Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
One way is to set certain folders to be inaccessible to other local users.
To do this in Windows, use the Security tab in the folder's Properties box. It contains
fi le-sharing permission settings that apply to local access. You can also
encrypt
certain
folders so their content is scrambled if someone tries to browse the fi le contents, such
as with a disk-editor utility. To encrypt a folder, in the folder's Properties box, click the
Advanced button, and select the Encrypt Contents To Secure Data check box. You'll
practice these skills in Exercise 9.4. Only the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate
versions of Windows 7 support encryption; in other versions, the check box for encrypting
fi les is unavailable.
When you encrypt folders, as long as you're logged in as the user who did the
encrypting, the fi les are available normally and the encryption is invisible to you.
However, if you log in as some other user, the fi les are inaccessible. Encryption is based
on security certifi cates stored on the hard disk for each user. There's a risk involved,
though, because if the security certifi cate becomes corrupted or deleted, you won't be
able to access fi les that are legitimately yours. It's therefore important to back up your
certifi cate before you start relying on encryption to protect your fi les locally. A lost or
damaged certifi cate can be recovered, but not easily. Exercise 9.4 practices encrypting
fi les and setting security permissions, and Exercise 9.5 provides practice in backing up a
security certifi cate.
EXERCISE 9.4
Secure and Encrypt Local Folders in Windows 7
1.
If you don't already have at least two user accounts on your PC, create one. To do so:
a.
Choose Start Control Panel User Accounts (or User Accounts And Family
Safety, depending on your Windows version) Add Or Remove User Accounts.
b.
Click Create New Account.
c.
Type the new account name.
d.
Click Create Account.
2.
Open the Documents folder. Click New Folder, type
Private
as its name, and press Enter
to accept the new name.
3.
Right-click the
Private
folder, and choose Properties.
4.
On the Security tab, click Edit. The Permissions For Private dialog box opens.
5.
Click Add. The Select Users Or Groups dialog box opens.
6.
In the Enter The Object Names To Select box, type the username for the other user on
this PC that you want to use for the exercise.
7.
Click Check Names. The username appears, preceded by the computer name.
