<< is there a good program out there that will lock/hide/encrypt folders in win2k? >>
Win2K is built for this. You need to make sure the partition with folders you want to secure is NTFS. If it is then you will be able to right-click on the folder, click on the security tab, and from there you can set per-user or per-group permissions.
If you aren't running NTFS, then you will have a fun time trying to convert FAT32 to NTFS. I believe it can be done with Partition Magic, but I am not completely sure. Anyone else know if this is possible?