I am sure that you have thought about all the methods of keeping your data safe on your computer. There are some methods that can help you in this sense, but there is no guarantee that they will work. However, with the new UAC included in Vista there should not be too much of a problem. However, building multiple accounts for keeping your files secure is just too much effort.

Well, if you are looking for a simple way to just avoid that your kids mess up your files, copying them from one folder to another just to make some room for the newest Collin McRae, or your wife's accidental deleting of the report you had to present the next day... that is it! An easy way to protect those files in just a few clicks.

File Anti-Copy, designed by HihiSoft, was developed exactly for the above mentioned purpose. It was meant to be a fast and easy way to protect your files in just a couple of mouse clicks. The price of the application is $29.95, a petty cost considering the features advertised by the developer: anti-copy security working at kernel level, password protection and just a couple of clicks away from the much desired copy protection. Limitations during the trial period? The documentation on the application is too poor and I could not find any restriction.

The interface is simple and there is no rocket science configuring the program to work in your interest. However, there are minor glitches that prevent you from reaching your file locking goal. But first things first. All the options are neatly arranged in the toolbar, described by appealing icons. The choices allow you to add a file, remove it, clear the entire file list, edit the account settings and configure the application.

Regarding the file adding, things are not at all complicated, just a little uncomfortable as drag and drop is not supported and each file has to be appended at a time (no support for adding an entire folder). The mischief is available in both Vista and XP.

Removing the files is done in the same way, that is each file at its own time because multiple selection is not supported yet. However, if you are looking for excluding all the files present in the list all you have to do is press Clear button and they will all vanish.

Adding the files to the list is the first step of the protection enforcing process. Next you have to go to the bottom of the application screen and activate the security powers of the program. The operation is simple as a mere selection from the drop-down menu and fixing yourself on Active is sufficient. The big OK button is not purposeless and it'll put all the wheels into action.

During our testing on Vista, we waited for a little while (a couple of seconds) after which File Anti-Copy gave the verdict: Done (meaning that our files were protected). But something happened and it seemed that the files could not put up any resistance against the mighty Delete keyboard as the moment the key was pressed they teleported themselves to Recycle Bin. Further tests and computer restarts presented absolutely no variation and made no difference in the behavior of the files with or without File Anti-Copy activated.

The Account section of the application is not at all what you would expect. It is only a way to change the password and username (by default both username and password are "admin"). Strange enough is the fact that when changing the username and/or password you are not asked to introduce the old countersign for the sake of authentication.

Setup is not much richer either. The mystery revolutionary options are both (yes, there are two of them) recommended by the developer and one is for configuring the application to start with Windows. The second setting is to enable Alpha Anti-Copy, an option that promises that files and data can be opened and read anytime, but cannot be copied, screenshoted and text-pasted. In our case, this tool did not function either, as files could be duplicated in any folder and on any partition we wished.

The most interesting thing is that although the application has a trial period of 10 days, it displayed, hold on, no more and no less than -39273 days left of the evaluation period. I hope I am not in debt to the developer for overusing the program this much time.

The tests made on Windows XP and the feedback obtained did not differ much from those in Vista, save the minor trial period expiration glitch. However, after restarting the program, the time left turned to normal.

The Good

The interface is nice and simple. No bells and whistles and should the application work properly it would be remarkably easy to handle.

The Bad

Well, no promise was held, so the conclusion here is easy to draw, although kind of abrupt: $29.95 for something that does nothing except looking good? No way!

Have you tried to uninstall it? I couldn't do it the normal way and had to manually delete all of its entries from the registry and the files in Program Files (both on XP and on Vista).

Oh, almost forgot to tell you about the nagging link to the developer's website when closing the application.

The Truth

I really hope all this not working thing was just a limitation for the evaluation version, despite the fact that there was no message displayed at any moment warning me in this sense.

And with all these downsides, I will not send it on the fast lane to the one star rating as the interface is clean and clear and deserves a little more respect.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: