How to password protect folders?

[cheekybobcat]

I searched Google and found these instructions:

-----Open up Disk Utility. Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.

From there.. select File/New -> Blank Disk Image

It will bring up a Window.. which asks for a few things.

Save As: Whatever you want.
Destination: Where you want the image saved. (Usually the desktop for me.)
Size: Whatever you want. (Select from the list, or custom.)
Encryption: Select AES-128 (recommended)
Format: read/write disk image.

Hit Create.

You will now see Disk Utility processing the information.

From there.. you will get an Authenticate window.

Now.. enter a password.. and verify it.

IMPORTANT: uncheck the "remember password (add to keychain)" checkbox. If you don't.. the image will automatically open.. which is not what you want.

Once unchecked.. select OK. Poof! You have a new disk image.. you can read and write.. and you MUST enter a password.. anytime you want to mount it.-----

I got the blank image but I have no idea what to do after I have the image. I can't open the icon or put things in it.

Can someone help me figure out how to password protect ONE folder or what to do after I have the blank image?

Thanks.

 

[Makosuke]

When you double click on the image file you've created, it will ask you for a password. Give the correct one, and the disk image will mount--it shows up as a sort of white box icon in the Finder sidebar and usually Desktop. That's how you access the stuff in that disk image.

(You can think of it as if that .dmg file is the disk itself, and you're "inserting" it in the computer when you double click on it and enter a password; the computer treats it the same as, say, a CD or Zip disk you insert--that's why it appears with the other disks in your computer in the Finder.)

Also, remember to eject it when you're done (either use the little eject icon next to the disk in the Finder sidebar, or drag its icon from the Desktop to the trash area on the Dock--the trash should change to an eject icon).


As an alternate method, you could just make sure you're the only one who has access to your user account on the computer, then make sure nobody else has permissions to view your documents. That won't protect you from another user on the machine who has administrator privileges or if somebody actually gets their hand on the disk, though, while the disk image method is pretty secure since the whole thing is encrypted.