Hide-A-File is a program that allows you to hide files or entire folders on the C drive of your computer so that others cannot access these files or folders. This is a security program that is particularly useful for laptop or other computers that can easily be stolen, but can also be used to restrict access to desktop computers. You can not only hide the files, such as documents or spreadsheets, but you can hide the executable program files to restrict use of the programs. When you hide a folder, all the files and subfolders contained within the folder are also hidden. A password set up by you is necessary to unhide files or folders when you want to use them. You can give different passwords to different files and folders and give these passwords to different people, thus allowing you to control who can access different files. Note that you can only hide files and folders on your C drive with Hide-A-File.
Shareware Notice
Hide-A-File is distributed as shareware. This means that you can try it for one month to see if it fits your needs. If it does, you are required to pay for it by sending the registration fee of $25.00 (US) to
David Leithauser
Leithauser Research
821 SnapDragon Drive
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
If you do not pay the registration fee within 30 days of the time you start using it, Hide-A-File will stop functioning until you pay the registration fee. This means that you will no longer be able to hide files. You will still be able to unhide files, so that if you loss track of time and forget to register within the trial period, you are in no danger of losing your files.
For further instructions, click on the Register menu on the Hide-A-File main screen. This will show the Register page with further instructions, and a Print button that will print a form you can mail in to register Hide-A-File. When you pay for Hide-A-File, you will receive the unlock code, which you can then input in the Register window.
Initializing Hide-A-File
When you first run Hide-A-File, it will ask you to select two passwords, and administrator password and a supervisor password. These are VERY important. You will need these to unhide hidden files and to perform certain administrative functions, including uninstalling Hide-A-File is you decide not to keep it. Select passwords that you are sure to remember, but that others are not likely to guess. Please note that passwords are case sensitive, meaning that you must remember the password you select exactly, including capitalization. Remember the exact passwords you select at all costs.
Once you have input the passwords you want to use, you will see the main Hide-A-File screen. From there you can begin setting up the program, including creating lists of hideable files and folders. You can click on the Help menu and select the Instructions option to get full directions for using Hide-A-File.
Using Hide-A-File
When you run Hide-A-File, you will see a screen full of controls and input boxes. Although these may seem confusing at first, they are really quite simple if you take a minute to familiarize yourself with them.
At the top of the Window, directly below the blue title bar, there is a series of menus for functions used to configure Hide-A-File. These menus include Files, Edit List, Security, and Help. If you have not yet registered, a Register menu is also displayed. These functions allow you to set up the program. Once the program is set up, you can hide and unhide files and folders using just the four option buttons and the list box displayed on the main screen. The configuration menus are explained below.
Files menu
This menu has two options under it. The first is Uninstall Hide-A-File. This is the only procedure for removing this program. The details of doing this are described near the end of this document. The second option under the Files menu is to exit the program.
Edit List menu
Before you can hide any file or folder, you must add it to the list of hideable files and folders. This is important because in addition to simply listing each file or folder that you might want to hide, you need to assign a password to each file or folder that will be used to unhide that file or folder. Each file and folder can have its own password. This can allow you to give access to certain files and folders to specific people by giving each person the password to the specific files or folders you want them to be able to access. Once a file or folder has been added to the list, you can easily hide or unhide it.
There are four options under the Edit List menu. These are "Add to hideable file list", "Remove from hideable file list", "Add to hideable folder list:, and "Remove from hideable folder list". These are explained as follows:
Add to hideable file list
When you click on this option, Hide-A-File will ask you for supervisor password. Remember that passwords are case sensitive, so you must input the password exactly as you set it up. Also remember that any time Hide-A-File asks for your supervisor password, you can use the administrator password instead. Once you input this password, you will see the "Select files to add to hideable list" form. This file selection form allows you to select the drive and folder to view the files in. The format is similar to Windows Explorer or the My Computer program. You can navigate through the folders by double clicking on them to open them. This reveals both the folders and the files within the folder. After you have selected the folder to view, Hide-A-File displays a list of files within that folder. You can click on a file to select it. The full path of the file you have selected will be shown in red under the folders list box. You must then input a password to be assigned to this file in the password text box. You can then click on the Add button to add this file to the list of hideable files. A list of all files that you have added to this list is displayed beneath the Files list. You may repeat the process to add as many files as you like to the list. When you are finished, click on the Close button to return to the main Hide-A-File screen.
