Hiding stuff on your PC

jamoor · 2 Mar 2006 at 18:33

I was having a discussion at school about this, you know with kids trying to hide pron and all.

Is it possible to hide stuff on your pc , like encrypt it or something?
Password protection is possible but it musnt be able to be traced by the slightly above average computer user.

Etaqua · 2 Mar 2006 at 18:51

1. Rename the files (xxxsecks.mpg -> system32.bat, for example) and change their icon.

2. Use XP's built in encryption.

3. Create another partition.

4. Shove it all in an encrypted RAR archive with a subtle name.

GlasgowTitan · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:03

Right click on a file, go to properties. Near the bottom of that window is box called Hidden, tick it. Now you can only see that file if you open up the folder, go to tools > folder options > view tab > check box saying "show hidden files and folders"

This only really works on computer illeterate people like mums and dads.

jamoor · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:08

GlasgowTitan said:
Right click on a file, go to properties. Near the bottom of that window is box called Hidden, tick it. Now you can only see that file if you open up the folder, go to tools > folder options > view tab > check box saying "show hidden files and folders"

This only really works on computer illeterate people like mums and dads.

no, the people we are up against are one stage up, i.e. "Head of IT" they know more than necessary and possibly a network admin,

snow patrol · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:11

lock folder xp is a good little program that will hide files/folders completely.

Psyk · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:44

jamoor said:
no, the people we are up against are one stage up, i.e. "Head of IT" they know more than necessary and possibly a network admin,

Head of IT? Pah. Just stick it in a folder called "work". They'll never know.

marc_howarth · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:46

Psyk said:
Head of IT? Pah. Just stick it in a folder called "work". They'll never know.

Or do what i did and just remove all the admin from the NTFS securtiy settings

Keylow · 2 Mar 2006 at 19:56

Rename "pron.exe" to something like UI.DLL and throw it into system32

Lummux · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:00

marc_howarth said:
Or do what i did and just remove all the admin from the NTFS securtiy settings

Thats easy to get around you just take ownership of the file/folder and it restores the permissions.

QuantumXP · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:10

If you only want to hide a small quantity of data, a USB Mem stick is your best bet.

MNuTz · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:41

Zip all your files into one zip and password protect it.

If someone tries to open the zip file they will still be able to see all the file names inside but not what they are.

To get around this, zip the zip you have just made and password protect that.

This way all they will be able to see is a zip file inside a zip file but nothing else.
Now hide that zip file in some obscure location in your program files.