password protect a usb drive - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Arcamax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2015, 11:07:06 pm
content: hi i want to know how i can password protectmy usb driverather than afolder on the usb driveon vista. With out any softwareI've done thisits ok but i cant add any files in the folder afterwards and have them stay on there after i eject the drive

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2015, 11:41:03 pm
content: What operating system are you using?No you can't do this without software which is of course required to do anything with a computer.What file system is the USB stick formatted with? The default is FAT32 which doesn't support encryption. Windows does this by saving the files in a ZIP file which can then be encrypted. A zip file can be displayed like a normal folder in the Windows shell.For more effective encryption, you need better software. Try 7zip which is free.http://www.medicalnerds.com/how-to-encrypt-zip-files-securely-using-7zip/

author: Porch
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2015, 11:48:30 pm
content: I have a Aegis Secure Key clipped to my car key chain.http://www.apricorn.com/products/hardware-encrypted-drives/aegis-secure-key.htmlIt's not cheap, but the encryption is hardware level and does not need anything installed on the computer to function.

author: Arcamax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 12:14:44 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on February 08, 2015, 11:41:03 pmvista(home premium)

author: Arcamax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 12:17:00 am
content: i found this on youtubehttp://www.kakasoft.com/folder-encryption/ill try it

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 01:50:06 am
content: I use TrueCrypt on all my external hard drives. They're formatted as FAT32. I would guess it would work with a flash drive also. TrueCrypt is no longer actively developed by the originators but it's still available and it does work.IronKey makes hardware secured flash drives, but they're not at all cheap.

author: Arcamax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 02:03:58 am
content: Quote from: rdl on February 09, 2015, 01:50:06 ami looked at the website and from what it says, i dont know if i want to get or not.ill try this firsthttp://download.cnet.com/USB-Safeguard-Free/3000-2092_4-75115673.html

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 03:11:24 am
content: The situation with TrueCrypt is a bit strange. The fact is that the 7.1a version does not seem to need any fixes and for years has worked fine for probably millions of people. For anyone interested, you can read more here (and of course on it's Wikipedia page).https://www.grc.com/misc/truecrypt/truecrypt.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt

author: Arcamax
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2015, 04:41:33 pm
content: has anyone ever used thishttp://www.cypherix.com/cryptainer_le_download_center.htm

author: yakitoo
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 09:14:17 am
content: Truecrypt has reached the end of its development life and has been unexpectedly given up by its original developers.The replacement is Veracrypt which is Truecrypt in all but name. The latest versions will now also read Truecrypt volumes.https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/

author: rr100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 10:04:56 am
content: Veracrypt/truecrypt is a good choice but for normal/casual/non-NSA/CIA/etc users I strongly recommend bitlocker.It is a default windows "thing" from Vista. You might need a "high-enough" license (like Pro for Windows 8 for example) to "bitlock" your usb drive but once is done (anywhere, your work computer, any other PC) it will work on any Windows from Vista and up.Other than that it "just works" without anything else, it asks for password, it can remember the password on a trusted PC if that's what you want, anything is cool as long as you're only using windows and from Vista and above.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 05:25:54 pm
content: Quote from: Porch on February 08, 2015, 11:48:30 pmVery interesting. Does it allows to partition the content such that you can expose only selected parts of it?

author: rr100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 06:41:50 pm
content: I don't think it's possible but a simple workaround would be to have a second (physically) small, cheap drive. You can do much more with it, don't have to worry that you forget the expensive toy, that somebody would wipe it by mistake, etc.But I do like the marketing ... 256 bit encryption! Do you know how many times you need to push 1 button (out of 10) to generate 256 bit entropy (assuming the pin is completely random)? 77+ times !

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 07:42:33 pm
content: I'd be very careful about buying USB flash drives that have a built-in encryption. A few years ago I bought a couple of Kingston DataTraveler Secure sticks. Found out on an overseas trip that they would not work with some recent versions of Windows. If you need portability and the ability to be used by a variety of computers and operating systems, I would suggest encrypting files or directories with commonly available programs (WinRar, WinZip, etc.) using common, but secure, algorithms.Mike in California

author: SArepairman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2015, 07:50:58 pm
content: I think that true crypt was issued a national security letter.1) there is an audit performed on true crypt after thousands of dollars were fund raised to check its strength2)it is verified to be a strong open source security measure and no backdoors/vulnerabilities were found, it got quite popular in technical news sites3)shortly there after being verified as awesome the project shuts down and the first 3 letters of the first sentence on the reason for shut down webpage are N S A.So after getting all this popularity and critical acclaime the developer decides to call it quits?Its like, working in the shadows all this time. Instead of feeling the energy boost/euphroia from your new found popularity (after being told your programming is insecure crap so many times), you, fighting a one man war to keep the man from digging through your stuff, decide to close the project down??THe excuse he gave is weak, i run a non networked computer with the russian version of alitum designer on it, it cost like 100$ to do. (complaining about windows library).Anyone who thinks its not a NSL is likepersonally I'd just delete the webpage and link a youtube to a certain clip from the movie "the pianist".

author: Porch
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2015, 01:02:27 am
content: Quote from: zapta on February 12, 2015, 05:25:54 pmNo. It's all encryption, and thats it. And if you fudge the password 5 times, wipes itself.I have other USB sticks for non encryption needs.