Remove from hideable file list
This allows you to remove a file from the hideable files list. When you click on this option, Hide-A-File will ask you for supervisor password. Once you input this password (or the administrator password), you will see the "Remove file from hideable list" form. This remove file form shows a list of all the files you have previously added to the hideable files list. To remove a file, just select the file from the list by clicking on it and then click on the Remove button. When you are finished removing files from the list, click on the Close button to return to the main Hide-A-File screen.
Note: You cannot remove a file from the hideable files list if that file is currently hidden. Files that are currently hidden will not show up on the list of files you can remove. You must unhide a file before you can remove it from the list.
Add to hideable folder list
When you click on this option, Hide-A-File will ask you for supervisor password. Once you input this password (or the administrator password), you will see the "Select folder to add to hideable list" form. This pick folder form allows you to select folder to add to the list. Select the folder. If the folder is within another folder, double click on that folder to reveal the folders within, then click on the desired folder. The currently selected folder is displayed in red below the folder list box. A list of folders already on the hideable folders list is displayed at the left of the screen.
Once you have selected the folder to add to the hideable folders list, you must input a password to assign to this folder in the password text box. You can then click on the Add button. You can repeat the process to add more folders to the list. When you are finished, click on the Close button to return to the main Hide-A-File screen.
Remove from hideable folder list
This allows you to remove a folder from the hideable folder list. When you click on this option, Hide-A-File will ask you for supervisor password. Once you input this password (or the administrator password), you will see the "Remove folder from hideable list" form. This remove folder form shows a list of all the folder you have previously added to the hideable folder list. To remove a folder, just select the folder from the list by clicking on it and then click on the Remove button. When you are finished removing folders from the list, click on the Close button to return to the main Hide-A-File screen.
Note: You cannot remove a folder from the hideable folder list if that folder is currently hidden. Folders that are currently hidden will not show up on the list of folders you can remove. You must unhide a folder before you can remove it from the list.
The Security menu contains options to change passwords and also the Emergency Recover procedure. You can change the passwords for the administrator or the supervisor. You can also change the passwords used to unhide individual files and folders. The Emergency Recover procedure is used if the file data becomes corrupted. These options are explained below.
Change Administrator password
This function allows you to change the Administrator password if you think it has been compromised. Hide-A-File will first ask you for the current Administrator password. It will then allow you to input a new one.
Change Supervisor password
This function allows you to change the Supervisor password if you think it has been compromised. Hide-A-File will first ask you for the current Supervisor password. You can also use the Administrator password in place of the Supervisor password here. Hide-A-File will then allow you to input a new Supervisor password.
Change file password
This function allows you to change any password used to unhide a file. You might do this if you think a password has been compromised. You might also do this if you have forgotten a password for any individual file.
Hide-A-File will first ask you for the current Supervisor password. You can also use the Administrator password in place of the Supervisor password here. Hide-A-File will then display Change File Password form. This file password form displays a list of all hideable files. To change a password, select a file from the list. Then input a new password in the password text box. Then click on the Change button. You may repeat the process with other files. When you are finished, click on the Close button to return to the Hide-A-File main screen.
Change folder password
This function allows you to change any password used to unhide a folder. You might do this if you think a password has been compromised. You might also do this if you have forgotten a password for any individual folder.
Hide-A-File will first ask you for the current Supervisor password. You can also use the Administrator password in place of the Supervisor password here. Hide-A-File will then display Change Folder Password form. This folder password form displays a list of all hideable folders. To change a password, select a folder from the list. Then input a new password in the password text box. Then click on the Change button. You may repeat the process with other folders. When you are finished, click on the Close button to return to the Hide-A-File main screen.
