TL;DR — Most "file lock" apps just hide a file or wrap it in a password check that anyone determined enough can route around. ATLOCK's File Guard instead manipulates NTFS Access Control Lists (ACLs) directly — the same permission layer Windows itself enforces. Here's how that actually works under the hood.
I promised a technical follow-up on this after a few people asked how File Guard is different from typical "lock" utilities. Here it is.
The typical approach:
Rename the file / hide the extension
Store a password somewhere
