As I read the comments I wonder what secretes all these GOTD users have to hide. Sure maybe passwords, bank and credit card account numbers and maybe a dirty photo of their wife or girlfriend or both. Most of these things in the worst case scenario you will either remember or can contact the company to resend a password. I will give you the 1990's approach, just write down a list or print out your list and put it in your night stand. Unless you expect a spy to come into your house to steal your passwords, your probably going to do just fine if your computer crashes.

Those who are concerned about losing this program and not able to access all your files after a hard drive crash or windows 'no boot' situation, you can restore everything to working order fairly quickly..IF you previously made that Complete Full Harddrive IMAGE BACKUP and the Emergency Recovery Boot Disk that everyone should make. Do incremental backups to the Image on a regular basis and you should be in good shape.
I will give a report back on this GAOTD after installing and testing. Appreciate as always those you give specific feedback on the daily give away and the suggestions for alternative programs. Interesting that there are so few comments today???

Thanks to GOTD. And of course Appreciate GIOVANNI's post, Keep it up Dude!

Giovanni-#12

First, you write "despite its current ridiculous low rating, this tool is an excellent software to protect your data against prying eyes and hackers. Even the FREE version outclasses many similar apps out there."

Then you write "My only concern is: what happens if you lose the GAOTD key? So I’m afraid that we’d better rely on freeware alternatives..."

MY QUESTION: If we had better rely on freeware alternatives, then why would you consider low ratings to be "ridiculous"? -OR- If you really believe that the lower ratings are "ridiculous," then perhaps A+ FOLDER LOCKER is actually great software and we don't have to rely on freeware alternatives! For once, please make up your mind! Thank you.

@21 Ootje
The two "methods" you mentionned are easily bypassed and you should rely on that to protect your data. Use TrueCrypt for proper Hard Drive encryption. If you have Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 8 Pro, you can use bitlocker, which works perfectly fine, you can even set it up so that your PC doesn't boot if your USB flash drive "key" isn't plugged in. Cannot access the data on the drive(s) that are protected, even under Linux, unlike your methods.

For everyone those complaining how get data in software loss I could say there is a freeware version of folder locker surely just could do the job. Frankly say I dont see big difference between the two versions if not the file size handling difference ( 200Mbyte versus unlimited )

Has anyone looked at the developers site? They offer a free version of this program with 200mb limit, and a slight reduction in features otherwise its the same basically. So far I find this handy to protect the "snoops" as they quoted on peoples computer who work with financial data or other sensitive files such as serial keys and important phone numbers. Still lots of people back these up and put it in a safe for safekeeping. Or backup to the cloud.

In short it only protects against eaves droppers, not data loss.

#21
"Lock the BIOS with a password
AND/or lock your HD wih a password."

Could pls tell how to do it?
Thanks

Thanks to the publisher and GAOTD for a good program. Like Gungeezer, I fail to understand how peeps make a couple of general observations then thumbs down a product. "Oooh, it is ###MB in size!!" What kind of hard drive do you have anyway?? 40Megs?? Have the decency to do a little more than read the description, do a once-over of their website and declare with your Darth Vader attitude, "I have you now." LOL. By the way: for passwords, I use a an IronKey loaded with RoboFormToGo. Ten failed attempts to break into the IronKey and it self-destructs. Not to mention my strong password for RoboFormToGo. It's "password." NOT!

Firstly the most important rules of computing are BACK-UP, BACK-UP & BACK-UP! The only reason I downloaded this prog is to keep some data "safe" while on my HD and if I lose the key or my HD fails I still have all my files. Looks like a nice program, installed no problem!

Thank you for your effort and contribution of the software. Im sorry but I have to say there are numerous FREEWARE versions for your home security.

Unless encryption is so good that NO one can possible hack it, I'd see no point in having it. Not "virtually" uncrackable. LITERALLY so.

#11 and #20. When it says this is a time-limited offer, this is because like every GAOTD giveaway, it's only available to download and install FREE for 24 hours. Nothing to do with the program expiring after a period of time.

#5 - dadams

I took your advice and downloaded the free version to ensure that it would recover files resulting from today's offer.

Sorry - but it doesn't. PLEASE NOTE EVERYBODY.

I Encrypted three files successfully. For me Encryption is a better choice than Locking, Hiding or Concealing.

It seems that the Encryption option is not available as part of the free version!

Maybe the other features are fine for you, but I'm very glad that I tested the free version, because unfortunately my data would have been lost completely until paying for the program in the event of a system failure / re-format.

Regretfully both versions uninstalled, and a report sent to the program authors explaining why.