Once you have created a list of hideable files and folders, you are ready to really use Hide-A-File. There are four simple functions: Hide a file, unhide a file, hide a folder, and unhide a folder. To select which function you want to use, click on the option button for that function on the main screen.
Emergency Recover
Hide-A-File keeps a record of the names of hidden files and where they are hidden. On the remote chance that this record became corrupted, it would be difficult for Hide-A-File to restore the files to their original positions. In order to prevent a complete loss of files, this option is provided. If you select this option, Hide-A-File will first require you to input your administrator password. It will then restore all files and folders that it can to their original locations. If it finds that there are any files or folders left over, it will create a folder called "Recovered" in the root directory of your C drive and put all files and folders that it cannot restore to their original positions in this folder. The original names of the folders and files will not be restored. However, any files within any restored folders will retain their original names. For the files, they will all have dat extensions. You will have to guess the original extensions based on the names of the missing files and manually rename them. Please note that this is an emergency procedure in case of corrupted records and you are very unlikely to ever need this.
Hide files
When the Hide Files option button is selected, the list box on the Hide-A-File main screen will show a list of all files on the hideable files list that are not currently hidden. To hide a file, simply select the file by clicking on the file name and click on the Hide button.
Warning: All files are hidden on the C drive, regardless of where they were originally. For example, if you have a file on a flash drive and you use Hide-A-File to hide it, the file will be moved to the C drive and hidden. Do not use Hide-A-File to hide files on backup disks or flash drive. If you lose your C hard drive, you will lose any files hidden by Hide-A-File.
Unhide files
When the Unhide Files option button is selected, the list box on the Hide-A-File main screen will show a list of all files that are currently hidden. To unhide a file, select the file by clicking on the file name. Then put the password for that file in the password box. If you do not want the box to show the password as you type it, click on the Conceal password when typing box. This will cause the password to appear as a series of asterisks, regardless of what you type. Once you have input the password, and click on the unhide button.
Hide folders
When the Hide Folders option button is selected, the list box on the Hide-A-File main screen will show a list of all folders on the hideable folders list that are not currently hidden. To hide a folder, simply select the folder by clicking on the folder name and click on the Hide button.
Unhide folders
When the Unhide Folders option button is selected, the list box on the Hide-A-File main screen will show a list of all folders that are currently hidden. To unhide a folder, select the folder by clicking on the folder name. Then put the password for that folder in the password box. If you do not want the box to show the password as you type it, click on the Conceal password when typing box. This will cause the password to appear as a series of asterisks, regardless of what you type. Once you have input the password, and click on the unhide button.
Uninstalling Hide-A-File
If, after trying Hide-A-File, you decide that you do not want to keep it, click on the Files menu, then on Uninstall Hide-A-File. The program will ask you if you are sure you want to uninstall Hide-A-File. If you click on the Yes button, it will then ask for the administrator password. (Note: It does not ask for this if your trial period has expired and you have not registered the program.) Once you input this, Hide-A-File will first restore (unhide) any files or folders that are still hidden. (Just to be on the safe side, you might want to do this first anyway.) Hide-A-File will then totally remove itself from your computer.
Bug reports and suggestions
Reports of problems or suggestions for improvement are welcome. Send such reports or suggestions to:
David Leithauser
Leithauser Research
821 SnapDragon Drive
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
You also can leave EMAIL on America Online, addressed to Leithauser, or send Internet EMAIL to [email protected]. In cases of emergency, you can call Leithauser Research at (386) 410-6769 between the hours of 10 AM and 10 PM ET.
If I feel that the improvement would be of interest to most users, I will make it for free and send you the improved version. If the improvement is unusual and suited only to your specific needs, I can give you a price quote for a customized version of Hide-A-File (see below).
Custom programming
One function of Leithauser Research is custom programming. If you would like a custom program of any type written, please contact me at the above address for Leithauser Research, or send email to [email protected]. Describe the program you would like written in as much detail as possible and I will give you a price estimate. Programs can be DOS or Windows.