Why you need to hide or protect folders

If we are in a shared computer with more people, the most normal thing is to have several users configured in the Windows operating system. Generally, we will have only one administrator on the computer. The rest will be normal users without administrator permissions.

As mentioned, Windows tools allow you to configure user permissions. Therefore, we will be able to configure that only the owner user has full control. On the contrary, the rest of the users do not have any permissions: neither read, write, execute, modify, etc.

To access the security settings menu, just right-click on a folder in question. Once inside, click on the Security tab. If we want to edit the permissions, we must click on Edit. In consequence, a new menu will appear where we will be able to choose the permissions of the different groups or users that we have in the operating system. At the bottom, we will have the different options to allow or deny the different permissions to the users and groups. Depending on what we are interested in, we can remove different groups of users so that they do not have permissions.

On the other hand, all administrator users will still have access to the folder. So, you will have to find another way to restrict access. In addition, a program facilitates the execution of this task. Therefore, let’s look at a special software to do it.

Hide Folders

Hide Folders is a commercial tool. In other words, it is not free like other alternatives. The tool does not allow you to use it for free, as is the case with other alternatives. In addition, it protects them with a master password that only the user knows.

Some features of this program are that it supports NTFS, exFAT, FAT and FAT32 file systems. It also allows an unlimited number of protected folders. Therefore, it is ideal for not having problems and protecting as many folders as we want. It will also allow us to assign trusted processes that will be able to access the files. We can also protect the program against uninstallation, and it is available in several languages. Finally, the folders protected by this program will be protected even in fail-safe mode.

As we have explained above, this program is commercial, so it is not free. The license price is $39.95 for a single PC. However, there is a family version that protects 5 PCs that allows you to install it on up to 5 computers.

Download and installation

The download is available from the project page. We have already said that it is a commercial program, so it is not free. However, we have a 30-day trial version where we will be able to use it without any limit. At the end of this period, it is necessary to pay the license fee to continue using the program. On the other hand, the installation is like any other program for Windows.

The installation might return an error, this is because it is necessary to have .NET Framework installed in the PC. Consequently, a window will appear indicating that a specific version is required to run. Later, a window will appear where it will indicate us that it is needed a concrete version to be able to work.

Operation

The operation of this program is elementary. In the Dashboard we will be able to see the general status of the program. It also shows how many days are left before we need a license of the program. In the upper part we have the different sections of the configuration. In addition, we have the possibility of activating a remote control web server. We will also be able to configure a master password in the program to prevent any changes to be made in the program. In this way, we will have the security that nobody else will be able to use this program to unhide or unprotect a folder in question.

In the Edit List section is where we can add the different folders to hide or protect. What we have to do is to click on the Add button, and then we put the path of the folder to hide. Finally, we choose the protection mode. This program allows:

Unprotect: Does not impose any protection.
Hide: Hides the folder only.
Lock: Locks the access to the folder with a password.
Hide and Lock: Hides the folder and asks for a password to access it.
Read Only: Allows only the reading of the folder.

Depending on what we are interested in, we will have to choose one option or another. We must remember that we will be able to enter an unlimited number of folders in the list to be protected.

If an unauthorized user tries to access the folder, we will have different access errors due to lack of permissions. In fact, even if we are administrators, we will not see the menus to change permissions.

Other configurations

In the Settings section, we will be able to see all the general options of the program. Some of them are: activate the protections even if the program is closed, integrate the program into the context menu. Also clean up any possible traces of a hidden folder. In fact, you will be able to delete all recent data, in the recycle garbage can items. It is even possible to remove the Hide Folders program itself from the most used programs, etc.

In the Password section is where we can enter a new password to protect the program. In addition, it is recommended to enter an email to allow the password recovery. If we forget the password, we will not be able to recover it in any way. We will only be able to do it with the email. Finally, in the Tools’ section we will be able to see the trusted processes and configure them, modify the language and skin and other options related to the program.

As you can see, Hide Folders is a great option to hide and lock folders in Windows. See you soon!

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How to change the color of the folders.