@12 Giovanni

FYI

Cypherix LE is a freeware utility from Cypherix. It is a 128 bit disk encryption software that is a "miniature" version of Cypherix PE and Cypherix. It creates encrypted containers (vaults) of upto 100 MB each to store any type of data. You can encrypt files and folders by simply dragging and dropping them into this vault. Additionally, it lets you create secure e-mail files that you can send to anyone.

http://www.cypherix.com/prods.htm

“But how about lock and hide your DESKTOP or your HD for FREE, instead of your folders only? Wouldn’t it be better and even more secure, dudes?”

You can boot your computer with SliTaz (Linux) residing on a CD or USB.

SliTaz is an open source and free operating system providing a fully featured desktop or server in less than 35 MB. SliTaz is simple to use, fast and stable. We have an active community and contributors from all over the world making SliTaz finer every day.

http://www.slitaz.org/

#5 and #21 (dadams & Ootje)

The comparison table is great, thank you! But I think the company should look at that web page, they have most of the ticks in the wrong boxes I suspect, unless they really do offer many more features and support in the free version, than in the paid for one.

Ootje, that is always good advice about setting passwords, but BIOS passwords can be got around more easily than software encryption, if you do a seach for how to do it. I think this is why software encryption remains popular.

HDs that are encrypted are much more difficult to get into, but HDs with hardware encryption are less common than normal drives.

To #21 Ootje,

Do you know what happens when I reset the motherboard jumpers on it?
Your HD is wide open for what ever I want to do to it.

Installed and registered without problems on Win 7 64-bit.

Well, given the nature of the program I always check the site and their claims.

For one, fake reviews/awards: topshareware non-existent; mostshareware dead site; brothersoft exists but no ratings; tucows non-existent; getsomesoft dead site; softpedia is the only genuine entry with Anti Tracks 8.1.2 being editors pick.
If the reviews/awards do exist then please provide links rather than letting us guess, or remove the fake ones.

As far as the program goes, if this is the same A+ that I've heared of then it's a much better program than the fake awards make it out to be. Well, it looks great and is easy to use with a fairly standard interface. Offers most well-known ciphers as DES, AES, Blowfish, Twofish etc. If you're a bit paranoid then get this as it offers protection far beyond what most average users will need. It's license allows for business use and that's where I think it would be most usefull. The steganography option is certainly a nice feature. Sadly, the password generator doesn't seem to know about pass phrases.

About the Pattern Password. It's indeed almost impossible to capture (but doable), but impossible to guess? Not really, as it still poses a finite set of possible combinations and therefore can be bruteforced. The only real protection here is the sheer amount of combinations (atleast 2^36^36) that on average modern computers would take a lifetime to crack. But in 10 years... I think it's a creative and easy to use solution, another step in the 'security arms race'. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these types of passwords in the future in other programs as well.

A keeper although I doubt I'll get much use out of it, if at all. I'm happy with the level of security TrueCrypt (donate!) offers. Still, thank you GOTD and Giant Matrix, although you should fix your awards section.

@David: Seriously? You forgot to read the text right next to the download button which clearly says time-limited offer? It is how GOTD works. They pay for your free license you know and still a simple thank you is too much to give.
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Just a heads up regarding losing the key if your hdd crashes for this program or any other you want to keep...find a program to image the hard drive, there are many, some are free. It's usually not that hard to learn how and there are plenty of forums to ask questions.

Backing up files you want to protect is a must as well, but, an exact complete copy of the entire drive can't be beat.

I installed an earlier, paid for version of Folder Lock, which gave problems in use, and replaced it with Steganos Safe which also gave problems. I have uninstalled both of these paid for products and am now using TrueCrypt, which has performed flawlessly.

I think that the first essential for any file encryption software must be the certainty of being able to decrypt data even after changing PCs, product upgrades, loss or expiry of registration keys or the developer going out of business. In this respect I have greater confidence in the continued existence and availability of TrueCrypt as free and widely distributed open source software.

For all of these reasons I have not taken advantage of today's GOATD offer.

@ 21 Ootje

BIOS Passwords can be bypassed, sometimes just pulling out the BIOS battery and restarting will bypass it, or by using a backdoor password. Here is a link that is worth knowing about folks.
http://www.pwcrack.com/bios.shtml

As for today's Giveaway, I'll pass, no need for it. I do not put any personal information on a computer unless I immediately delete it after I am done with what task I may be doing. Thanks to Giovanni and others for regularly sharing alternative software and ideas here.

Microsoft has a freebie called "My Private Folder". I use it if I don't want prying eyes to see. Now, I wouldn't put all of my documents into it any more than I'd I'd C drive into it. Nother words, Don't forget your password!!

Don't install any locking software that has a one-day giveaway expiry date for installation and activation. It does not make sense. Only a fool will do this.

