Protect shared folder in Windows XP

[d_unbeliever]

Am sharing a folder in Windows XP in a large university network. I want to restrict access to that folder to my officemates only. Can I assign password to it like in windows 98? assign users that can access it? how?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Here you go:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Microsoft_Private_Folder/1152200243/1
But as with all encryption software you better get permission from the admin first.

[ozymango]

Speaking as a network admin on a large university network, please check with your admin about this before you go sharing folders on the network, especially if they're on your local computer. It's not just a security risk, it's a good way to lose data when your hard drive fails and/or somebody decides to hack your PC.

In all likelihood there's a better/more secure way to share needed files on one of the network folders (managed by your admins) and they can give read and/or write access to your office mates based on domain membership (assuming an AD network).

I've worked at four universities so far and we've always been happy to configure network shares for people for situations like this, as long as you're not sharing movies and music!

[daamon]

Am sharing a folder in Windows XP in a large university network. I want to restrict access to that folder to my officemates only. Can I assign password to it like in windows 98? assign users that can access it? how?

I've done exactly this kind of thing on my home PC used by multiplte users.

I logged in as the Administrator in Safe Mode and, exactly as ozymango says:

...they [the admin] can give read and/or write access to your office mates based on domain membership...

So follow pretty much what ozymango has put - no need to encrypt stuff.

[d_unbeliever]

@moviegeek, how do i share my microsoft private folder in a network?

we are dealing with confidential documents that we don't even want to share with our network admin (not illegal files but confidential files). the network admin will also have an access to that folder if he wanted to access them?

could you suggest any other means of sharing a folder in network?

[ozymango]

we are dealing with confidential documents that we don't even want to share with our network admin (not illegal files but confidential files). the network admin will also an access to that folder if he wanted to access them?

Don't mean to make you paranoid, but if your computer is a member of a Windows domain (Active Directory), your network admins already have total control over your computer. They most likely don't ever want to log in to your machine or view your files (Lord knows I don't wanna see half the stuff I come across on somebody's computer! ) but frankly, there's no such thing as confidential on a computer anymore. It's just a matter of who can you trust, and who you can't.

I'll bet that if you tell your admin that you want a private folder, they will never look at anything in it -- because we've got way too much other stuff to worry about, and for the most part we're just like you and respect other people when they ask us nicely to respect us and our privacy concerns. Unless you start sharing the latest episodes of "House," then we might slap your wrists. :P

Seriously, if you're truly worried about confidentiality, the one place you don't want data is on your local hard drive, way too easy to crash or get stolen or who knows.

EDIT: It might be more helpful to look at this problem from two angles: Security and Sharing.

You can have the network admin set up the sharing part, and that will enable one level of security in that he or she (the admin) will also limit access of your shared folder to a specific list of people.

On top of that, if it's okay with your admin -- and every admin I know is cool with this -- you can add password protection to your files, using any number of programs (and some MS products already have built-in password protection for things like shared Word docs, databases, etc). So that pretty much stops anybody but a hardcore hacker from trying to read your stuff.

Don't forget that physical access to a computer virtually negates other forms of security, i.e. if I can get to your computer, physically, it's only a matter of time before I find a way to hack it (absolute worst case scenario). This is why we keep network servers in extremely secure locations, much more so than your average office.

[redwudz]

I was given 3 used computers a while back with W2000 Pro installed, but they neglected to give me the passwords to log into Windows. It took me all of 5 minutes on the net to find a password breaker, burn it to floppy and have the systems up and running.

I also realized that same disc could get into any computer in our office. But confidential files are kept on remote servers and well protected. And I have no urge to look in anybodies computer.

I do use simple password protection on some confidential files on my work computer, but it's not networked and it's in a locked office in a locked cabinet. Word and Excel password breakers are easy to find. But there is always 128bit encryption.