With more of us keeping sensitive data on our computers than ever before, the need to protect your data from the eyes of unwanted intruders is greater than ever. Of course, there are plenty of applications that allow you to encrypt your private data, but many of them come at a high price. Folder Vault is a relatively cheap alternative that blocks access to files, folders and archives through an interesting interface, which is completely styled around the theme of locking and protection.

Once installed, the program create a default protected folder called Folder Vault, to which any file on your PC can be added. One of the neat features of the software is that it can be run in Stealth mode, to avoid being detected and attacked. There are plenty of cool options locked within the app, such as the ability to auto-shutdown your machine after a designated number of failed password attempts. Handily the program includes a feature whereby once you enter a password, all of the files and folders within your protected folder become unblocked, saving you a lot of time.

I found the program was great for blocking files thanks to its powerful encryption algorithms. However, I was a little disappointed with the Hack Prevention and Automation modes, as these did not seem to work at all when I tried them.