May 26th, 2008

How to Lock and Hide a Folder without Using Any Software in XP

Posted by Matt | Discussion: Leave a comment »

Filed under How-To + Tips and Tricks

LockFolder Keeping some confidential files private means a lot to me. I can do this easily with several folder and file locking software and tools available out there in the Internet but with a price to pay.

So, here is an equally easy alternative, without any cost to bear – no software no tools! What you need is just a Notepad.

OK, here is how to setup a locking and hidden upon locked folder.

Copy and paste the code listed below in blue (between Start copy and End copy) in Notepad.
Change the “yourpasswordhere” with your own password.
Save it as a batch file (with extension .bat), any name will do.
Now you see a batch file. Double click to run the batch file to create a new folder named Locker by default. You can change the folder name by changing the line “md Locker” to “md yourfoldername”.
Now, you can put all your files that you want to lock and hide want to hide into this Locker folder.
To lock it, double click the batch file. Double click the batch file again will unlock it, prompting you for the password.

— Start copy —

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to lock the folder Locker? (Y/N)
set/p “choice=>”
if %choice%==Y goto LOCK
if %choice%==y goto LOCK
if %choice%==n goto END
if %choice%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
attrib +h +s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to unlock the folder Locker:
set/p “pass=>”
if NOT %pass%==yourpasswordhere goto FAIL
attrib -h -s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
ren “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” Locker
echo Folder unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

— End copy —

Here are some screenshots:

Lock folder

Note: I’ve not tested this on Vista, I’m not sure whether this works in Vista. If anyone of you going to give it a try in Vista, a feedback comment will be much appreciated.

So, hopefully you will find this useful and save your cash on folder locking tools. Enjoy!

*Update: Received feedback that this method is not working in Windows Vista.