then, do you want to protect the VFS or HFS settings ?
PERHAPS we can protect the VFS file, but not HFS settings.
because HFS saves settings in a way they can be manually edited, and you could just trim away the password, reopen HFS and thus get full control.
VFS files instead are binaries and could by encrypted. but i think this is not what you are interested in.
however, my advice is to use the "lock computer" feature of Windows XP. that is much safer. i use windows2000, and with just 2 hotkeys i lock my computer before i go away.