Folder Lock 7 How Tos

Folder Lock comes with a perfect combination of security tools, letting you encrypt your important files; back them up in real-time, and store them to any portable device. The program also enables you to password protect files, folders, and drives; save your personal information in Wallets; shred files and clean your Windows History.

To password protect folders, you will need to 'Lock' folders, whereby your folders will be locked and will become inaccessible to unauthorized users. Locking is a data protection method in Folder Lock that puts a protective lock on your files and folders. When you Lock and password protect folders in Folder Lock, the folders will be instantly hidden and/or locked from access (depending on user settings) and is suitable for users with simple and powerful data protection needs. The Lock mechanism is different from encryption. Items that you lock, hide, or lock and hide remain that way even in Windows Safe Mode. Later, you can simply go to the 'Lock Files' feature and enter the correct password to unlock and unhide your files.

To password protect folders in Folder Lock, you will need to run Folder Lock first and then go to the Lock Files feature. If you have come to the Lock Files feature for the very first time, then you will see the following screen.

PASSWORDS IN FOLDER LOCK ARE IRRECOVERABLE. Always remember to set a password that is easy to remember but hard to guess. This screen will appear every time you use the Master Password to access the Lock Files feature. If you set a different password(s) for the Lock files, then a different screen will appear where you can enter either a Master Password or the Lock Files Password to access the protected files.

The password will also be case-sensitive. It is, therefore, strongly recommended to make sure that you set a password that is hard-to-guess, but easy-to-remember. Your Lock Files password will be at least 6 characters short and up to a maximum of 100 characters long. You may use Alphanumeric or special characters to set your password.

A password-strength meter will show you the strength of your password and you will have the option to enter your password using the Virtual Keyboard available. The Virtual Keyboard allows you to enter your Lock Files Password without the fear of your password being hacked by a Keystroke recorder or Keyloggers.

After entering the password to access the Lock Files module, click 'OK' to continue to the Lock Files list, where you will enter a main window showing the Lock Files list which will be empty if you have accessed the feature for the first time. (see image below).

You can password protect folders by adding it to this list. To do that, click the 'Add' button on the top menu and select the add option from the pull down menu. To Lock your folders, click on the 'Add Folder(s)' tab to select your folder(s) (see image below). You can also add your folders by dragging them anywhere from your computer and dropping them into the program window. As soon as the selected item is dropped, it gets listed in the Locked items and the security setting of Locked and Hidden will both be applied to the items by default.

Please note that you can Lock and Unlock individual items by just selecting the file, folder or drive and clicking on the 'Lock' or 'Unlock' button. This way, except for the file you selected and performed Locking and Unlocking operation on, the rest of the items in the locking list will remain Locked.

Also note that Folder Lock allows you to password protect folders even if the folders contain Locker files. However, you will not be able to directly add any Locker files to the list. Furthermore, you also cannot password protect folders that are restricted, or lock restricted system drives, virtual drives, USB drives, memory cards, cameras, any other external drives as well as folders from any network location like network mapped drives or NAS devices.

As soon as you have added your folder to the Lock Files list, the default Lock Files security setting of Locked and Hidden will both be applied to the item(s). Additionally, the security setting of 'Automatically Set Lock OFF After Entering Into Lock Files and Set It ON After Logoff' will also be applied to the listed Lock items by default.*

*This feature is only available in the full version.

The purpose of the Locked option is to password protect folders that are added to the list. It will initiate a data protection mechanism that will restrict unauthorized access to all folders that you have added or will add to the list. Your folders will be safe from being accessed and manipulated through unscrupulous means. With the Locked security setting, the items in the Lock Files list will NOT be accessible (i.e. Copying, Moving, and/or Deletion will not be allowed).