Is there such application?

blinkdude182 · Jul 28, 2007

Hello everyone, just a little question...
As only owner of my computer, I have only created one account.
The problem is I've got a lot of friends and people who ask me for my computer to read their emails or use the IM or whatever...I never refuse, only ask 'em to wash their hands... but there are files (love letters or pictures or videos where I'm naked or whatever) which I don't want anyone to see. I want an application that will let me encrypt files or set a password to a folder so only I can access it. Is there such application? (would be happier if freeware) Thank you!!

remain · Jul 28, 2007

Don't know about an application, but here's a suggestion:

You could set up a "guest account" and turn on Fast User Switching.
That way, when a friend wants to borrow your computer for a short while, you just switch to the guest account.

In the guest account, they cannot access the files and folders in your user folder.

Additionally, you can make that account Standard, not Admin. (uncheck "Allow user to administer this computer")
This will decrease the likelihood of somebody "accidentally" screwing up your computer. XD

cazabam · Jul 28, 2007

I agree. I have an account with no password and limited privileges called zzGuest so it always appears at the bottom of the fast user switching list. I just switch to that account if anyone wants to use the machine.

blinkdude182 · Jul 28, 2007

In my 7 months of wonderful switching to the world of Mac, and after a lot of learning and after having read lots of magazines about Mac OS X, I've realized I can password protect any file I want by creating a new encrypted .dmg image by using Disk Utility, without the need of creating another account!
Heck! There's always something new to learn with Mac OS!

technologist · Jul 29, 2007

Yes, you could make DMGs, but why? DMGs only hide the files inside them, and it's much harder (and slower) than switching users.

blinkdude182 · Jul 29, 2007

Not really hard at all, maybe it takes a few seconds but it's easy...but the thing is I just don't wanna have a guest account :Confused:

I love my Mac so much I just want it to have my account. May sound ridiculous, but you may understand the eccentric ones like me and our eccentric details with our Macs

technologist · Jul 29, 2007

blinkdude182 said:
Not really hard at all, maybe it takes a few seconds but it's easy...but the thing is I just don't wanna have a guest account :: I love my Mac so much I just want it to have my account. May sound ridiculous, but you may understand the eccentric ones like me and our eccentric details with our Macs

Sure...but if you let other people use your account...it's not really your account!

blinkdude182 · Jul 29, 2007

Good point :Confused:

So is there a way to create an invisible guest account that I can hide?

Simbad54 · Jul 29, 2007

There's a little app called Lamesecure which password protects any folder you want to, although I tend to make a .dmg disk like blinkdude182.
Just a note on user accounts. I have three. One everyday one. One for music, and one for games. The games account esp is great because i've turned of expose on my mouse which was a real pain when it popped on whilst playing halo. The music one is configured with my audio interface. Makes life a lot easier.

blinkdude182 · Jul 29, 2007

Thank you Simbad! I read about Lamesecure somewhere, but some users tried this program and said it just does very simple encryptions that can be easily overpassed

I think this .dmg image encryption thing works great for me, but if anyone is interested I also found a little application called EyeHide which creates password protected folders, haven't tried it though.

Simbad54 · Jul 29, 2007

I think, if all you're worried about is your buddies not seeing some stuff then simple encryption is fine. If you're a spy on the other hand then yeah, you might want something a little more secure. ;-)

schweb · Jul 29, 2007

I still think the Guest Account is probably your best option. If you've got nude videos of yourself all over your Mac, someone's gonna come across one at some point.

Macwillis · Jul 29, 2007

just make a secure dmg using disk utility. i worry about people finding my collection of stuff on my macbook pro.

remain · Jul 31, 2007

blinkdude182 said:
Good point
So is there a way to create an invisible guest account that I can hide?

from http://www.macosxtips.co.uk/index_files/hide-accounts-in-mac-os-x-tiger-login-window.html

If you are running Tiger, hiding user accounts that you rarely use is simple.

Firstly, go to the Accounts pane in System Preferences, and find the "short name" of each user you want to hide.

Once you have these, open up Terminal (Applications/Utilities) and enter the following:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow HiddenUsersList -array-add shortname1 shortname2 shortname3

Obviously shortname1 2 and 3 will be replaced with the short names of the user accounts you wish to hide. You can hide as many as you like, just separate each with a space.

To remove all user accounts from the list of hidden users:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow HiddenUsersList -array

note:
On that page, they wrote -array-add instead of -array
I corrected it here above.

Notice that doing this adds an extra option to your login window - "Other..." When you select this, you will be presented with text boxes to enter a username and password.

If "Other..." does not appear in the login window,
enter this in Terminal

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED -bool TRUE

This will make "Other..." appear IF there is a hidden user.

There is also a trick to make Username and Password fields appear no matter what:

At the login window, to get Username and Password fields,
press Down Arrow to select a user,
then press Option Return

cheez · Jul 31, 2007

I found a nice widget called abracadabra that can hide a folder.
U just drag and drop the file or folder u want and bam! disappears

u can also put a password so no1 can see what files u got inside abracadabra (if he doesnt know the pass). u can restore ur files anytime with just entering the pass u putted.
Get it here for free!(well u can donate if u want)
Hope that helps

Levi · Jul 31, 2007

The guest account is a good idea, and if you're really concerned you might want to look into using FileVault. It doesn't really offer any extra protection against other people using your computer (and none if you let them use your account), but should your computer be stolen it will ensure that your private files wont end up in someone else's hands (or floating around the internet for that matter).

eon. · Aug 1, 2007

cheez said:
I found a nice widget called abracadabra that can hide a folder.
U just drag and drop the file or folder u want and bam! disappears
u can also put a password so no1 can see what files u got inside abracadabra (if he doesnt know the pass). u can restore ur files anytime with just entering the pass u putted.
Get it here for free!(well u can donate if u want)
Hope that helps

man, this thing is friggen sweet! i kept playing with it for like 5 minutes cause its just plain fun to use haha. very slick little widget, you need to set up hot corners though (or press f12) so you can drag the file to the corner that activates the dashboard, then simply drop it into the hat and BAM its gone. lock the hat so nobody else can get it and type the password in to retrieve it. genius!