I'm coming from windows of course, and when I had documents that I wanted to hide, it could be easily done. How do I hide and protect documents in Mac? Is there a quick and simply way, so that other users cannot see certain files?
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First Time MacBook Pro Customer with a few questions...
- Thread starter briankeith513
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A really useful feature is the ability to make encrypted disk images (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1578). Very straightforward to do, and files inside these wont show up when searching the computer- plus they're encrypted at the disk level- so no removing the hard drive and reading the in 'usb mode'. Very handy!
Think of disk images as a RAR file. You drag and drop stuff in (easier if it's a sparse image) to "hide it."
If you create additional user accounts on your Mac, when those users logon to your Mac, they cannot see any files/folders that are located in your home folder (which is where all of your folder/files are stored, by default).
Is that what you mean?
If its helps, a Disk Image behaves like a folder where you can store anything- but it also has some properties which make it different to a normal folder. You don't have to keep or access them in any special way- you can move them around and open them just like a folder.
As for the differences, you can look at it like a hard drive within a hard drive- so although they're located in the same place they can be considered separate entities, a bit like Waziristan is technically part of Pakistan but the population isn't recorded on their census. Of course, if the whole of "Pakistan" were to disappear overnight then so would Waziristan. On your computer this translates to what's stored in a disk image wont show up when searching your computer- but if you were to wipe your whole hard drive the disk image would disappear too.
Being an encrypted disk image, it means that the information stored there is kept in such a way that you'd need a password to make sense of it- so unlike a normal hard drive where anyone can take it out of the computer and read whatever on it without knowing the user password, your sensitive data (i.e. your pr0nz) is safe.
Even though you can't search inside a disk image, you can still find the disk image in a search- so maybe rename it something ambiguous like "FileSystemExtensions", rather than "AbjectFilth" to begin with. Once this has been mastered, you can go further and hide the disk image by placing a full stop at the start of the name and burying it deep within your computer somewhere, but thats maybe something to play about with later
What he means is to give files a hidden tag.
It is a simple but not very secure way of hiding files from computer illiterates.
In OSX all you have to do is rename the file and put a dot at the beginning.
secret.docx -> .secret.docx
It will not show up in finder anymore nor can be found by spotlight.
Unfortunately getting your hands on it again is quite a lot more difficult than it is in Windows. You need to either enable/disable the show hidden files with terminal and restart finder or edit it in finder to remove the dot so it will become visibly.
Or use something like pathfinder that has a quick switch and is in general more of decent Application like Windows explorer. Finder is a rather stupid and useless program.
It should be obvious that is only a methode to hide stuff so other people don't stumble upon them but somebody looking for something will find it easily, considering that odd files that are hidden in a folder where you wouldn't expect also stand out in a way.
It is a simple but not very secure way of hiding files from computer illiterates.
In OSX all you have to do is rename the file and put a dot at the beginning.
secret.docx -> .secret.docx
It will not show up in finder anymore nor can be found by spotlight.
Unfortunately getting your hands on it again is quite a lot more difficult than it is in Windows. You need to either enable/disable the show hidden files with terminal and restart finder or edit it in finder to remove the dot so it will become visibly.
Or use something like pathfinder that has a quick switch and is in general more of decent Application like Windows explorer. Finder is a rather stupid and useless program.
It should be obvious that is only a methode to hide stuff so other people don't stumble upon them but somebody looking for something will find it easily, considering that odd files that are hidden in a folder where you wouldn't expect also stand out in a way.
Can you give us a little bit more information about your situation? Maybe if we know what you're trying to accomplish with more of the context we can help you figure out the best way to do it on Mac OS.
Hidden from whom? From a random person walking up to your Mac and using it under your account? From other people that use your Mac, logging on with their own separate accounts?
What exactly did you do to hide them in Windows?
From people that I decide to let use my own account. In windows, I simply right-clicked on the folder, then chose to hide it.
Just hide your porn in an encrypted disk image and don't save the password in your Keychain. There probably is a way to hide files and folders, but it's not built into the interface.
Yes, the replies above are very helpful explanations on how to do this- is there anything specifically you would like explaining?
In all seriousness, I remember first using the mac operating system- although it seems easy and logical now, it was at times a very frustrating experience trying to figure stuff out, and to their credit, this forum helped a lot with that (through reading and asking questions).
If you have a look at making "disk images" (see the link I posted to in my first reply- if you get stuck I'll write you a basic step-by-step procedure) its the best place to start; its like a bank vault- its there but unless you have the key no-one can get in or know whats inside. After that there are ways you can hide this disk image to make it harder to find in the first place.
This has all been covered in the posts above- if you let us know what you're not getting it would go a long way in being able to answer your question.
Does this actually work in Lion? And do I make a disk image of a folder? And is that something that I can access at will?
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I created a disk image, but I don't see how to move my files to it, or where to find it when I want to access those files later.
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I created a disk image, but I don't see how to move my files to it, or where to find it when I want to access those files later.
LOL I came from Linux
...Fedora more specifically.. Of course I used Windows that whats you meant right
It's a disk image, so it acts like a hybrid folder/CD. Open the image like a folder, it will mount in Finder and appear towards the top (left-hand section of Finder), like a CD. Then copy or move your files to it as if it were a folder. Ejecting or unmounting the image will close it.
Nice one, so you've made the disk image. Where did you put it? You can move it around like a normal folder.
You can access it at will- to get in just double click it and it'll open. When it opens, it will be like you've put a usb drive into your computer (it should look like the USB symbol on your desktop with the name of your disk image- double click this and a window will open)- you can now move some files or folders in there just as you would a usb drive (drag and drop- you know the score)
When you made it, did you choose the option to encrypt it? If you did you will have chosen a password- you need that to open it again, but this is good- its exactly what'll stop other people using your account getting in and looking at your stuff.
To hide your files, you'd go to the usb symbol on the desktop and then right click the icon and choose 'eject'- the stuff in the disk image will now be hidden and locked.
To access it again later you'd double click it (and after entering your password) and it should just open up with your files inside as above. Hope this helps, report back with how you're getting on!
Ok, I will try it later. After I created it, I tried to drag files into it, and nothing happened.
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I just created it, I have no idea where it is lol. I'm gonna close it when I get back home, open finder, and hopefully I can find it from there. When I first created it, I tried to drag files there, but nothing happened.
Fair do's, this is one of the properties of a disk image- bear with it though, once the hang of it has been got you'll be able to see the advantages clearer.
So, you've ejected the disk image and the usb symbol doesn't show on the desktop anymore. The disk image (and your files inside) are still there in the place you left it. Just go to where you opened it (by double clicking in the first place) and you'll get the usb symbol on the desktop again.
If you cant remember where you left it you can find it by searching the computer with the name you called it. So, when you made it in the first place you'd have given it a name, say "trial image" or something like that. Search your computer for that name and it should show up (what's inside will be hidden though).
Your actual disk image will look like the picture below; when double clicked it'll open on your desktop with the usb symbol- but the actual "thing" is what looks like below. If you want to put it somewhere more useful to you just drag it to where you want (just like a folder). Hope this helps a little more.
Attachments
Just put your porn 3 or 4 folders deep with random names how nosey are these people who use you MacBook pro?