
You can restrict access to a folder or file in the Windows 7 operating system using the User Accounts tool. The administrator has access to all folders, since he is at the head of the user hierarchy. If you decide to close access to folders, and there is only one account, it makes sense to think about simply entering a password when logging in.
Step 2
Select the folder you want to hide and right-click on it. In the context menu that opens, select the "Properties" item.
Step 3
In the new window, go to the Security tab, select a user and click the Edit button. You can distribute the rights to the selected folder among all users. For example, someone can be allowed to view, someone can be allowed to change it, or you can completely remove a user from this list.
Step 4
If you cannot change user rights to view and edit this folder, then the rights are assigned to the parent directory (root folder). To edit this parameter, return to the Security tab and click the Advanced button.
Step 5
In the window that opens, go to the "Permissions" tab, select the item that prohibits changes and click the "Change permissions" button. Uncheck the box "Add permission inherited from parent objects" and repeat the operation again. This way you can hide any directory on your hard disk, including its partitions.
Step 6
In the Windows XP operating system, the same action is performed differently. Click the "Start" menu, select "Control Panel".
Step 7
In the folder that opens, open the "Folder Options" and go to the "View" tab. Uncheck Use Basic File Sharing and click Apply and OK.
Step 8
Right click on the folder you want to hide and select Properties. In the folder properties window, go to the "Security" tab, select the user to whom access will be restricted, and check the boxes "Deny" or "Allow" when you want to remove the ban on viewing this directory.
Step 9
Click the "Apply" and "OK" buttons to save the changes to the access settings.
