Is it possible to create folder which can hide files automatically, when copied into it?

Question

Is it possible to create folder which can hide files automatically, when copied into it? I mean how to program a folder so that whatever into it would be automatically become hidden?

Answer 1

I'll assume you're talking about the Windows OS, but my answer should apply to most modern OSes (that have a filesystem that supports a "hidden" attribute).



It'd be a programmatic solution (you'd have to write code) that creates a background process ("service" in Win32) which listens for filesystem change events. When a change event comes in for a folder that you've designated as an "autohide" folder, and the event says something was added to the folder, the service would set the "hidden" attribute of the added item(s).



This allows one to later go into the folder and "unhide" items without the service "re-hiding" them, since it only acts on "add" events. Such a service would sleep on the event listener, so it would use 0 CPU unless filesystem activity occurs, but it would have to be coded tightly to minimize its impact on the system when doing a lot of filesystem stuff (e.g. unpacking a zip file with lots of files).



I know nothing about Win32 filesystem change events (other than they exist), but the above outline might be enough to get you started.

Answer 2

Are you talking about a network shared folder? Or do you want to protect the folder from other users on the computer? If you do, then each person that signs on will have different permissions for the files the create. If you want a folder with a password that does not depend on NTFS security, there is a work around. Right click where you want the new folder and select NEW > COMPRESSED (ZIPPED) FOLDER. A new ZIP folder will be created. Place the files you want to password protect in the ZIP folder. Open the ZIP folder and select FILE > Add a password. Type the password and confirm. The files WILL be visible to anyone that opens the folder. But if they open a file, they will be prompted for a password. This is the way to do this in XP without a third party program.

Answer 3

download the program called TrueCrypt. I love this program and keep all my important files and personal stuff in it. You can "hide" an entire operating system or as many folders and files as you want. Its quite easy to use and can even run it from a usb flash drive. Not only does it "hide" it (i'll explain that in a minute" but it also password protects it and encrypts it. When I say hide, it creates a file named whatever you want the containing file to be called, but no one knows what that is. You can't open it by clicking on it. It has to be mounted with the true crypt program in which at that time you have to enter your password to mount it. So you can have this file sitting on your hard drive called "blahblah" or whatever. And it has a blank icon. And if someone clicks it, windows won't know what to do with it. And you can have unlimited folders and files contained within that one little file. Google "TrueCrypt". Its a great little program. and totally free.

Answer 4

In KDE you can make a folder that is connected to a kioslave that does this. It could also do far more advanced stuff, like hiding and encrypting the file, or storing it on another computer.

Answer 5

Whenever you hide a folder the files didn't show in it!