Private folders

[nguser]

I share a computer with three users. It is my computer and two of the other
users have Administrator privileges. Although I do not want to prevent them
from adding/removing programs and accessing some shared files, I do not want
to let them into My Documents folder.

I tried removing all the user names except mine from the security tab of the
My Documents Properties. When I log in as them, although initially access
is denied to the other Administrators, nothing prevents them from going into
the security tab and taking ownership of the folder, thus accessing my
files.

Suggestions?

 

[Gordon]

I share a computer with three users. It is my computer and two of the
other users have Administrator privileges. Although I do not want to
prevent them from adding/removing programs and accessing some shared files,
I do not want to let them into My Documents folder.

I tried removing all the user names except mine from the security tab of
the My Documents Properties. When I log in as them, although initially
access is denied to the other Administrators, nothing prevents them from
going into the security tab and taking ownership of the folder, thus
accessing my files.

Suggestions?

No. All Admin users can access all of the machine......you have two
options - encryption or put your documents on a removable drive and take it
out each time you end your session.....

 

[Poprivet]

No. All Admin users can access all of the machine......you have two
options - encryption or put your documents on a removable drive and
take it out each time you end your session.....

Or figure out how to give them limited accounts and then make the Power
Users etc. for the functions you want them to have.
Sorry; I've done it, but could never explain how to do it again! I
almost dread the day I have to do it again<g>. Next time I make notes!!

HTH
Pop`

 

[nguser]

I'm afraid that I do not know enough about encryption to venture into it
without some education first. I guess my third option (the removable drive
option is not practical) is to change their user types to "limited account".
Bummer!

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

If your main concern is Word and Excel files, protect them all with
passwords to keep them from being opened. It's not very strong encryption,
but it's better than nothing. People will still be able to see lists of
files, too, but not open them. As far as text, music, videos, etc., you're
out of luck there.

 

[nguser]

I guess the My Documents folder would have been better described as "Our
Documents"!

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Not really. Your computer's not set up correctly for multiple users,
assuming you expect privacy.

 

[nguser]

I don't think that password protecting document and spreadsheet files would
prevent anyone from deleting them.

I need to research the "Power User" privileges mentioned by Poprivet in an
earlier reply to my original post. That sounded like a good idea but I
dont't know what it can do (yet). If it can allow limited account users to
add/remove programs on their own but not have access to files only
Administrators are authorized to access, then that would resolve my problem.

 

[nguser]

Is it just a setup problem? What can I do to set it up properly for multiple
users and get privacy?

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

There should only be one admin account. It should only be used for
maintenance, and no user should "live in it" all day while working. Unless
there's a real reason to have "power users", there should be none. I'm set
up this way at home, not because I'm concerned with privacy, but because
certain individuals are known for accidentally deleting or modifying things,
and then pretending not to remember what they did to cause problems.

 

[Tom Porterfield]

Is it just a setup problem? What can I do to set it up properly for
multiple users and get privacy?

Don't make everyone an admin. If a person is an admin, they can see your
files unless those files are encrypted. You don't mention (or at least I
didn't see) whether you have XP Home or Pro. Home doesn't include
encryption capabilities, Pro does. If you have Home, you'll need a third
party app to do your encryption. I like truecrypt from
http://www.truecrypt.org. Yes, that means you'll need to learn about
encryption. Either that or you'll need to learn how to configure accounts
to be non-admin accounts and yet still be able to do everything they need to
do.

 

[adamh]

how tech-savvy are these users? You could try hiding your username
folder under the Documents and Settings directory

 

[nguser]

I feel your pain. The "other" users I'm talking about are my teenage kids
and my wife.

I don't mind letting the kids add their game programs and their preferred
applications for listening to music, watching videos, and playing games but
their "accidental" deletion of files and their pretending not to remember
what they did is a common occurrence. I also would prefer not to have to
personally install every game or program they want or need to use so,
reluctantly, I made the older kid and my wife administrators. It is amazing
how the two feign amnesia with identical facial gestures! Like mother, like
son!

It is a family computer but I also run a small business and keep invoices,
accounts receivable data, customer profiles, tax data, etc. on the computer.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Bingo. No office politics to worry about. You get the admin password.
Everybody gets their own limited account. If your wife objects and wants to
see the porn you're trying to hide, that's your problem to figure out.

 

[Gordon]

I'm afraid that I do not know enough about encryption to venture into it
without some education first. I guess my third option (the removable
drive option is not practical) is to change their user types to "limited
account". Bummer!

is there any overweening reason why they SHOULD be admins?

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I feel your pain. The "other" users I'm talking about are my teenage kids
and my wife.

I don't mind letting the kids add their game programs and their preferred
applications for listening to music, watching videos, and playing games
but their "accidental" deletion of files and their pretending not to
remember what they did is a common occurrence. I also would prefer not
to have to personally install every game or program they want or need to
use so, reluctantly, I made the older kid and my wife administrators. It
is amazing how the two feign amnesia with identical facial gestures! Like
mother, like son!

It is a family computer but I also run a small business and keep invoices,
accounts receivable data, customer profiles, tax data, etc. on the
computer.

Along with the main topic of this thread let me throw in the subject of
keeping a good and current backup of everything important.

 

[databaseben]

try this
http://www.cleanersoft.com/hidefolder/free_hide_folder.htm

i like it and works very well.

it can hide any folder or a bunch of them
and requires a password to keep them
hidden and not seen by the operating system.

try it out on a little and useless folder to
see if this is what can work for you. if
so, then problem solved.

as a precautionary measure, remember that password
protecting anything these days becomes forever lost
if the password is lost.

take the time to figure out
what your backup plan is in the event you loose access
to your hidden files or for that matter a physical crash
of your system. Do you have disk images of your hd?

 

[nguser]

One is a computer idiot, the other is a high school tech nerd. The teenager
knows how to find stuff. He'll search for hidden files and folders using
wildcards and will locate any document in the bowels of any computer.

I am using XP Pro.

1. Will encryption prevent them only from opening the files or will they be
able to see the filenames in Explorer but prevent "accidental" deletions of
the encrypted files?

2. Will I need to specifically encrypt every file I use/create or will I be
able to encrypt a folder and all its subfolders and files? Obviously, I'm
looking for a solution that is not labor intensive. It would be nice to
have a Business folder and simply encrypt it and everything in it.

 

[nguser]

Funny! I wish hiding porn was the problem. Recreating porn is a piece of
cake. Try explaining to your customer that you "accidentally lost" his tax
records.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

One is a computer idiot, the other is a high school tech nerd. The
teenager
knows how to find stuff. He'll search for hidden files and folders using
wildcards and will locate any document in the bowels of any computer.

I am using XP Pro.

1. Will encryption prevent them only from opening the files or will they
be
able to see the filenames in Explorer but prevent "accidental" deletions
of
the encrypted files?

2. Will I need to specifically encrypt every file I use/create or will I
be
able to encrypt a folder and all its subfolders and files? Obviously, I'm
looking for a solution that is not labor intensive. It would be nice to
have a Business folder and simply encrypt it and everything in it.

While you're waiting for answer, minimize all programs. Click once on the
desktop. Hit the F1 key to bring up the help system. Search for
"encryption". Study.