Folder Locker

good
key review info
application features
  • Protect files and folders with a password.
  • (2 more, see all...)

Privacy of your files should never be left to fate. You should take the matter into your own hands and protect it by any means. I am not talking about anti virus software or anti spyware products. These are aspects of computer protection that can be dealt with quite easy. I am referring to keeping your data away from the view of the others using your computer.

Sensitive data is available on every computer, no matter if you are a 16-year-old and you stored some porn on your computer or you are a business man that likes digital transactions or keeps the bank accounts numbers stored in some file on the PC. And if you do not fit either profile, then I am sure that you have something to hide from the general view.

The old techniques are no longer working as every kid is getting smarter and smarter and the need for a stand alone software designed to hide and even protect with a password files and folders is acute. PC-Safety created a utility designed to do just that: apply passwords to files and folders, so that they cannot be opened by everyone.

File and Folder Privacy costs $49.00, but the 30 days trial period gives you plenty of time to properly evaluate the application and decide upon buying it or not. The interface of the software is very nicely drawn and the explorer view offered simplifies the work a lot. In the main application window there are three areas available.

The explorer view displays all the drives currently available on the computer. The tree view gives you fast access to the files or folders you want to process as the contents of a folder is displayed in the window next to it. Thus, you can easily navigate to the last file just like in Windows Explorer.

The horizontal window at the bottom of the screen (Restricted Files and Folders) is designed for adding the elements you want to protect with the software. The method is the trivial drag and drop. Manually browsing for the item is not supported and if you click on the ?+? sign you will only include the folder or drive selected in explorer view.

As soon as you have added the file(s) or folder(s) to the restricted area, a new window will pop up asking you to select the desired protection method. The flexibility of the software allows the user to choose hiding, password with context menu protection, password with auto-popup protection, read only or hide name only method.

Each one of the protection methods enumerated above is described in the right side of the program window. The little tips will be displayed at the method type selection. The difference between the two password protection methods mentioned is quite visual. Context menu protection will assign the respective file or folder a password and will also create a right click context menu unlock option that will give you faster access to the data, and launching the application itself no longer being mandatory.

Auto-popup method has the same fast access purpose, only this time the user will be prompted with the password dialog box automatically. Both methods are designed to gain fast access to protected folders without being necessary to open the application.

The two hiding methods on the other hand are quite different. Hide name only protection will just make the data invisible to view. However, it'll be accessible by third party softwares and applications. The simple Hide way is more secure, as besides hiding the data it will also make it inaccessible to third party applications.

In options, the user gets to set a time period (hours, minutes, seconds) for the files and folders to stay unlocked after they are being unlocked by the user. Also, the default ?admin? password can be changed to any other, as long as you remember it. Going further into Hotkeys, a nice surprise awaits as the software can be made visible by using a user defined hotkey combination or by using a magic word. The hotkeys and magic words can be set for starting the program, locking or unlocking the files. The magic word is just like a digital spell to make the application visible. It can be typed in any program (try typing in on your desktop) and File and Folder Privacy will act accordingly.

The Good

Very good application that does exactly what you set it to do. The interface is easy to handle and the options available are quite unique (at least I have not met them in any other similar softwares). The files and folders support different types of view (details, list, icons or small icons).

The Bad

No matter how attached I grew to it, I still say that the price is too much. I for one would try to look for cheaper methods to protect my data instead of paying that money.

Unfortunately, the application cannot protect the data by being invisible. A trace will be left in context menu or the password popup window will blow its cover.

The Truth

Too bad the price is $49.00. But feel free to try it. The 30 days of use offered by the developer are free.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 2


final rating 3
Editor's review
good
 
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