password protect folder/email?

[whyrichard]

hello,

is there an easy/free way to password certain folders? so that you can only open them with a password?


thanks,
r.

 

[Mr.Texor]

you can always create an encrypted disk image file that will work as an encrypted folder... just remember to tell it to not remember the password on your keychain

 

[gnasher729]

hello,

is there an easy/free way to password certain folders? so that you can only open them with a password?


thanks,
r.

To create an encrypted disk image: Start "Disk Utility" in the Utilities folder. Click on "New Image". Choose whatever size you want, turn encryption on, obviously make it read/write. Later you will be asked for a password, do _not_ remember it in the keychain because otherwise everyone who can use your computer can use it.

Quite useful for USB keychain memory sticks as well to protect secrets in case you lose the memory stick. Do the same thing, make the "New Image" on the USB stick as large as possible. Here you _can_ remember the password in the keychain, because anyone finding the stick when you lose it will _not_ have access to your computer.

If you want to make an encrypted copy of a folder, do "New Image from folder" in the menu. You can both encrypt and compress the folder.

 

[SC68Cal]

hello,

is there an easy/free way to password certain folders? so that you can only open them with a password?


thanks,
r.

Chmod 700 <folder path>

in terminal

 

[Mr.Texor]

Chmod 700 <folder path>

in terminal

that would only protect it against other users, not password protect it on that account he's using. I think he wants to password protect a folder, so that no matter what user is trying to go into that folder,it asks you for a password.. I think.

 

[SC68Cal]

that would only protect it against other users, not password protect it on that account he's using. I think he wants to password protect a folder, so that no matter what user is trying to go into that folder,it asks you for a password.. I think.

Just make a strong password for your login and lock the screen when you go to sleep. This is a much more secure method than individually locking folders

 

[Mr.Texor]

Just make a strong password for your login and lock the screen when you go to sleep. This is a much more secure method than individually locking folders

that doesn't work when you:

- Share a computer with the same account. I know, I know.. but people still do it
- Work computer and you want to have a private personal folder.. your mileage may vary with your work's policy on personal folders
- folder on a usb thumb drive
- home computer where you are not the admin.. like for example if his/her parents are the admins
- etc etc

 

[SC68Cal]

that doesn't work when you:

- Share a computer with the same account. I know, I know.. but people still do it

Which is why you shouldn't do it.

Work computer and you want to have a private personal folder.. your mileage may vary with your work's policy on personal folders

Again, conservative permissions stops anyone except root from seeing inside of the folders, and root access is heavily guarded by the IT people, and hopefully not all of them have the ability to gain root.

folder on a usb thumb drive

Which is why any documents that are sensitive should not be stored on a thumb drive! They get lost too easily.

home computer where you are not the admin.. like for example if his/her parents are the admins

I doubt they know about Root. At all. Which means your still safe.

 

[juanster]

so in conclusion... how do i do this? how do i put a password on a folder again? i dun mean to sound rude or anything i m new to macs and dont get the chmod 700 path terminal thing...or is that not what im looking for for a folder with a password in it..

i just want a folder that whenver you try to open it it asks for a password so only i can open it and look inside of it..

 

[SC68Cal]

so in conclusion... how do i do this? how do i put a password on a folder again? i dun mean to sound rude or anything i m new to macs and dont get the chmod 700 path terminal thing...or is that not what im looking for for a folder with a password in it..

i just want a folder that whenver you try to open it it asks for a password so only i can open it and look inside of it..

You can't. End of thread. a UNIX based system removes the need for password protecting folders. That's a quaint little single-user system mentality that you unfortunately picked up from Windows.

Just protect your login password, they can't do anything without it.

 

[Mr.Texor]

Which is why you shouldn't do it.

dont tell me. tell it to everyone that's using it.. the fact that they shouldn't do it doesn't mean they wont do it...

Again, conservative permissions stops anyone except root from seeing inside of the folders, and root access is heavily guarded by the IT people, and hopefully not all of them have the ability to gain root.

what if you have a file where you want to write some personal information that not even the IT guys should see? you trust the IT guys, but you will feel comfortable by knowing they cant get it anyways.. I work as a net admin, and I know people that would love to have a folder like this and dont really know how..

