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Password Protect Folders, Lock Files And Folders With Passwords

You can easily prevent changes being made on any files or folders in Mac OS X by locking the file or folder in question. This will also prevent the file or directory from being deleted, since the Trash will not empty while a file is in a locked state.

By default, Folder Lock assigns drive letters starting with Z: and works down from there. When you open a locker, you can choose a specific drive letter, and optionally open the locker in read-only mode. I did not, however, find a way to permanently assign a specific drive letter to a locker, the way Cypherix and CryptoExpert permit. If you try to close a locker that contains open files, the program warns you to close those files first.

When hard locks are configured, the desktop client changes the NTFS permissions on Windows, or HFS Plus permissions on Mac, in order to prevent changes by other users. These permissions allow for a much stronger lock, and are especially important for File Server Enablement environments where mapped drive users must be notified by the filesystem when a file is in use.

The protected data will also be undeletable, since it's hidden (the files or folders are locked in the program's 'vault') or access to the data is revoked until it's unlocked with a password. You need to pay attention, because if you try to encrypt your files and a sub folder inside the 'Locker' folder is open during the process. The program won't encrypt or scramble the files, but it will only lock your files. The program is skinnable and it has a very nice interface, which makes it easy-to-use. If you get confused, you can check the 'Help' section, which is very well documented.

Using folder lock is incredibly simple. Put the apps you don't want people to be able to just open in a folder, and when you open that folder you'll see a lock icon next to the name. Tap on the lock and you'll be prompted to create a pattern lock for that folder. Just like pattern lock for your lockscreen, you trace the pattern you want lock folder twice to confirm and you're all good to go. When you go back to the home screen you'll see a lock icon instead of the folder full of apps, with the label underneath. You can edit this label to say whatever you want, just like a normal folder, and now the only way to access these apps from this launcher is by knowing the pattern.

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