flash drive protection

i was wondering if there is anyway to "lock" some files on a flash drive? I have a USB flash drive i use for school and some of the files i want to be locked up in a sense. is there a way to do this so that i would have to enter a password or somethin like that to access the files??

they're cheap.
just buy another one for your more personal files.

What sort of files are you trying to protect? You can put them in a password protected archive (I recommend RAR), or you can encrypt the drive. If you're planning on getting a new USB drive, you can get secure ones such as one I have made by Lexar (I think it's called Jumpdrive Secure II). I'm not sure whether you can use the Encryption file system (EFS) built into XP with flash drives or not, but it might be worth experimenting with if you're concerned about the privacy of your data. If you're just trying to protect MS Office documents, most of them can include a password to open or modify as well.