How do I hide information in a file?

Question

Is it possible to hide information somewhere in a file? For example, I need to save a GUID with each file to make it unique.

Why does the info need to be hidden? Is it sensitive information? Please provide more details about your scenario. — Darin Dimitrov, Jun 29 '12 at 12:12
What kind of file? Any file? Specific type of file? Is it a file from your application? Another application? Which one? — Roger Lipscombe, Jun 29 '12 at 12:13
You could note the binary hash of the file, which would be unique for each unique file. — Tom Chantler, Jun 29 '12 at 12:13

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

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I haven't tried them my self but you can try using NTFS Alternate Data Streams - .NET

Hope this helps

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

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answered Jun 29 '12 at 12:14

mortb

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I was about to suggest that. I've done that, and it seems like a possible solution. Bear in mind ADS only work on NTFS - if a file is copied to a FAT32 drive (say disk on key) or sent over the network, the alternate streams will be stripped. – eran Jun 29 '12 at 12:18
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Also you can execute command line process for adding hidden data: `ECHO "Hidden text" > ordinary_file.txt:hidden.txt` – Agnius Vasiliauskas Jun 29 '12 at 12:27
...and to view hidden ADS with notepad: `NOTEPAD ordinary_file.txt:hidden.txt` – Agnius Vasiliauskas Jun 29 '12 at 12:29

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 29 '12 at 12:15

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If you are wanting to write encrypted data to a text file then this MSDN article explains what to do step by step: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307010

answered Jun 29 '12 at 12:15

Kane

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How do I hide information in a file?

2 Answers2