I'm often asked if there's a way to password-protect individual folders in Windows. Using Windows alone, the answer is no; but if you're willing to shell out $US50, WinAbility's Folder Guard (www.winability.com) will let you do just that, and a whole lot more. You can secure folders with passwords (see FIGURE 5), make them read-only, or render them completely invisible to Explorer and other programs. You can protect files at the drive or folder level, or based on a file's extension. You can set up different permissions for individual users and decide who may access the Control Panel and other system tools. Utilities such as this won't stop determined hackers, but they will protect you from the casual prying of coworkers or family members. Folder Guard is available on our cover CD.