In the modern world, the problem of secure storage of confidential data is becoming more and more urgent. In order to protect their secrets from unauthorized access, users use both fairly simple methods (like archiving files with a password) and quite reliable means of cryptographic protection (GPG, TrueCrypt). All of this implies the use of third party software. However, do not forget that you can encrypt data in Windows XP by means of the operating system itself.
Necessary
hard disk partition with NTFS file system
Instructions
Step 1
Launch File Explorer. To do this, expand the main menu of the shell by clicking on the "Start" button. Select the "Programs" item. In the displayed child menu, select the "Standard" item, and then click on the "Explorer" item. If the menu structure does not match the one described, or the "Explorer" shortcut is missing from the menu, follow these steps. Click on the "Start" button. In the menu that appears, select the "Run" item. The "Run Program" dialog will open. In the "Open" field of this dialog, enter the string "explorer.exe". Click the "OK" button. A Windows Explorer window will appear.
Step 2
Find the file or folder you want to encrypt. In the left pane of Explorer, there is a tree control that displays the hierarchy of devices and directory structures for your computer. Expand the item "My Computer" by clicking on the "+" sign next to the text. Similarly, expand the item corresponding to the device on which the target file or folder is located. Further, expanding the items corresponding to the subdirectories, find the desired file system object. Select it in the right pane of the explorer.
Step 3
Open the properties dialog of the encrypted file or folder. To do this, right-click on the object. In the displayed context menu, select the "Properties" item.
Step 4
Open the dialog for setting additional attributes of the selected file system object. In the object properties dialog switch to the "General" tab. Click the Advanced button.
Step 5
Encrypt the data. In the "Advanced Attributes" dialog in the "Compression and Encryption Attributes" group of elements, select the "Encrypt content to protect data" checkbox. Click the "OK" button.
Step 6
Specify the encryption options for the file system object. In the object properties dialog, click the "Apply" button. If a file or folder located in a directory that was not encrypted was selected as an object, the "Encryption warning" dialog will be displayed. If you want to encrypt the directory containing it along with the selected object, set the switch to the "Encrypt file and its containing folder" position. If you want to encrypt only one data object, select "Encrypt file only". Click the "OK" button.
