61. Look but Don’t Touch!
Want to protect a file from unwanted changes? Mark it read-only. That way, you (or anyone else) can't save any changes to the file--or worse, delete it.
In an Explorer window (or on the desktop), right-click the file you want to protect and select Properties. On the General tab of the resulting Properties dialog box, next to Attributes, select Read-only and click OK.
To see this attribute in action, open the file in its native application. The words Read-Only appear in parentheses in the open window's title bar. Change anything about the file, click the Save icon, and up pops a message that reads This File Is Read-only. (Click OK, then click Cancel to close the Save As dialog box.) Now close the file and try deleting it.
If and when you need to make changes to, or delete, a read-only file, simply open its Properties dialog box, deselect the Read-only attribute and click OK.
(Note: Of course, marking a file read-only is not a true security measure, because anyone who knows what he or she is doing could easily remove this attribute from a file and then change or delete it. It's more of a safety net to prevent unintentional changes.)
Microsoft® Windows®95 Hints & Tips by Stuart Martin.