Look for other giveaways of locking software where there is no one-day expiry for installation and activation with serial key.

Use a free-of-charge locking software or a locking software that you paid for; and which can be re-installed anytime.

It is not the price of the locking software that matters.
It is the worth of your data that you lock away.

I just want to ask all up-and-down voters a few questions.

1. at your home PC do you have a password for every login account
2. do you have an Administrator account with strong password
3. do you happen to use Bit Locker and Antivirus/Firewall against online attacks
4. do you have the need to visit regular websites that could harm your computer
5. do you have enabled BIOS hard drive password and BIOS admin password
6. do you make regular backups and perhaps lock them away
7. how paranoid are you willing to believe that your family is a bunch of NSA spies
8. do you use regular the door key to lock your home with the PC inside your home
9. if it is on a laptop you must take to University, do you disable the above security settings
10. do you have to keep the laptop unattended at your workplace with security settings enabled
11. if at work, do you log out of your account when leaving the laptop unattended

You see, if you happen to work for a high security business, chances are they won't allow your laptop entering their property, leaving you no other choice to keep the laptop at home or in the boot of your SUV. Meaning those experts have no access to your laptop at your workplace in order to hack in.

So, next thing. Convenience using Folder Lockers etc under circumstances described above.
Let me tell you, I don't use such tools.

For fairness, I agree such tools are technological achievments. But for home use isn't this a bit overkill? One last note: when using these tools. If you cross border and get asked by law enforcement to reveal folder contents, it is better not to let alarm-bells ring unless you are a spy and have data that needs to be hidden.

If you feel this is cool and you need it to tinker with it, by all means, have fun with this.

Cheers

For all those who choose these programs. buyer be ware or in this case user beware. There's no such thing as a sure thing or any best program out there. There's a risk in every program you use, in that you don't like something about it. You can't paralize yourself with the what if sydrome or you will never do anything at all. just take the time to try some of these programs or some of the links. Just create a restore point or keep erunt allways starting on bootup. I posted a links for those who forget to create a restore point in older versione of windows. Don't use the reg opt program that comes with erunt, theres no need and sometimes these program delete folders that windows creates that are empty. Never eliminate duplicate folders either. Thanks. http://www.pcworld.com/product/946443/erunt.html http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ http://www.snapfiles.com/get/erunt.html http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/files/file/113-erunt-the-emergency-recovery-utility/

@12 Giovanni

"But how about lock and hide your DESKTOP or your HD for FREE, instead of your folders only? Wouldn’t it be better and even more secure, dudes?"

Often there is a very simpel method in the BIOS of your PC.
Lock the BIOS with a password
AND/or lock your HD wih a password.
So, when you start your PC, you have to enter a password BEFORE Windows starts. Also you need a password when you start from CD. Sometimes the password is on the HD itself, so even if you take the HD out and connect it to another PC, it still needs its password.

But if you lose that password . . .

Ootje

The problem I have with some of the Giveawayoftheday offers is,The time limited offers.I think I have lost count of these kind of offers that never inform you that they are time limited offers,you just find out the hard way when your time is up on the offer.Please do not offer something on a give away and then out of no where say your time is up .Now pay.Please be up front about what you are offering either its a givaway or not.

I have learned to be wary of any encryption program which purports to offer "highly encrypted wallets" (from the website) but doesn't bother to mention the type of encryption it offers.

Sorry but while I MIGHT trust a reputable company, on their say-so, to implement an effective protection scheme, I am not nearly as trusting of a company that no one has ever heard of and which doesn't even bother to give the name of their encryption routine.

Dudes, there are an *abundant* number of free alternatives that are trusted by the community. These are programs written by folks who know what they are doing and who provide the source code for their programs. Truecrypt and Axcrypt and a bunch of others are examples. Use one of those; not one cooked up by some cockamamie guy who may or may not know what he is doing and who's only claim is that he's from China.

Thanks but no thanks.

"virtually impossible to break in to". So they can be broken in to???

To #2's list you can also add the possibility of a backdoor update (and it does happen to some GAOTD programs) resulting in the program losing its free giveaway licence.
You would then have to purchase the program to retrieve your data.

#2
Paul your data would be lost anyway when your HD crashes, both with and without A+ Folder Locker!

To #2: Learn how to spell before you go slamming a product you have not even tried to install. It should be LOSE instead of "loose" and LOSING instead of "loosing."

There you go!

Maybe tomorrow's Giveaway of the Day will be more to your liking.

Where is GIOVANNI ?? I wont download any software here until I hear from him...

