Can't unlock images... :(

A few years ago I locked a few folders from various shoots and password protected them so my daughter wouldn't stumble across them - seemed like the responsible thing to do as a parent until she was old enough to understand what the photos were about.

Anyway i was using a PC at the time & and i'm now using a mac and back then i used a program specifically for password protecting image folders and it used to work just fine except now I can't unlock them and i can't recall what the program was either.

They appear as standard folders with images inside but none of the images show thumbs or open to normal images, they are not zipped or rarred.

Can anybody help me with a way of unlocking these images please? I know the password that opens the other folders and is almost certainly the same password for the folders in question... I'd be forever grateful if somebody could help me please? Programs, advice, anything.

Cyrus

Do you know what application you used to lock them? Folder/directory locking isn't a default Windows option; you'd need a third-party application to do that, and version changes might be the problem.

it was a third party program but i don't remember the program... i'm pretty sure the program was called powerdesk but i have v 5.0 on my old pc now but it doesn't open it, i'm pretty sure i password protected them with an earlier version but really that's all i can remember.

Is there an extension to go with the 'folders'? This has always been the reason I disliked overly 'handy' software that interacts with data using non-standard methods. Are you sure the files aren't something like a .rar archive?

I do wish you the best of luck in sorting out your files. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on this thread, and I might make a bit of a research project out of it if time allows.

Cyrus wrote in post #14585284
A few years ago I locked a few folders from various shoots and password protected them so my daughter wouldn't stumble across them - seemed like the responsible thing to do as a parent until she was old enough to understand what the photos were about.

Anyway i was using a PC at the time & and i'm now using a mac and back then i used a program specifically for password protecting image folders and it used to work just fine except now I can't unlock them and i can't recall what the program was either.

They appear as standard folders with images inside but none of the images show thumbs or open to normal images, they are not zipped or rarred.

Can anybody help me with a way of unlocking these images please? I know the password that opens the other folders and is almost certainly the same password for the folders in question... I'd be forever grateful if somebody could help me please? Programs, advice, anything.

Cyrus

Select the folder your pictures are in. Then type cmd-I. When the get info dialog opens, click on the lock in the lower right corner and enter your password. Change all of the users privileges to read "Read & Write". Then open the gear up at the bottom of the dialog and select "Apply to enclosed items". Hopefully, that will do the trick.

Hi Jbillings, thanks very much for that advice. I tried it but when i open up the dialogue box there is no lock visible. It already says read and write privileges though

Okay, Are the images on an internal or external hard drive?

Do the files have a ".pde" extension?

At least you can see the files.
I have DVDs which are no longer readable due to internal deterioration.
Triple back-ups after that nice surprise.

All my film is still filed and in perfect condition.??

no the extensions are just normal, they don't differ from images I can open in any way other than the fact that I can't open.

The are on my main hd plus i have them on a back up eternal hd

If your attempting to obtain the files on a windows computer you going to have some issues as the program was designed to lock the files for Windows OS. Have you attempted to access the files Via Linux, Android, Apple? Changing the OS can provide potential file access or remove the Lock file. Depending on the program that you used, look in the folder for a hidden .dat or .bat file. If that file can possibly be obtained you can obtain the Program name and the password.