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Microsoft Private Folder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Microsoft Private Folder | |
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 Private Folder notification area icon |
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| Developer: | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | 1.0 / July 2006 |
| Use: | Encryption |
| Website: | No longer available |
Microsoft Private Folder 1.0 is a controversial product released by Microsoft as part of their "Windows Genuine Advantage" program. According to Microsoft:
- Microsoft Private Folder 1.0 is a useful tool for you to protect your private data when your friends, colleagues, kids or other people share your PC or account. With this tool, you will get one password protected folder called 'My Private Folder' in your account to save your personal files.[1]
Microsoft Private Folder creates a single folder on the user's desktop which, when opened for the first time, prompts the user to assign it a password. Every subsequent time the folder is opened, the user must re-enter the same password to gain access. While the core implementation details of this service are not yet public, it is assumed that Private Folder uses strong encryption with a key based solely on this password to secure the data contained in the folder. This is in contrast to Microsoft's Encrypting File System, where encryption is tied to a keypair which can be made accessible to IT staff.
Private Folder uses a system service called prfldrsvc (display name: Private Folder Service), the function of which is not yet publicly known.
When Microsoft introduced this product in early July, 2006, the news created quite a stir in the corporate IT community, partly because of the lack of information available on the product, and partly because of the apparent lack of any administrative override capability. As one user wrote:
- Oh great have they even thought about the impact this could have on enterprises. Im already trying to frantically find information on this product so that A. I can block to all our desktops and B. figure out how we then support it when users inevitably lose files. I can see the benefit in this product for home users but its a bit of a sloppy release by Microsoft (no documentation from what I can see and no enterprise management facilities.[2]
As a result of this negative feedback, Microsoft has announced that the Private Folder application will be removed.[3] The application was removed July 14, 2006.[4]
- ^ Genuine Microsoft Software. Microsoft. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.
- ^ Microsoft Private Folder 1.0. MSBlog. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.
- ^ Microsoft shutters Windows private folders. CNet. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.
- ^ Microsoft Withdraws Private Folder App from BetaNews