Sometimes, for whatever reason, people find themselves wishing they could prevent other people from seeing files they’ve saved on their computer. Whether its private spreadsheets, word documents, music or video files, or even simple text documents, there are a lot of occasions where people want such files kept private. The good news is that it can be done, regardless of the reasons why; also, the way to go about hiding them doesn’t really change, though the amount and types of hiding may vary due to the unique situations involved.
For those that wish to hide stuff on their computer, the first step is in figuring out first how critical it is that files don’t be found, and how likely it is they might be if nothing is done to protect them. As an example, more serious measures need to be taken if you are a college student trying to protect the research you’ve been doing for a project at school if you live in a dorm where your computer is easily accessible by many others. Particularly if some of those others have a high degree of technical skill. On the other hand, if you’re simply a regular person who happens on occasion to download some stuff from the Internet that your spouse might find objectionable, the effort put into hiding that material would likely depend on how much trouble you’d get in if caught, and the level of computer savvy your spouse possesses. Thus, the types and kinds of techniques will depend on a careful analysis of your situation.
Herewith are several techniques that can be used to hide your stuff, moving from easiest and cheapest to harder and more expensive.
The easiest way to protect a Windows computer is to simply password your entry. Do that and nobody can get in that doesn’t know the password. Windows makes it easy to do so. The only hitch is in explaining to other’s if necessary, why you’ve done so.
The next easiest thing you can do is create a separate Windows account (with password) on your computer and log into it and use it when accessing your “hidden” stuff. Then, when you’re not, simply log in as your regular self. No evidence of your other account will be visible to you, or anyone else.
If neither of these options look that good to you, you can always buy and use either an external hard drive or a zip drive. To keep your files secret and hidden, all you have to do is disconnect and hide them when you get off your computer, which is pretty easy to do if nobody else knows you have them.
Something else you can try is renaming files and/or their extensions. As an example, say you have some video files that you’d rather nobody knew about. Instead of saving them with the name they came with, change them to something that isn’t so obvious. Better yet though, change their extension name. This is a real good idea because if someone gets on your computer and wants to know what sorts of video’s you watch, all they have to do is go to Windows search box and type in something like *.mpg, and every video file with that extension will be displayed. Thus, to hide a file like “naughty.mpg” you’d save it to something like, “budget.yar.” Nobody will ever find it by searching.
And speaking of never finding files, it’s usually a good idea to create a folder under another folder in some place no one will ever look, like say in a folder created when you install a program of some sort. In computer jargon, this is known as the hole-in-the-wall approach. There are all kinds of folders already on your computer with odd names. Create one of your own inside of it that makes no sense and put your private stuff in there to keep anyone from accidentally stumbling across it.
Also, to give such a folder another level of privacy, highlight the folder name, then click your right mouse button. Choose “properties,” then change the folder attribute to hidden. That way, even if someone does stumble across your folder location, they won’t be able to see it.
Thus far all these techniques have involved using tools that come with Windows, to get more serious requires downloading or buying applications that allow you to create virtual, hidden drives, or that encrypt everything on your hard-drive, necessitating a password in order to even see your desktop. In these cases, programs such as AxCrypt, Fingerprint, Cryptainer PE Encryption Software, Program Lock, File Encrypt, Folder Lock and truecrypt, etc. can be used. To find, obtain and use such products, type their names into Google.
And finally, if you’re doing stuff on your computer you don’t want others to know about, figure out how to erase your browser history, and do it every time you leave your computer alone, because there is no way of knowing ahead of time, when someone else might be looking.
