[Vormund]

I was wondering if anyone had a solution for this:

I use a family computer, in which of course the "family" uses. I take pictures of (everyone) with the digital camera, then use the slideshow to animate them, but lately I've had a problem with them deleting some of the pictures.

How could I have it so the files are protected from deletion/overwriting etc. but still be allowed to view them? I'm not sure how 'technical' this could get, but I primarily want it to stop them from within Windows, as I do not believe most are smart enough to go around and boot into DOS/Safe Mode. Oh, and as a side note, it's an automatic logon, only one the one ID on the computer, if that matters! Oops, forgot...it's Windows XP Pro, as I'm sure that'd make a difference!


Thanks
-X

[Vormund]

Sure you can, it just adds another remark, "Are you sure you want to delete the read-only file 'blah.jpg'?" And these people are quite annoying...!
-X

[ekÆsine]

a foolproof way to make sure they do not get deleted is copy the files to another secure location like a CD or another hard disk....unless somebody deletes your pictures and you lose your backups at the same time

[Vormund]

Yeah, I know...it's become quite a pain. The thing is, about logging in as an admin, all users on this computer use the single account (which of course is an admin).

As far as putting them on a CD--that's the best I've done so far, but the thing is, there are constantly more pictures to add, and burning them to the CD that often is a little insane :-)

I'm still not sure what to do with it, but I was actually thinking of developing my own program for this...just something simple to encrypt it past Windows' ability to read it, but that'll be when I get some extra time!

And just for note, anyone else who has something on their computer that you don't want others to have access to, there are many programs, but one I know of and find that it works out just fine (it wouldn't work if they knew to change the MSCONFIG startup/or booted into DOS, but other than that!) "Easy File & Folder Protector", it makes the folder entirely dissappear (cannot be searched, opened, or read by Windows, or the Prompt)...and as with "hiding", you cannot un-hide it without deactivating the program. It works for novice reasons anyhow, might not want to try it with someone "advanced" ;-)

Thanks for the ideas though,
-X

[Aggdaddy]

Perhaps, I've missed something in the previous posts, but what I would do is create a password on your profile and then make your files private. Your files would have to be in your profile under documents and settings. Then create one profile for everyone else or a single profile for each user who will use your computer. Make them limited user or power users and make sure that your profile is the only admin account. Nobody should be able to look at your files unless you give them your password. I'm surprised no one else has suggested this.

[Vormund]

MicroBell said that (for the most part), "Well..unless you put them in a folder..while logged in as the Admin..and deny them access to change the contents the only other way that I know of would be either encrypt the folder...", but either way, I was trying to avoid doing that :-) The real thing I'm trying to do is make a screen saver with the images (just the basic windows slideshow), but I cannot copy the pictures for there are too many (well over half of my hard drive's empty space)...that's all
-X

[Aggdaddy]

Well if your hard drive is formatted as a NTFS partition, then all you have to do is password protect the admin profile, create a regular user profile (name it something like 'User') make it a limited user account. Then right click on the folder and go to the security tab and add the 'User' account and make it read only. You don't have to deny write access. It sort of complicates the security settings. Then of course make sure your admin account has full access.

As long as no one logs in as you, they can't modify your picture folder.

[Vormund]

Ahh, that sounds like it'll work great! But...you said NTFS...it's FAT32, would that make a difference? (I don't see how, but I obviously don't know these things!) Thanks again,
-X

[Aggdaddy]

Yep, it has to be an NTFS drive. A fat32 won't give you the option of securing folders like that.

You can convert your hard drive very easy by using this command at a command prompt in Windows.

convert c: /fs:ntfs

It shouldn't take more than thirty minutes depending on the size of your drive and will require a reboot.

[Vormund]

Oh, nice! Will that mess anything up? I'd think that'd be a big deal with how everything is done. I've not done much with thta before! Anyways, I'll wait for your reply then do it if it seems ok

And since you're so smart Maybe you could answer this wonder my computer does, (actually, quite a few, but here's the most annoying):
-Nine times out of ten, when I start my computer, it will go do the "system scan", which takes a decent amount of time (a minute or so--but it adds up quick), and sometimes it fails before even doing that, resetting the computer, and going back to the first "page", where it says the amount of RAM in the top left...it's all messed up half the time too. Maybe I could take a picture of that with the camera to be a little more clear--but either way, I think it's something simple I just don't know what!

Secondly, when I shutdown the computer, RUNDLL32.EXE stalls, Window's claims it is in use by another application, and waits X amount of time before "End Now". I've looked on Google's group-forum, and they seem to say it's a program still trying to use the file. If that is the case, do you know a way I could track down which program that is? I thought about going through each of the processes individually, but that'd simply take too long if there is a quicker way!

Thanks again for all the help!
-X