Windows – Where is the registry location for installed third-party software on Windows 7

Just checked my Win7 x64 system and the registry shows an InstallLocation key for most of the entries.

There is no built-in feature for "password protection" in the usual sense. (Any suggestions to create a password-protected "compressed folder" should be ignored due to the incredibly weak "security" of ZIP 2.0 encryption.)

However, recent Windows versions (XP Pro, Vista Business/Enterprise/Ultimate, 7 Pro/Enterprise/Ultimate) support Encrypted File System (more commonly EFS). Right-click a file or folder, open Properties → Advanced, and enable Encrypt contents.

In EFS, files are encrypted using a certificate associated with your Windows user account, and your Windows password is used to protect the certificate. If another user is logged in, or if you lose your certificate, the file cannot be accessed. (Win 7 prompts you to make a backup of the certificate; in other versions, you can export it through certmgr.msc.) It's also possible to add several users' certificates to the same file.