Which is why any documents that are sensitive should not be stored on a thumb drive! They get lost too easily.

they do get lost.. but sometimes you need to move folders between 2 different computers that can't connect to each other.. how do you do it? learn every 1 and 0? or just put it on a thumb drive or cd?

I doubt they know about Root. At all. Which means your still safe.

Right, because every parent is computer illiterate.. that kind of implies, that I can't have kids, because I know about root..



It really seems like you want to be the "I know how it's done, don't tell me I'm wrong" kind of guy. Unfortunately, there's many reasons why things like this happen and why a password protected folder makes sense. If only we lived in some kind of computer utopia we wouldn't need it.

 

[Mr.Texor]

so in conclusion... how do i do this? how do i put a password on a folder again? i dun mean to sound rude or anything i m new to macs and dont get the chmod 700 path terminal thing...or is that not what im looking for for a folder with a password in it..

i just want a folder that whenver you try to open it it asks for a password so only i can open it and look inside of it..

Read what gnasher said, that's how you do it. If you have more questions, just ask

To create an encrypted disk image: Start "Disk Utility" in the Utilities folder. Click on "New Image". Choose whatever size you want, turn encryption on, obviously make it read/write. Later you will be asked for a password, do _not_ remember it in the keychain because otherwise everyone who can use your computer can use it.

Quite useful for USB keychain memory sticks as well to protect secrets in case you lose the memory stick. Do the same thing, make the "New Image" on the USB stick as large as possible. Here you _can_ remember the password in the keychain, because anyone finding the stick when you lose it will _not_ have access to your computer.

If you want to make an encrypted copy of a folder, do "New Image from folder" in the menu. You can both encrypt and compress the folder.

 

[juanster]

You can't. End of thread. a UNIX based system removes the need for password protecting folders. That's a quaint little single-user system mentality that you unfortunately picked up from Windows.

Just protect your login password, they can't do anything without it.

i love mac os x. but then, this quaint little single system thingy is extremely useful and it sucks that it lacks it. What if i don t want to have many users in my computer? after all it's my personal laptop, the only thing is that in this case it's the first mac in the family so it get s checked out by every single family member that comes over, which i don t mind cause i like them to see how great it is and why i think it's better than windows, but it just sucks when your little sister finds pictures of you and your girlfriend that she would have been way better off not knowing about...LOL not a big deal she is 20 now but still, uncalled for, if i could only put a password in that folder, it would have been so much better...

 

[SC68Cal]

what if you have a file where you want to write some personal information that not even the IT guys should see? you trust the IT guys, but you will feel comfortable by knowing they cant get it anyways.. I work as a net admin, and I know people that would love to have a folder like this and dont really know how..

If there is something that you think the IT guys shouldn't see, it should not be on a computer. That's that.

It really seems like you want to be the "I know how it's done, don't tell me I'm wrong" kind of guy.

That's why I charge the kind of money I charge. And people pay it.

 

[SC68Cal]

it just sucks when your little sister finds pictures of you and your girlfriend thats he would have been way better off not knowing about...lol not a big deal she is 20 now but still, uncalled for, if i could only put a password in that folder....

So, in essence, you gave them physical access to your computer, running your account. You broke the first rule of security. Physical access. You get what you ask for.

Why would you not want a single-user environment? Well, let's see. you could have created a guest account for your sister to use instead of letting her browse through yours!

Hello? That's why you have a multi-user system! So you can create a guest account for your family to use, so that they can't see your files!

 

[panoz7]

So, in essence, you gave them physical access to your computer, running your account. You broke the first rule of security. Physical access. You get what you ask for.

Why would you not want a single-user environment? Well, let's see. you could have created a guest account for your sister to use instead of letting her browse through yours!

Hello? That's why you have a multi-user system! So you can create a guest account for your family to use, so that they can't see your files!

Your method doesn't encrypt the data... an encrypted disk image, as the name implies, does.

