I have looked on the forums and I have found that it is somehow possible, but there are no explanations on how to do it, it just shows how to hide the folders. I don't want to hide anything, I would just like to password protect the folder. How can I do this?
Open Disk Utility ( Applications-Utilities-Disk Utility ) Click on "file" in the menu bar - Put the cursor on "new"- Click on "Disk image From folder"
In the dialog box that pops up navigate to the folder you would like to PassWord protect Select that folder And then at the bottom right hand corner of the dialog box click on the "Image" button
Next The "new image from folder" box will appear name the folder You want to password protect and where you would like to save it
Then choose the image format (I choose read and write) Next click on encryption and choose AES-128 and then click "save"
Then in the resulting box type in the password to protect this folder and choose if you want your keychain to remember this folder's password
Please Do not forget the password to this folder as if you do the contents of this folder will be gone forever
Open Disk Utility ( Applications-Utilities-Disk Utility ) Click on "file" in the menu bar - Put the cursor on "new"- Click on "Disk image From folder"
In the dialog box that pops up navigate to the folder you would like to PassWord protect Select that folder And then at the bottom right hand corner of the dialog box click on the "Image" button
Next The "new image from folder" box will appear name the folder You want to password protect and where you would like to save it
Then choose the image format (I choose read and write) Next click on encryption and choose AES-128 and then click "save"
Then in the resulting box type in the password to protect this folder and choose if you want your keychain to remember this folder's password
Please Do not forget the password to this folder as if you do the contents of this folder will be gone forever
Not enough information about why you're trying to do this. Are there multiple admin users? The solution given by Bokat57 isn't what you wanted. All that does is create encrypted disk images, but then you'd have to delete the originals. Each individual user's data is already protected. Provide more details and it's possible you can get a solution that meets your needs.
Hi
If imike007 wants to keep his folder's private for what ever reason ( without 3rd party software ) This is the way to do it I tried to answer a general question with a general answer
Bokat57's suggestion is an excellent one, suitable for almost any purpose. The subject folder is well-protected, and when the encrypted disk image is opened, the folder and its contents can be manipulated and changed just as in their original, unencrypted state. (The only thing to watch out for is that you can't expand the folder and its contents beyond the size of the disk image you create.) Finally, when you're done with the folder, just eject the disk image and everything is all encrypted again.
Spotlight will not, by default, index the contents of the expanded folder. It can, however, be enabled via terminal. With the disk image open, enter this command in terminal:
sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/[volumename]
- where [volumename] is the name of the expanded, mounted disk image. There is little downside to enabling indexing in this fashion, because the index for that volume is stored on the disk image, and when it's ejected (i.e., re-encrypted), it becomes invisible to Spotlight. That means that Spotlight only works to search it while it's mounted. When it's not mounted, the contents are private again.
Well, this .dmg process will conceal that material pretty nicely. Indeed, instead of what you likely have now, namely, a visible folder containing several files with intriguing names ("MyBankPasswords.doc"), when you unmount your new disk image containing this folder, the only thing that will appear on your desktop is a single .dmg file with whatever benign or misleading name you choose to give it. The contents are undetectable, unbrowseable, and secure. (Um,
if you don't include the password in your keychain!)
Like one of the prior posters said - do not, do not, forget your password to the .dmg, because the info is gone for good if you do!
Actually with the Disk Utility app. you can make an expanded encrypted folder (Disk Image) As follows:
Launch Disk Utility click on "file" -- Put the cursor on "new"-- click on "Blank Disk Image" and then in the resulting "New Blank Image" dialog box you will see under the "Save As" and "Where" section is "Size" "Encryption" &
"Format"
These selections (after you give the folder a name) will create a folder (Disk Image) that you can put data in and take data out up to the size you have chosen
Appears you have a solution for your problem. Now, mark the topic and replies, appropriately. My only caution would be that you backup the data contained in those encrypted images, unencrypted, and keep it off-site. Encrypted dmg files have been known to go south (do a search for FileVault or File Vault in these forums and read the horror stories) and people do forget the passwords they gave them. In both cases, the data's unrecoverable. Good computing.
I do it the old unix style. Create a root password, then open the terminal and su to root. If you want to protect a folder, just type chmod -R 700 folder_name. Then only root can open the folder. When you want to open the folder, (su before) type chmod -R 777 folder_name and you can edit the folder.
Be very careful about using the root user account. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1549.html for cautions. I never advocate its use and have never enabled it the past five years running OS X—it's dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
