Mac OSX desktop folder question...

May 10, 2006 7:47 AM

I run Mac G5 with OSX. I have several folders on my desktop that I use to place various documents, downloads, music files etc... My question is: can I protect the folder (s) with a password? For instance when you double click on the folder icon a password box pops up, you enter the password then gain access to it, as opposed to the folder immediately opening up once its double clicked...
posted by Cohiba4009 to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

hey, you could store your porn in there!
posted by beno at 7:52 AM on May 10, 2006

Response by poster: Actually I wanted to store some financial documents that I usually only keep around for a few days, but the info is sensitive in nature... someday if you ever manage to get a girlfriend the porn novelty wears off pretty quick.
posted by Cohiba4009 at 7:56 AM on May 10, 2006

I believe the simplest way to do this is with a password-protected disk image. It's not quite the same thing, but it has the desired end result. You just need to remember to unmount it when you want close off access. By creating a sparse image, these only take up as much space as you are actually using.
posted by alms at 8:05 AM on May 10, 2006

someday if you ever manage to get a girlfriend the porn novelty wears off pretty quick

Harsh.

Disk images can be password protected, and are not too far from the behaviour of folders to be used for what you've got in mind. To to Applications>Utilities and open up "Disk Utility". Select "New Image" along the toolbar at the top of the program window, and be sure to select encryption if you want it to be password protected. The only limitation of this is that the disk image must be of a fixed size, so if the files you want to store in this are going to vary significantly this option might be inefficient. If not, go nuts.
posted by teem at 8:11 AM on May 10, 2006

Or, what aims just said.
posted by teem at 8:14 AM on May 10, 2006

Another trick you could try would be to use Unix file permissions. You can actually do all this in the Finder. Here's what you might try:

1. Create a new user—"cohiba secret"; set a good password for this account.
2. Log in under your usual account.
3. Get info on the folder in question. Disclose the "ownership & permissions" section, then disclose the "details". Under "others" set it to "write only (drop box)". Then click the lock next to "owner" and set the owner to "cohiba secure" (you'll need to enter that password). The order of operations is important here. Click the lock to relock it.
4. Subsequently, you can change ownership back to you to get into it.

This is admittedly a little fussy (I'm sure there are apps that streamline the process), but it's kind of cool that you can do this all using what's in the system.
posted by adamrice at 8:29 AM on May 10, 2006

I keep my Quicken data in an encryped disk image, works just fine. I also back up the .dmg to .mac every week. This way I have an offsite backup in case my house burns down, but it's going to be a heck of a task for someone else to read if the server was compromised. They're not getting into an AES-128 encrypted disk with a good password.
posted by Steve3 at 8:40 AM on May 10, 2006

Best answer: Also check out Apimac Secret Folder.

Secret Folder will actually hide the folders from view and password protect them.

Just run Secret folder and select the folders you want to hide. Click "Hide" and add in a password. Anyone who sees your desktop won't even know the folders are there. And even if they knew about Secret Folder, they'd still need to know the password.

That's how I hide my porn.
posted by evoo at 8:52 AM on May 10, 2006

Teem's instructions are good, but he's got it wrong when he says, The only limitation of this is that the disk image must be of a fixed size, so if the files you want to store in this are going to vary significantly this option might be inefficient.

In fact, you can create a "sparse" image which only uses as much space as the files you put on it. This is, actually, the technique that the OS uses to implement FileVault (which encrypts a user's entire home directory).
posted by alms at 8:58 AM on May 10, 2006

or just create another user account
posted by machaus at 10:08 AM on May 10, 2006

Just make a 'dot folder' - the Finder won't display them. It won't let you create them, but you can do it in terminal:

sirloin:~/Desktop bob$ mkdir .Barf
sirloin:~/Desktop bob$ cd .Barf/
sirloin:~/Desktop/.Barf bob$

I'm now in .Barf! When you want to get to it from the Finder, use the Go menu. Go -> Go To Folder. Then type in the full path to the folder, ie "/Users/bob/Desktop/.Barf" and click OK.

I just tested it successfully. That's a great way to hide stuff in the open. :)
posted by drstein at 1:04 PM on May 10, 2006

There are two problems with that:
A) not convenient to access
B) it's "security through obscurity," which ain't.
posted by adamrice at 1:40 PM on May 10, 2006