FAQ / File Lock

Q: Why File Lock, there are so many encryption products?

A: File Lock is NOT 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 on internet, or while you left your computer alone, of course it also can be used to protect your own files on a shared computer. The point is, File Lock will never modify your files, it will not slow down your computer and there is no chance to destroy your data.

Q: I can not lock or hide files/folders on USB disks?

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

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

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

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

A: The file or folder will be protected from being created.

Q: Do I need to unlock all files and folders before uninstall File Lock?

A: No you don't need to unlock the protected files and folders, all protected items are unlocked after you uninstalled File Lock. But remember, encrypted files need to be decrypted before you uninstall File Lock, they cannot be automatically decrypted.

Q: I cannot hide drives?

A: 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 drive letter is still in the system.

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

A:
1) In order to show the password window, the FileLockService must have been installed and started. If there is any problem, 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 problem and it doesn't ask for password when the read access are from Windows Explorer, so that there won't be those password windows bothering you. When you open the password protected item with other programs, the password will be asked.

You also can overwrite this feature by enabling the advanced option "Ask password for read access by Windows Explorer", and then it will ask for password when you try to open the file/folder in Windows Explorer. Actually it will ask for password even when you move the mouse over the file/folder.

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

A: In old version, you can enable both the "Lock this item" and "Hide this item" for a file or folder, but the "Hide" actually will also lock the file/folder, 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 the 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 actually are in the order of protection levels, which are:

Allow < Read-only < Lock < Hide

Password Write < Password (all) < Password Read

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

Back