ASSIGNING PASSWORD TO FOLDER

Do you have File and Print Sharing enabled? Go to the Network Applet in Control Panel and select File and Print Sharing. Once you have that enabled, the sharing tab should show up.

Thanks, thomcat. I did that and, sure enough, there was the sharing tab... So I set up a test folder on the C drive, set a "full access" password to it, and loaded it with a couple of files. I restarted the computer when prompted, and restarted again after I set the password, just for good measure.

Now, am I understanding correctly the nature of this password protection...? Seems to me, I should have to enter the password to open this folder and view its contents... In fact, it opens -- and all the files in it -- with a double-click just like any other folder. Hmmm. What am I missing?

Sorry to drag this out.
Thanks again...

leopolis,

I think what thomcat suggested was a way to password protect a folder over a network. This doesn't work if you are trying to password protect a folder on your own computer, as you just found out. Windows 9x and ME are not built for security, and thus there is no real secure way to do this built-in to these operating systems. There are, however, third party utilities that can do this with various degrees of secureness (i.e. many of them can be easily defeated by a computer saavy person). I can't recommend one off-hand, and besides, it really depends on who you trying to protect the folder from and how much security you need. I suggest you go to www.zdnet.com, click on downloads, and then do a search using keywords like "protect" & "directory". You'll get a long list of possibilities that you can click on for descriptions. Most are shareware, meaning you can download them and try them out before you have to pay for them.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Thank you all for your suggestions.
Does thins mean I can't password protect a file within a folder, say, a Word doc? I brought some protected docs in from my old win 3.1 and the passwords are still functioning in ME Word. Will I not be able to create NEW password protected documents in ME?! (Sorry, I'm just reacting here...I haven't checked this out for myself yet, which I usually try to do before asking for help.)

So, if I set a folder as ARCHIVE in the properties dialog, I can assign a working password to it? That would work...as long as I could view the contents after satisfying the password prompt. Could I then change its attributes? Edit the contents?

What about making it a hidden directory? If I know its name, could I call it up? There's a reference to this in ME... I created a directory TEST, set it as HIDDEN, and found it, but it had some folders in it that seemed to relate to flight simulation... I was totally befudled. Haven't had a chance to experiment further...

Thanks again... hold my hand for just a little longer?

If you are using Word 2000, then you can still password protect your document. On the "File Save" Menu, click on "Tools", general options, and enter the password you want to use.

I don't think you can set a password on a folder, except with the 3rd party utilities I mentioned in my preveious post. You can change the attributes of a file to either "Hidden" or "Read Only", but anyone could change these back. In Windows 9x and ME, you have the option of either dispalying or not displaying Hidden files and folders, and this applies to ALL files and folders on the computer (i.e. you cannot selectively choose to display some hidden files and not others). This has little security benefit, since someone with knowledge of Windows can go into the Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/View menu and select to display all hidden files.

Hope this helps.

Steve