windows 7 : How do I password protect my folders in Windows

Short answer:  There is no standard way of password protecting folders in Windows 7.

Long answer:

You can compress the files in a folder with a util such as 7-Zip and put a password on the encrypted compressed file.

Or put permissions on the folder that only allow certain users to access the contents.  This won't stop users with Administrator rights who can still access those folders.

See the following links for more information:

http://www.wikihow.com/Protect-a-Folder-in-Windows

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-password-protect-folder-windows-mac-os-x-apple-microsoft/

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-nz/windows/password-protect-files-folders#1TC=windows-7

A couple of questions so we can point you in the right direction .....

Are you the only user of your computer?
Do you want to put a password on your data folder files?
Are there just some data file that you want to protect?
Do you want to put a password on the folder with your windows system files?

My guess is that a truecrypt container is all that you need,
.... but I could be wrong ..... it depends on your answers,

if Rights Management has been properly deployed, a single file and/or folder can be protected.

Protect a file on a device (protect in-place) by using the Rights Management sharing application
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn574733%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

@bbao  your answer is only applicable if ADRMS has been installed  on the DC and the machine is domain joined

I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

Not enough information to confirm an answer.

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28572599/how-to-create-password-only-folder-in-window-7.html?anchorAnswerId=40476212#a40476212 offers the two alternatives there are already: a 3rd party utility or full disk encryption and a conclusion to what should be used.