14 DAY TRIAL // What can you do to protect important folders from prying eyes? There are a bunch of solutions for the matter, but the most handy one is to simply make those folders invisible. The operation is as simple as can be and does not require special knowledge. All it takes is a little ingenuity and a pinch of interest. You can do it directly from Windows by setting the attributes of the file to "Hidden" and make sure that in Folder Options "Do not show hidden files and folders" option is checked.
But if you want more elaborate schemes to protect your files I suggest you appeal to encryption as there are plenty excellent applications that can help you. Here's a hint: TrueCrypt is a freebie that'll come in extremely handy for this task.
And if you are looking for a more hassle-free alternative freewares are also a good companion. Free Hide Folder, as its name suggests is a 742KB free solution for hiding your folders. There aren't too many options for you to bump as all the settings are reduced to applying a protecting password the moment you launch the program.
This way you ensure that no unauthorized person messes with your folders. Regarding the looks they are as simple as the functioning principle of the software. A small application window provides the few options included in the program and allows you effortless hiding and un-hiding of the folders.
Free Hide Folder applies its magic on the directories of your choice instantaneously. The moment you have decided upon which folders need to be thrown the invisibility cloak on all there is to completing the operation is pressing Hide button of the interface. You will notice that the respective folder(s) will vanish on the spot. Making them visible again is even easier as you don't have to browse for them (the application will display them all in Folders list).
Curious about the process of making them go away and re-appear on the fly? There is nothing complicated about it and to tell you the truth a user with enough computer skills would discover the secret quite quickly. Free Hide Folders does nothing but change the attributes of the folders to "Hidden" and rename it with a system-like name. In our case it was "RECYCLER``" and "CHDSK.100``". The only thing is that the program's doings are visible in other file managers (we did the testing using Total Commander).
Now you can imagine that if a computer savvy with a U3 version of Total Commander would browse deep in the drive and bump into such a folder s/he would ask the right question: "What on Earth is a system folder doing here?". And if you think that s/he would have first to turn on the view of hidden data, you are wrong as by default Windows Explorer is set to show files and folders with "Hidden" attributes (and it is useless in the case of Free Hide Folder). Total Commander or some other similar file manager would suffice.
Now that all folder hiding mystery is blown away we can proceed to analyzing the rest of the features. Backup and Restore functions of the application are supposed to enforce the security of your data even more. The developer pleads for backing up your hidden data should something happen to your system (formatting the drive is a threat to the security of the files). However, the resulting file will not help you too much if the Free Hide Folder protected data is deleted.
Formatting the drive or simply deleting the directory containing the hidden folder will cause for the files to be lost and backup file will not help at all in restoring the data.
All in all, the program does a pretty good job considering that it is absolutely free. Actually, it eliminates the effort of hiding the desired folders and renaming them manually. But there are some features that would actually improve it. For instance protecting the data against deletion, accidental or intentional or providing a serious file backup option (folder hiding operation would take longer but at least you have certain guarantee that the files will be recovered).
All in all the application does a job which you can do by yourself (only it'll take more time). There is no real protection for your folders as there is an easy way of going around it. However, after installing Free Hide Folder a very strange phenomenon took place on my Vista equipped machine. Remember I said Windows Explorer comes with "Show hidden files and folders" option turned on? Well, the moment you install the application there is no visible change but if you go to Folder Options in Control Panel or Windows Explorer window you will notice that the option is no longer checked but the system continues to show the data with hidden attribute. If you check this option all hidden files and folders will become invisible.
The Good
The application works fine if applied to Windows Explorer and there are no complicated settings and options.
Hiding your folders is instantaneous and totally invisible to Windows Explorer, even if "Show hidden files and folders" option is turned on.
The Bad
It hides folders only in Windows Explorer and renames them with system-like names (everybody knows that system folders are placed on the root of the drive).
During our testing backup option did not work properly as the files could not be recovered with Free Hide Folder.
A bit of revision concerning English grammar and spelling would deepen the sense of safety (at least for some users).
The Truth
If you are not a Windows Explorer user and abuser, the application has little to offer. Otherwise, it will hide the desired folders on the spot.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
