How to make private your files? - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

11/20/2006 06:29:46 PM · #1

HI, I know it has anyhting to do with photography but I dont know where else to ask..
My computer (PC-windows xp) is having some problems so I am sending it to the technician, It has happened that I find that the technician "explores" my folders (maybe he is bored) actually there was a time that one of them actually told me "I hope you dont mind but I saw some pictures I liked and I copied them..." I know they shouldnt be doing that, but they do... And I just dont want to erase all my files in order that they dont watch them... So, is there some way to make private and place a password in some folders and files?

Thanks!

Apple iPhone 5

11/20/2006 06:38:41 PM · #2

Originally posted by Gaby_G:

actually there was a time that one of them actually told me "I hope you dont mind but I saw some pictures I liked and I copied them..." I know they shouldnt be doing that, but they do...

That's unbelievable!! I would have got him fired.

To be honest, if a technician is that nosey, then I just wouldn't let him near my PC unsupervised. What happens if he discovers your paypal or ebay or online banking usernames/passwords? Or any other sensitive information? Letters to your bank?

I'd seriously be thinking about sitting next to him while he does whatever he needs to do. Tell him you've got some sensitive business information on the PC and you need to supervise the process.

ralph

Nikon Z9

11/20/2006 06:43:37 PM · #3

gpg is a free encryption program /
you will have to read the instructions pretty well .. that is one way ...

i would agree with jhonan tell the supervisor/owner of this behavior
if is the owner, change shops .. i would NOT tolerate this behavior.

idnic

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

11/20/2006 07:09:58 PM · #4

I would buy a cheap external hard drive, export all of my images to there & then drop the 'puter for service. Especially if someone there has copied my images before already. I would also let them know at the repair shop that my work is copyright protected and they may not make copies.

PhantomEWO

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/20/2006 08:50:24 PM · #5

Send them an invoice for the photos. If they refuse to pay go to the JP court and file a $5000 small claims against them. You will never make it to trial, they will settle and you'll get more for the picts than they were actually worth and no-one else will get burned from that shop. It's easy, low pressure and could be fun.

Telehubbie

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/20/2006 08:53:32 PM · #6

Originally posted by idnic:

I would buy a cheap external hard drive, export all of my images to there & then drop the 'puter for service.

And then make sure you put some misc jpegs in there with "NO SNOOPING THROUGH MY STUFF, GET TO WORK!" blazened across them. -kidding of course, don't want them to piss them off and put spyware or something on your system. :-) Good luck!

11/20/2006 10:20:36 PM · #7

Hmmm... It is not a shop... It's an individual... He is the one that fix the machines at my fathers business (so I cant stay with him, he goes and takes the computer to his home to fix it there).. I never gave my computer back to the other one that "took" my stuff without my permission. And actually I am not only concerned about the pictures, I have all my work in here, and some personal and private information, I have a backup of everything that is important but I dont want to delete everything :( neither I want mr.Tech to be looking around my stuff.. :(

klstover

Panasonic DMC-FZ8

11/20/2006 11:22:54 PM · #8

Basically I think the previous suggestion to sit with him as he does the work makes the best sense in your situation.

fotomann_forever

11/20/2006 11:33:53 PM · #9

Looks like you are in a bind. Windows XP Home really doesn't have many options when it comes to making files private. In that way, it's just not a very secure system.

Really, since you can't sit with him, deleting sensitive files from the machine is your only way to make sure they are not viewable.

crayon

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

11/20/2006 11:44:26 PM · #10

I use a freeware that creates an encrypted disk which you can mount and unmount as needed. When mounted, it appears as a new removable drive, and when you're done, you can unmount it. Encryption is very secure with lots of encrypting methods selectable. It's speedy too. I have allocated about 10GB of disk for this "private" folder and it mounts/unmounts in only 3 seconds (I selected some AES method or something). I forgot the name of the freeware though (home computer). But I'm sure you can search for similar stuff - they are quite common.

for erasing your private files securely, I use "Eraser", yet another freeware that erases files on your memory card, disks.

all software mentioned works on Windows XP, and Windows Vista

Message edited by author 2006-11-20 23:45:09.

klstover

Panasonic DMC-FZ8

11/21/2006 09:54:13 AM · #11

Please ignore the part where I didn't read that you couldn't sit with him.

mist

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/21/2006 10:25:58 AM · #12

So to clarify, you're not sending the computer back to the place where the technician just sat around looking through your files instead of fixing it, your're sending it somewhere else, but are still concerned about privacy?

