On successful authentication, the program will open.You won't be prompted to enter a password when encrypting a folder in Windows XP Professional. It will ask you to enter the password you've set previously. To unlock a password protected folder, launch the application. The protected folder or file remains protected.

Exit the Protect My Folders application.

Even if you try to copy, delete, move or rename the parent directory of your protected folder or file, you'll keep getting the 'Access Denied' error.

Now you'll notice the selected folder or file has disappeared from its former location.

Select a folder and file you want to lock and press OK.

Now, click the 'Add/Lock' button, the Add Files and Folders dialog will appear.

Just enter the password to open main interface.

For the first time usage, it will ask you to set a password to prevent others from accessing this application.

Download the Protect My Folders application.

How to Lock and Password Protect A Folder in Windows

With this program you can hide your private files so that other users will not be aware of their existence, or lock your personal folders and prevent them from being seen, copied, modified and deleted. Protect My Folders is a folder security software for everyone who is concerned about privacy and confidentiality of the files stored in the computer. Do you want to lock and password protect your important folders in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP? If you have some sensitive files such as photos, videos or documents that you don't want anyone else to see, the best solution is to lock and password protect them in a folder.

Lock a folder in windows