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Create an Encrypted Folder in Ubuntu with Cryptkeeper
Since it's tax time here in the US, I figured it would be good to post something to help you keep your information safe. Today I'll show you how to install and use the Cyptkeeper applet in Ubuntu.
Cryptkeeper is a GNOME applet for managing EncFS encrypted folders. To install it, make sure the Universe Repository is enabled and install it with Synaptic. Alternatively, install it from the command line with:
The installation should have added your userid to the fuse group. If it didn't, you can add it with:
where userid is your log in ID.
Because your group settings have changed, you need to log out and log back in. Once you are logged back in, you can start Cryptkeeper from the menu with Applications->System Tools->Cryptkeeper.
You should see an icon in your System Tray that looks like a pair of keys. This can vary a bit based on your current icon theme. This is the Cryptkeeper icon.
- Click mouse button 1 on the Cryptkeeper icon and select New encrypted folder.
- Enter a name for your new folder and select a location for it. I'm calling mine safe and putting it in my home folder.
- Click the Forward button.
- In the next screen, enter a password twice and click Forward.
- Click OK in the last screen.
Depending on your Gnome settings, a Nautilus File Manager window may have popped up for your new encrypted folder. Cryptkeeper actually creates a small encrypted folder that it mounts as an encrypted drive.
Create a basic text file in your new encrypted folder to try it out. To hide your encrypted folder, click the Cryptkeeper icon and uncheck the box next to it.
To reopen your encrypted folder, just click on the Cryptkeeper icon and check the box next to it. Enter your encryption password at the prompt, and you're in.
How To Create Multiple Firefox Profiles in Windows
Although it's possible to create separate login profiles on Windows, it's often inconvenient when sharing a computer with other household members to start a whole new login session when someone just wants to quickly access their webmail or homepage. A more convenient solution is to create separate user profiles in Firefox to manage different homepages, bookmarks, etc.
Firefox's built in profile manager makes creating new user profiles a trivial task. In this example, I'm going to create two new profiles; His and Hers. I'm doing this in Windows XP. The Firefox commands should be the same in other versions of Windows, but the procedure to create the desktop launchers may vary slightly.
Go to Start->Run and enter
and click OK.
In the Profile Manager click on Create Profile. In the new window, click Next. Type a name for the new profile, (I used Mr for mine), and click Finish. Repeat the process to create another new profile for Mrs.
Now we're going to create desktop launchers for each of the profiles. Right click on the desktop and select New->Shortcut. Type "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P Mr --no-remote for the Location and click Next. The -no-remote option makes it so multiple profiles can be open at the same time.
Next, give a name for the shortcut. I'm using Firefox-Mr. Click Finish.
Repeat the process to create a launcher called Firefox-Mrs.
You now have launchers to use the two different Firefox profiles. You can now maintain separate bookmarks, homepages, extensions, themes, etc.
If you are using Linux, you can Create Multiple Firefox Profiles in Xubuntu.