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I would like to password-protect a folder on my USB flash drive, so when someone tries to open the folder, they are prompted to enter a password. I have a Mac, but also need to use the flash drive with a PC running Windows XP, which I am not able to install software to. If possible, I would like to avoid having to install any software to my computer, or the flash drive.

It doesn’t have to be very secure, or fancy, I just want a password on the folder to protect my files to some degree.

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    Phsyical protection is probably a better option for you in this situation. If you don't let the flash drive leave your control nobody can steal the data off it. May 25, 2014 at 23:19
  • I have forgotten my flash drive somewhere on several occasions in the past, and this is the reason I'm trying to protect my data. May 25, 2014 at 23:21
  • You've changed your question to add another. Which makes it harder for us to answer your question... using the mac to encrypt your disk may not necessarily makeit work in Windows. Read the documentation to see if there is an application available that can make the disk work in XP to allow read/write access. Highly unlikely.
    – Kinnectus
    May 25, 2014 at 23:41

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A password protected zip folder, but these are quite easy to find the password for if you know what you're doing. The difference in OS and software install limitation means you can't use encrypted disks or more secure compressed files such as RAR or 7-Zip which are almost impossible to find the password using various tools...

You can't password protect a folder because a folder is, in a way, a logical file grouping... It's kind of imaginary, I'm not describing it very well!

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  • I thought of doing that originally, but there is no way for me to unzip/zip a folder on the computer running xp I mentioned in my question, and it would be an annoyance to have to always zip/unzip it on my mac. Is there a possible way to do this by having a program installed on the flash drive which can do this? It would have to be a relatively small file though, and work on windows and osx May 25, 2014 at 23:16
  • Your question doesn't mention about not using zip files. Zip files can be opened natively on both Windows and OSX. I was only mentioning the other types as they offer much higher security to the enclosed files.
    – Kinnectus
    May 25, 2014 at 23:24
  • But yes, zipping/unzipping can become cumbersome. Most encrypted disk vendors seem to only support Windows - not very useful.
    – Kinnectus
    May 25, 2014 at 23:26
  • IronKey drives support both Windows and OS X. They're probably the best option out there for that reason. May 25, 2014 at 23:28
  • I'm not looking to buy a new flash drive, just protect the one I have if possible. May 25, 2014 at 23:38

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