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Password protect EXE files

Password protect EXE files

Vote: (16 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Dpaehl

Version: 0.4

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(16 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Dpaehl

0.4

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Completely free to use as many times as you want.
  • Tiny program that can run on any computer with Windows XP or higher.
  • Provides a basic level of security to restrict access to your programs.
  • Very simple user interface.

Cons

  • Works in a very simplistic way compared to other security tools for Windows.
  • Passwords to encrypted programs can't be recovered if forgotten.

Protect EXE is a security tool that lets you restrict access to certain applications by protecting their EXE file with a password. The way the software functions is very simple, yet effective at providing a basic level of security. It encrypts the EXE file with the password you've chosen, requiring you to decrypt it whenever you want to run it.

The only thing that Protect EXE does is encrypting the main executable file. You should be aware that this will not automatically protect any data generated by the program you've encrypted. For example, you can use Protect EXE to prevent other users from opening up an accounting program, but if the files that contain your financial information and reports are stored on your hard drive, anyone with access to your computer has the ability to copy them to an external drive, upload them to the Internet or to use another compatible program to view the information they contain.

The rather simplistic level of security that Protect EXE provided means that it's primarily suited for environments where maximum security and access control measures aren't required. You can use it to stop small children from accidentally opening up your work programs and causing problems by playing around with your data, but it's not too useful if your objective is to keep your computer safe from potentially malicious users with an decent level of technical knowledge. Protect EXE will do little more than slightly annoy such a person, as they will already know they can get around it by downloading and reinstalling the program you've restricted access to.

Protect EXE's user interface is simple and straightforward. You enter the path or browse to the EXE file you want to protect and get to choose whether you want to make a backup copy to save to another location. When you press the "Crypt exe" button, the program will take care of the rest. To access the program you've protected, you will just have to run the encrypted EXE container file the program creates and enter your password. Your program will then be decrypted in a few seconds and ready to run.

As Protect EXE uses encryption to protect your programs, you must take care to remember that password you've chosen. There is no way to recover lost passwords, nor will you find any backdoors or technical workarounds to regain access to your program. The only solution in that case would be to reinstall the protected application.

Pros

  • Completely free to use as many times as you want.
  • Tiny program that can run on any computer with Windows XP or higher.
  • Provides a basic level of security to restrict access to your programs.
  • Very simple user interface.

Cons

  • Works in a very simplistic way compared to other security tools for Windows.
  • Passwords to encrypted programs can't be recovered if forgotten.