Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!att!whuts!mhuxh!mhuxu!jmj From: jmj@mhuxu.UUCP (J. M. Johnson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Protecting directories from peeping eyes (how???) Keywords: PROTECT DIRECTORIES Message-ID: <8798@mhuxu.UUCP> Date: 6 Dec 88 13:21:27 GMT References: <46@VAX1.CC.UAKRON.EDU> Distribution: na Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 33 In article <46@VAX1.CC.UAKRON.EDU>, greggt@VAX1.CC.UAKRON.EDU (Gregg Thompson) writes: > I am in need of protecting directories from being read by "normal" > means. I need it so that ncd and other dos directory utility programs > won't acknowledge the directory. Or something that will password the > directory so that nothing can get to it unless some sort of password is > given to unprotect it. There are a couple of things you could do to make it damned difficult for any novice to poke around in your directory. 1) When you create the directory add a special character or two. This is done by holding the ALT key and typing the decimal equivalent for a character on the keypad. Try it with a letter first. 2) Set the hidden bit in the file attributes for the directory. There are many PD programs that can do this. Directories hidden this way can still be detected and opened with some difficulty. Using CHKDSK /V will reveal the directory name and if you redirect this command to a file and dump the hex codes to another file or the screen, you can view the special character/characters used in the name. Most people would never figure all this out so your directory would probably be fairly safe hiding it this way. Remember, anytime you want to access the directory you have to enter the special character/characters on the keypad while you type in the name. -- Life's just a game, you fly a paper plane, there is no end. - TBA J. M. Johnson, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Reading, PA ...!att!mhuxu!jmj