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How to Lock/Hide Your Folder in Windows XP without Using Any Software?

Normal Windows XP Users may not find the Windows command prompt to be much useful to them, but here is something useful ( sort of ) that you may find it interesting. Besides watching Star Wars movie and adult content ( mouth watering ya? ) via the command prompt, now you can even lock any folder in your Windows XP without even using any software. Interested to try out? Okay, here you go. Follow the instructions below. :D

  1. Maybe you want to try it out on an empty folder in case something goes wrong. So first create a folder in drive C , let say you name it as “my-secret-collection” ( LOL! ) without the quotes.
  2. Next, open your command prompt ( Start > Run > type “cmd” in the Run box without the quotes )
  3. Within the command prompt, type “attrib +s +h C:\my-secret-collection” ( again without the quotes )
  4. This command will make your folder completely invisible and it can not be seen even in hidden files and folders. Try search for the folder, I am sure it returns no result. It’s cool right?
  5. To make the folder visible again type “attrib -s -h C:\my-secret-collection”
  6. And of course you can lock other folder too, by changing the location C:\my-secret-collection to address of your folder.

If you feel this method a little tedious and scare that you tend to forget the folder that you have lock before, feel free to try any of the 5 free windows file protection tools.

Top Free Download:

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 and is filed under Web Tool. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

18 Responses to “How to Lock/Hide Your Folder in Windows XP without Using Any Software?”

  1. vickie
    April 11th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    huh I thought this should be called as invisible folder?
    hey thanks steve! I learned something how to make my assignment folder to be invisible

    Rate this:
    		2.9
  2. Steve Yu
    April 11th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
    vickie > yaya, completely invisible folder! I’m glad it helps :D So you already finish your assignment ya? Seem like very free liao nih? Got time come and drop comments here.
    Rate this:
    		2.5
  3. Kitkat
    April 13th, 2008 at 12:41 am

    Wah, good to hide all the xxx videos and pics?!

    Rate this:
    		2.9
  4. curryegg
    April 13th, 2008 at 12:49 am

    hello there…
    Saw your link from vickie..
    You’ve a nice blog about web.. keep it up.. ;)

    Rate this:
    		2.8
  5. Steve Yu
    April 13th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
    Kitkat > ya, definitely good. You have a lot ar? Share it la! :D

    curryegg > hi, curryegg. Nice to see you here.

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  6. Kok Hwa
    April 15th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Vy useful bro…. will try it out… hehe…

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  7. Sean
    April 16th, 2008 at 7:45 am

    If you have “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” unchecked in folder options, then the floder becomes dim, not invisible

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  8. Steve Yu
    April 16th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
    Kok Hwa > Great to see you here, bro. :D

    Sean > I guess no many ppl will uncheck the option and they may not aware of that option as well.

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  9. mrsleep
    April 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am

    Amazing how dos commands that have been there for nearly 30 years are somehow amazing, incredible and worthy of making a blog post for.

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  10. Vista
    April 17th, 2008 at 11:02 am

    cool trick…. but doesnt work on Vista!

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  11. JAMMER066
    April 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

    this works great as long as you don’t have “hide protected operating system files” un-checked in folder options - view

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  12. Ian Quigley
    April 17th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    Don’t rely on this!

    Once your folder is hidden, go to Windows File Explorer (My Computer) and sellect Tools -> Folder Options -> View (tab). Under “Hidden files and folders” select “Show hidden files and folders”. Also un-select “Hide protected operating system files.” — Then take another look at your “”hidden”" folder.

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  13. shankar satpathy
    April 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    thanks body ireally apprecitae ur stuufs plz tell some other cmd in cmd

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  14. dicky
    May 5th, 2008 at 8:51 am

    Hey, this trick works only if users didn’t select “Show hidden files and folders”. I am still searching for software that can hide any files or folders and lock them with password. I will publish it on my blog once i found.

    Rate this:
    		1.6
  15. Steve Yu
    May 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
    dicky > this trick works even if the user enable “Show hidden files and folders” option. It doesn’t works only if the “Hide protected operating system files” option is unchecked. I already compile 5 of such software in case you didn’t notice. There is a link to the post at the bottom.
    Rate this:
    		2.5
  16. neax
    June 30th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    this only flags a file/folder’s ACL as being a system file. By default, explorer doesn’t display system files - however this is an option that can be unchecked, right below ’show hidden files/folders’. An alternative method is to create an additional account, and use NTFS permissions to allow/deny access to whatever it is you don’t want others to see.

    Oh, and don’t share the password for the new account.

    Rate this:
    		2.5

Trackbacks

  1. April 2008 Monthly Highlights | My Tech Quest
  2. How to Create Password-Protected Folder in Windows XP without any Software? | My Tech Quest

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