Can you password protect access to a directory (to local and networked PCs) in Windows XP Pro? [duplicate]

Can you password protect access to a directory (to local and networked PCs) in Windows XP Pro? [duplicate]

I could just compress the directory as a .zip file w/ a password (which I think would just look like a compressed folder w/ a password) but I'd like something with less overhead (i.e., none of the decompression, etc.)