For a simple modification, just change the color of the folder. Unfortunately, Windows 10 does not allow you to make this modification natively. But don’t worry, I recommend the Folder Painter application. This is a third party, free program that changes the color of the folders in Windows 10. It also integrates perfectly into the context menu. Well, once you’ve downloaded and decompressed the file, you just have to run it. Then click on Install to add the option to the context menu.

Once the option is added to the context menu, just right click on the selected folder. From this moment you can choose the color of the folder, keep the Windows icon or open the program preferences.

After accepting the changes you can see the folder with the new color.

Change the folder icon.

The newly installed application has the option to change the default Windows icon. Just add the corresponding icon package and then install it.

Thereupon, When you right click on the folder, you will see the option to change the icon.

The folder icon is then updated with the new icon.

Changing the folder icon from Windows

On the other hand, it is possible to perform the procedure using Windows 10 itself. With this intention, enter the Windows Explorer by pressing the Win+E combination. Then select the folder and enter the properties by right clicking on it.

Then go to the Personalization tab. And from there click on Change icon

A window with the available icons will be displayed immediately. You just have to choose any of them. Also, if the list is not enough for you, you can browse to select any icon you have downloaded.

Back to the file browser, the folder icon will now be updated.

Conclusion

In the final analysis we have seen how to customize the look of the folders in Windows 10. This allows you to organize the folders by color to facilitate the organization. In addition, fans of personalization will love it. All right, that’s it for now. Bye

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You’ve probably heard about encrypting files on Linux. First of all, it is good to say that this is a great way to protect your files as you can create a key file and a password to access them, that is, double security.

To do the above, there are several applications, but one of it of Tomb. Tomb is a 100% free and open source system for file encryption on GNU/Linux, facilitating the backup of secret files.

Tomb generates encrypted storage folders to be opened and closed using their associated key files, which are also protected with a password chosen by the user. So, if you want to protect your files and folders on Linux, then Tomb is a great option.

Let’s install it.

Install Tomb on Linux

Tomb, for now, is only available for Linux. So, if you use Arch Linux, your installation is reduced to running a single command. If you use Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives you have to add a repository.

For Arch Linux

:~$ yay -S tomb gtomb

For Debian 9, Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu derivates it is necessary to add the SparkyLinux repository. First, open a terminal and create a repo.list file.

:~$ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sparky-repo.list

Next, add the following:

deb https://sparkylinux.org/repo stable main
deb-src https://sparkylinux.org/repo stable main
deb https://sparkylinux.org/repo testing main
deb-src https://sparkylinux.org/repo testing main

Save and close the file. Then, download the GPG key and add it to APT.

:~$ wget -O - https://sparkylinux.org/repo/sparkylinux.gpg.key | sudo apt-key add -

Next, refresh the APT cache.

:~$ sudo apt update

Finally, install tomb package.

:~$ sudo apt install tomb

That’s it. Now, let’s use it.

Protect your files with Tomb

tomb allows you to encrypt folders and files through a file that serves as a key. This, in turn, is protected with a password. Encrypted folders are called tombs. Then, let’s create an example.

I will create a tomb called osradar with size 150MB. Remember a tomb is a folder. You must run the commands as root user.

Note: it is necessary to deactivate the swap partition.

:~$ sudo swapoff -a

:~$ sudo tomb dig -s 150 osradar.tomb

As I said before, the tomb is protected by a key file. Create it.

:~$ sudo tomb forge osradar.tomb.key

Then, you will have to enter the key file password twice.

Finally, you will see this.

The next step is to lock the folder with the key file. You have to type the password.

:~$ sudo tomb lock osradar.tomb -k osradar.tomb.key

Next, you will see this.

Opening the tomb

So, you know how to protect your folder with the key file. However, there’s still how to open it, why else, what’s the point?

You need to run this command and type the password.

:~$ sudo tomb open osradar.tomb -k osradar.tomb.key

And you will open the folder normally.

Finally, when you finish working with the tomb, close it.

:~$ sudo tomb close

If you have many tombs opened.

:~$ sudo tomb slam all

So, that’s it.

Conclusion

It’s never too much work to protect your files on Linux. Especially if they are private files that you don’t want anyone to be able to open. To do this, you have a simple tool like tomb that is very powerful and few commands let you encrypt a folder where you can store the most important things on your computer.

About security, we also talked about Buttercup a password manager. You can read it here.

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