How Do I Change the Security on My Folders on My External Hard Drive?

Changing folder security invovles changing permissions.

Changing the security of a folder on your computer involves changing "permissions" on the folder. These changes can be made on both an internal hard drive and an external hard drive. Your external hard drive, however, must be formatted in the "NTFS" file format in order for you to change individual folder permissions. If you have an external drive in the "NTFS" format, which is standard for Windows computers, you can easily change the security on your folders.

Instructions

1. Plug your external hard drive into your computer and wait for it to load.

2. Open your external hard drive. Go to "My Computer" and double-click your external drive, which should be located under "Devices With Removable Storage."

3. Right-click on a folder in your external drive and select "Properties." This opens a pop-up window that allows you to make changes to the folder's security settings.

4. Click on the "Security" tab located at the top of the window.

5. Change the permissions for the folder. You can choose from a list of permissions ranging from "Full Control" to "List Only." "Full Control" allows anyone to read or write to the folder. "List Only" only allows users to see the files inside the folder, but not read or write to the folder. Choose a permission to change the security settings of the folder.

6. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the window to save the changes to permissions. You have now successfully changed the security of a folder on your external drive.

References

• Jlab.org: NTFS permissions
• W7: Take ownership of files and folders
• Microsoft: File and folder permissions