Easy and smooth installation. It provides security far above than most people need. But if anyone has too much secrets to keep from others, this is the best I have seen, more complicated, more versatile than many others-- those who have tried this, I am sure will realize this. But what I do not like is the lack of any provision for backup just in case your computer malfunctions, as it often does for me at a frequency of once every 2-3 months. I use Corral Password (freeware), for 2-3 years now, although not as versatile and secure as this, it is simply enough for me. A+Folder Locker should at least consider going portable, affording a USB backup, just in case your computer fails.

Well, despite its current ridiculous low GAOTD users' rating, this tool is an excellent software to protect your data against prying eyes and hackers.Even the FREE version outclasses mny similar apps out there.
My only concern is: what happens if you lose the GAOTD key?

So I'm afraid that we'd better rely on FREEWARE alternatives for a program like this: do you agree with me, dudes??

This is a short list of exellent excellent FREE tools sorted in order of my personal preference:

http://www.alfaprograms.com/products/security/alfa-folder-locker.html
http://www.toolwiz.com/products/toolwiz-bsafe
http://www.xoslab.com/efl.html
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Lockdown/GrekSoft-Easy-Folder-Lock.shtml
http://code.google.com/p/lock-a-folder

To encrypt and protect your data with a password on your USB drives:

http://usbsafeguard.altervista.org/index.html

But how about lock and hide your DESKTOP or your HD for FREE, instead of your folders only? Wouldn't it be better and even more secure, dudes?

http://indeepsoft.blogspot.it/2011/08/screenblur-desktop-locker.html
http://www.freeotfe.org/

Enjoy!!

Thumb down to ANY time-limited offer!

Hard to find but it's a Hongkong company. You know I always like to know where the software comes from and I dislike missing those information on homepages very much. And China is a giant! Well chosen name!

But I dislike missing version numbers, too.

In reply to Jeffrey: Heaven forbid you may actually have to 'buy the program' to release your information!!! I find it hard to believe the ungrateful, blood sucking attitude of some of the users of GAOTD. This site has been a great opportunity to try some amazing software but one must assume that software writers do actually have to make a living too!

To reply to the above...

I know this is still early in the giveaway...so my reply
to the the comments above... I would use True Crypt...
That will make a Volume (another "hard drive") that is
encrypted. True if you forget your Pass (or lost it)
your hosed. But (& I have not seen the Giveaway) I would
guess you would not be stuck with a un-openable Folder on
your Hard Drive... (In TC's case.. just delete the container.)

That is why I use a thumb drive to hold my passwords (In a
True Crypt file) I need only really remember 1 PW

I am sure the Hero of this forum will have a few other
programs that will work too... :)

Griz

Wonderful, wonderful, secuirty like this for important file is always something important to have and protect your files! Thank

Best free alternative: Ogni folder locker and hide. I also use a paid folder locker which is 30 times smaller than a+ giveaway and it is portable. You can encrypt and protect files from your flash drive and protect files from copying. Prevent encrypted folder from dragging, copying.

I gave this a try. One thing I did not like was that it wanted to put itself in my startup menu. I would rather start this manually. There is a free version of this program. Check this link to see the differences between the free version and this offer.

http://www.giantmatrix.com/products/aplus-folder-locker/product-comparison/

Also for those that worry about losing their key or reformat, etc, Download and save this free version. It can be used to restore your data. All in all this is a pretty nice program. The only problem for it is there are a lot of alternatives, both free and paid. Thank you to the GAOTD team for your efforts and to the publisher, Giant Matrix, for the offering.

Hi Everyone
Well, here we are again checking out a program with numerous thumbs down, at almost 70% negative votes and only three comments. I thought I'd give it a shot. I checked out the website, which looked okay to me, then downloaded and went to install the program. Then 'Auntie Norton' (the kill-joy) piped up and stopped the install. I scanned the two install files with Norton individually, then together with no problems. I then shut down Norton, as I have done numerous times in the past, did the install, which was quick and automatically registered and after the install, scanned the entire program with 'Auntie Norton.' This time, the old biddy had nothing to complain about.
I started A+ Folder Locker and found it to have a clean, good looking appearance and intuitive operation. I haven't had a chance to go though the operation, as I thought someone should take a chance and check the program before the 'thumbs down crowd' screw the program over, then continue on their quest for world domination. I still maintain that if you're going to have a vote, you should have to leave a comment before you can cast a vote.

takes to long to close a "locker"

What kind of protection would one have if . . .
1. You loose or forget the password?
2. Have to restore you hd due to a crash?
3. The company that produced this software does not exist any more?
Then you have the pleasure of loosing all your saved and protected data, just like a JP Morgan bank account!

Thanks But NTY

What if my computer crashed and needed to reinstall Windows. The program will be loss and how would I open the locked file?