Password protect

I want to password protect folders on my flash drive. Does anyone know of a way that i can do this without having to install software on every computer i use it on?

I can't think of a way but I don't understand why it's needed. You have possession of the drive at all times. No one has access but you.

I want to be able to do this mainly because my school has been getting strict with flash drive usage, and supposedly they can go through your files to make sure you dont have anything bad on it, and i dont want my principal going through my stuff.

I don't know how it is these days, but when I was in school simply being on school property gave the school officials the legal right to search you. That would include personal storage devices.

Refusing to allow school officials to search you resulted in the school officer arresting you and taking you to juvenile detention.
I actually had a special attendance permit revoked when I was a teenager for refusing to hand over my beeper.

If it's still like this, it would be in your best interest to just leave your private USB drive at home.

ehhh yeah i guess thats true, but thats not the only reason anyway--i have a tendency to lose things, and if that were to happen, I dont want to have some random strangwer going through my files

Too many viruses on networks come from flash drives. I can understand the concern. Learn how to secure yourself. Correct the tendency to lose things. Is it necessary to have a flash drive at school?

Kids in high school aren't supposed to use their cellphones either. At least not in Texas where my girlfriend teaches. But they do, and text each other all day long. Including answers to tests. Joebert gave pretty much the same answer I was thinking of, followed very closely by Don's comment.

And really if you're storing things you don't want others to see on a Flash drive that you carry around with you, then don't pursue computer security as a career.

But if you really are insistent that this is what you want Google is your friend