SORRY IV FOUND AN ANSWER (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex9/password.htm)

But one thing, if you store your password in a text file the it is surely insecure. Storing it in script(in a server-side one) would secure to an extent cause others may not see your source-code hence the password, but you will always have to change the code whenever you want to change the password. By changin the code I mean changing the variable that stores the string.

the password in the script is encrypted. Thanks anyway. Max

that code is actually not too bad, i had a quick look at it yesterday... it's more secure than just "put a javascript index infront of private files" it works because no outsider knows the filename of the private file: and the encrypted password is used in the name of the private file... EDIT: the password isn't stored but a password that doesn't match up with the filename after a relatively simple 1-way cryptogram won't open any pages.

it might prove totally unmanageable for more than one or two pages though, and it's not a perfectly secure solution.