If my laptop is stolen or lost I don't want certain data being retrieved. I place that data in an encrypted disk image and I know it's safe. Any thief who actually knows enough to want that data would reset the user password or change folder permissions and have my data.

Oh... and remembering to log out every time or lock your computer is difficult. The OP wanted a folder protected (perhaps in addition to a user password). An encrypted disk image allows the OP to do just that.

 

[Mr.Texor]

If there is something that you think the IT guys shouldn't see, it should not be on a computer. That's that.



That's why I charge the kind of money I charge. And people pay it.

Your method doesn't encrypt the data... an encrypted disk image, as the name implies, does.

If my laptop is stolen or lost I don't want certain data being retrieved. I place that data in an encrypted disk image and I know it's safe. Any thief who actually knows enough to want that data would reset the user password or change permission and have my data.

Oh... and remembering to log out every time or lock your computer is difficult. The OP wanted a folder protected (perhaps in addition to a user password). An encrypted disk image allows the OP to do just that.

dude.. no.. 'chmod 700' is all he needs, at least that's what he said.. cause after all he gets paid for this kind of stuff..

 

[juanster]

So, in essence, you gave them physical access to your computer, running your account. You broke the first rule of security. Physical access. You get what you ask for.

Why would you not want a single-user environment? Well, let's see. you could have created a guest account for your sister to use instead of letting her browse through yours!

Hello? That's why you have a multi-user system! So you can create a guest account for your family to use, so that they can't see your files!

why now whyy whyy would iw ant to have a guest account in MY computer, i dont like accounts in computers period, it's way too XP for me i just dont like it, so much easier to just let me put a password in a folder... just seems smarter IMO, now i don t really care, i knwo it's not possible period, thanks for the help tho SC68 Cal you ve helped me many times before...

 

[Mr.Texor]

why now whyy whyy would iw ant to have a guest account in MY computer, i dont like accounts in computers period, it's way too XP for me i just dont like it, so much easier to just let me put a password in a folder... just seems smarter IMO, now i don t really care, i knwo it's not possible period, thanks for the help tho SC68 Cal you ve helped me many times before...

you can still make the disk image if you want.. it will act as a folder (more like a disk) and you can protect it... IT's not that hard. And although it's not an encrypted folder, it's a solution to the the "I need to protect some files/folders" problem.

 

[juanster]

you can still make the disk image if you want.. it will act as a folder (more like a disk) and you can protect it... IT's not that hard. And although it's not an encrypted folder, it's a solution to the the "I need to protect some files/folders" problem.

thx i ll try that and let you know how it goes

 

[panoz7]

thx i ll try that and let you know how it goes

Here's instructions from apple on how to do it:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1527.html

It's quite simple. Make it a sparse disk image and it won't take up any more space then the files it contains. Remember to not let keychain remember the password (or it sort of defeats the purpose).

 

[juanster]

Here's instructions from apple on how to do it:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1527.html

It's quite simple. Make it a sparse disk image and it won't take up any more space then the files it contains. Remember to not let keychain remember the password (or it sort of defeats the purpose).

will do as soon as i get home, im at work thx...

 

[Mr.Texor]

talking with a friend, he told me about macgpg. you might also want to look at it:
http://macgpg.sourceforge.net/

tho, I dont personally use it, so I might not be able to help you with it

 

[daad2000]

So, in essence, you gave them physical access to your computer, running your account. You broke the first rule of security. Physical access. You get what you ask for.

Why would you not want a single-user environment? Well, let's see. you could have created a guest account for your sister to use instead of letting her browse through yours!

Hello? That's why you have a multi-user system! So you can create a guest account for your family to use, so that they can't see your files!

Hey I a have a laptop as my main computer and dont like to lend it, thats why I hate having a guest account. Sometime I really have to let someone use my computer and it would be nice to password protect a file, folder, or email in mail.

 

[naips]

Just to say thanks that the instructions were very easy to follow, even a 16 year old like me can do it! Been trying to find a way for a while, i just have locks for screen saver and passwords to re-write folders and stuff but this is a much easier way! (gnasher729's instructions)