How do I protect an external drive from having files deleted?

Question

I have a 750 GB external hard drive that doesn't seem to have a read only microswitch on it. I have some important files on it, nothing confidential, just video clips for a project. I need to share these around but am worried my daft friends will accidentally delete files if I just lend them the drive. Is there any way to safeguard my files from accidental deletion while still allowing them to be shared?

The drive is NTFS formatted.

Answer 1

You can right-click the main folder(s) and mark them read-only.  This will prevent any accidental deletion (make sure you apply the read-only changes to sub-files and sub-folders).

You could also go to the security tab in the same right-click dialog box in Vista and edit the permissions for everyone but yourself to only allow Reading or Reading and Execution of files in those folders.  That will actually lock it from your friends.  Good luck!

Answer 2

Try some external hard drive protection software. Here are some suggestions:

http://www.magic2003.net/

http://portable-external-hard-drive.qarc...

Answer 3

When you want to share files with friends, copy the files and keep an original file and then give the copied files and share them to your friends.

Try backing up your computer