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FAQ / File Lock

Why File Lock? There are so many encryption products.

File Lock is NOT an encryption software. You should not use it if you want to encrypt your files. File Lock is designed for protecting your files/folders on your local computer, keeping your private files from spy eyes while you are surfing the internet, or while you leave your computer alone. Of course, it can also be used to protect your own files on a shared computer. Point is that File Lock will never modify your files. It will not slow down your computer, and there is no chance to destroy your data.

I cannot lock or hide files/folders on USB disks?

File Lock will not protect USB disks since protecting them is useless: File Lock is not an encryption software, so it will not encrypt files and will not modify anything on your computer. USB disks will be accessible again if anyone uses them on other computers, even you have locked them on your own computer with File Lock.

Is it possible to get my file decrypted if I forget the encryption key for the encrypted file?

NO! If you forget your encryption key, there is no chance to decrypt the encrypted files, so please always save the encryption key in a safe place.

What will happen if I protect a non-existent file or folder?

The file or folder will be protected from being created.

Do I need to unlock all files and folders before uninstalling File Lock?

No, you don't need to unlock the protected files and folders. All protected items are unlocked automatically after you uninstalled File Lock. But remember, encrypted files always need to be decrypted manually.

I cannot hide drives?

File Lock doesn't support to hide drives. Drives can only be locked. Actually when you hide a drive, the drive is hidden, but the related drive letter is still in system, so the final result is the same as locking the drive.

It doesn't ask for password for a password protected file or folder?

1. In order to show the password window, FileLockService must have been installed and started. If there is any problem with it, you can re-install File Lock over the existing copy to let the setup program try to fix it.

2. Windows Explorer keeps trying to open files and folders to obtain information in background. File Lock takes care of the situation and doesn't ask for passwords when the read operations are from Windows Explorer, so there won't be too many password windows bothering you. When you open a password protected item with other programs, the password will be asked.

You can also overwrite this feature by enabling the advanced option "Ask password for read access by Windows Explorer", then it will ask for passwords when you try to open password protected files/folders in Windows Explorer. This is not recommended, though, it will ask for passwords even when you move mouse over those files or folders.

Cannot set both "Lock" and "Hide" in new version?

In old version, you could enable both "Lock this item" and "Hide this item" for a file or folder, but "Hide" actually also locks it. So, "Hide this item" means "Hide and lock this item". You don't need to enable both of them, that feature was a bug in old version.

In new version, you can only select one single protection mode for a file/folder, and the protection mode "Hide" will also lock the file/folder. The protection modes in the list box are actually in the order of protection levels, which are:

Allow < Read-only < Lock < Hide

Password Write < Password (all) < Password Read

So, hiding includes locking, and you don't need to use both of them for an item.