Q&A for How to Lock a Folder Using a Batch File

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Question

How do I re-lock the file?

Community Answer

Double-click the file again. It will ask for a password. Enter the password, and you're done!

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Question

How do I reset the password?

Community Answer

Right-click on the .bat file. After doing so, click 'edit.' You can change the code through this.

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Question

My folder will not re-lock when typing Y. What do I do?

Community Answer

Are you sure you're typing everything correctly? What Windows version are you using?

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Question

Could an unauthorized person right click on locker.bat and edit the password?

Community Answer

Yes. They can edit the password easily as long as they know the batch programming language.

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Question

How do I remove a batch file if I locked a folder?

Community Answer

If the folder is system, use the attrib -s /f1/folder command to delete the system attribute.

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Question

How do I copy the code from a batch file?

Community Answer

Right click and press Edit in the menu and in Notepad, Right click and click Select All then Right click again then Copy this time.

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Question

How do I automatically lock the batch file?

Community Answer

You can't lock the batch file. But you can make it read-only via its properties.

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Question

How do I create an application with no software?

Community Answer

You can't, the software is what you use to write the code, You can use CMD as a more direct way, but CMD is still software.

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Question

How do I get rid of a "private.bat" file I created? I've tryed to Delete from the folder I saved it in but the file keeps re-installing itself every time I use my Photos App.

CageyCat

Top Answerer

It could be that "Photos" uses a file of that name. Try this. Write down the name of the folder where the file sits now. Copy "private.bat" to a new folder on a thumb drive. Then, right click and select rename, such as "private_old.bat". Try opening "Photos" App and see if that program remakes a "private.bat" file. Whether it does or not, you should be safest to copy the _old version to the same folder on that thumb drive-- just in case.

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Question

If the password can be changed while the folder is locked, how is it secure?

Tony Vovers

Community Answer

This small program is just hiding the files in a hidden folder. It is a nice little tool to give a minimal level of security on personal files. In fact, there are many ways to "break" the process, including being able to physically find the files with Windows Search if the file name is known. However, for a top-level hiding or protection, it does a fine job and does exactly what the author has suggested.

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Question

If I change the *.bat file back to *.txt file format by renaming, I can then open the txt file and see the code, including the password. How do I fill this gap? Maybe I am missing something?

Tony Vovers

Community Answer

Actually the batch file can be edited directly without renaming, right click/edit making the password visible in the file. This tool is just a file hiding batch file. There is little to no security behind it, but it keeps casual prying eyes from your directory.

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Question

Can I have the same bat file in several folders that I want to lock separately?

Tony Vovers

Community Answer

Yes, just copy the batch file to a new directory and you will create a new Locker folder in that location. If you are feeling brave, you can edit also the folder "Locker" to something else inside the batch program but need to change several lines of the batch file.

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Question

I locked my file using this and forgot my password, How do I recover my file?

Tony Vovers

Community Answer

Open the batch file with Notepad and search for "if NOT %password%==" your password will be the text directly after that before "goto FAIL"

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Question

Can I change the folder name to something other than "locker"?

Tony Vovers

Community Answer

Yes, but you need to change it in several places in the batch file. The act of "locking" is simply to rename the Locker folder to a hidden folder on the PC, and then unlocking it renames the folder back to "Locker."

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