File encryption through third party software is probably the best bet. Try googling for PGP.

Otherwise burn your sensitive stuff to DVD and delete it from the hard drive.

Otherwise, what is wrong with the PC, maybe we could diagnose and fix it for you? :)

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

11/21/2006 10:26:23 AM · #13

Thank you everyone! I made a few back ups, deleted some stuff and hided some other... All that "encription" thing is too advanced for my technological impaired little brain, so... I guess it`s all I can do...
Thanks again!

PhotoDave

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

11/21/2006 10:49:42 AM · #14

I'm a 3D modeler by trade and build/maintain all my own systems, (currently 13 systems on my network) as mentioned above your only secure courses of action are either using some sort of file encryption program or saving all your "private" files to a removeable or external drive. IMHO the removeable drive would be your best bet as it would stay cooler in your case and last longer than an external drive and you dont have to worry about extra cables and or power for an external drive. I personally hate external enclosures as due to the poor cooling they provide the drives life span is drastically reduced. Back on topic though if you just mark the files as hidden that wont help you much as when I work on a puter the first thing I do is tell windows to show me all hidden and system files which will expose all your "private" files.

just my two cents,

-dave

One more thing, for external storage there are NAS (Network Accessable Storage) devices available now that are targeted for small businesses and home users that are not to bad as some have deasent cooling abilities. If you are thinking of one of these they can be good for file backups as most of them support Raid for redundancy. But beware there are a few devices that are complete crap like the Netgear NAS devices that although cheep, have little or no support and the hardware is not much better. You pretty much get what you pay for...

mist

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/21/2006 10:52:46 AM · #15

Originally posted by dknourek:

when I work on a puter the first thing I do is tell windows to show me all hidden and system files which will expose all your "private" files.

I was just going to say that. In fact, it would probably make me more inclined to look at them out of curiosity. If I did that sort of thing, which I don't.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

11/21/2006 12:13:14 PM · #16

Do a batch rename of the file extensions to a .gys or whatever, ignoring the warning, then when you get the PC back, switch them back. Won't stop someone from monkeying around and switching them correctly to see, but will not look like image files anyway..
Just a thought.

ETA: I just tried it and when I double-clicked on the file.gys I did not get a popup saying it "was a jpeg with a wrong extension - change it?" and get the open with list instead. Windows had no clue what it was.

Message edited by author 2006-11-21 12:17:00.

David.C

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

11/21/2006 03:15:32 PM · #17

Originally posted by Gaby_G:

... is there some way to make private and place a password in some folders and files?

Thanks!

No. A technician will need administrative access to do nearly anything and with that can unhide anything you can hide.

Changing the location to some obscure directory, file name.ext or using encryption can work. But they all run the risk of the technicion not knowing what they are and not considering them important. This can lead to deletion. This is especially true, but certainly not limited to, when the technician is combating a virus or spyware problem.

The only other alternative is to remove the files from you computer. But again, and especially if combating rouge programs, the technician may look for recently deleted files that may need restored.

A technician is like a doctor -- don't go to one you aren't comfortable being naked around. :P You may not be physical naked, but a lot of personal stuff being exposed can certainly make you feel like you are.

David

11/21/2006 03:25:14 PM · #18

Oh well... he just told me he have to format the whole machine so actually I will have to paste again all my files... *sheesh*

mist

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/21/2006 05:14:28 PM · #19

Originally posted by Gaby_G:

Oh well... he just told me he have to format the whole machine so actually I will have to paste again all my files... *sheesh*

What exactly is wrong with it?

modgethanc

Nikon D90

Nikon AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D

11/21/2006 06:34:56 PM · #20

The default response of a lot of technicians when they're not sure what's wrong seems to be 'just reformat it'.

MrEd

Sony DSLR-A100

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Minolta

11/21/2006 07:08:32 PM · #21

Originally posted by Gaby_G:

Oh well... he just told me he have to format the whole machine so actually I will have to paste again all my files... *sheesh*

You can burn all your files onto a DVD or a few cd's...including your browser favorites and anything else you want to save.

Message edited by author 2006-11-21 19:09:05.

klstover

Panasonic DMC-FZ8

11/21/2006 11:04:27 PM · #22

Originally posted by MrEd:

You can burn all your files onto a DVD or a few cd's...including your browser favorites and anything else you want to save.

Just test to make sure you can read the files on another machine before you delete all the original stuff.