External Hd Lock ?

[CharlieH]

Anyone know of a small piece of software preferably FREE that will simply lock an external HD, so if it is lost etc its contents cant be opened ?

Tried sourceforge and download.com and they all seem to be aimed at usb sticks of small capacity.(4gb etc) or trials.

There are file or folder locks etc but I wanted to try and just lock the whole thing rather than individual folders.

Any ideas/suggestions please ?

[thaimite]

I thknk this will do what you want

Main features:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts
  it as a real disk.
  
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
  
  
  
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
  
  
  
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
  
  
  
• Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
  
  
  
• Encryption can be hardware-accelerated
  on modern processors.
  
  
  
• Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary
  forces you to reveal the password:
  
  
  
  Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.

[Crossy]

Yup, Truecrypt was my immediate thought too, does what you want and it's free

Encrypt the entire volume and it just looks like an unformatted disk.

[JetsetBkk]

Yup, Truecrypt was my immediate thought too, does what you want and it's free

Encrypt the entire volume and it just looks like an unformatted disk.

A quick question about Truecrypt: does it slow up general use of the drive after the drive has been "unlocked". (Not sure if that is the right terminology).

I have used Truecrypt on a thumb drive, but can't really assess if its access is slowed down.

[Satcommlee]

Yup, Truecrypt was my immediate thought too, does what you want and it's free

Encrypt the entire volume and it just looks like an unformatted disk.

A quick question about Truecrypt: does it slow up general use of the drive after the drive has been "unlocked". (Not sure if that is the right terminology).

I have used Truecrypt on a thumb drive, but can't really assess if its access is slowed down.

No noticeable slow down when I have used it, USB drives are generally slow anyway so I wouldn't think there is any really adverse affect if you got a fast computer.

[NeverSure]

I like TrueCrypt. Windows 7 and 8 can encrypt a drive natively using BitLocker. I never tried it with earlier versions so I don't know.

You can also make and delete partitions on a disk so that you encrypt only part of it if wanted. No third party software is actually needed for any of that now. I use TrueCrypt only because I'm used to it. But I still use Windows to partition, format, and name drives on a disk. Disk manager in control panel, or Start> and type in diskmgmt.msc When you get there check out the right-click menu.

I'm sure all here know that a disk is hardware and a drive is software. For instance you can't have a C: drive until you format (software) and install the other software on a formatted physical hard disk. But you can have several hard drives on a physical hard disk, using software to partition, format, assign drive letters, etc. That leaves the option of having several hard drives on one hard disk, and to encrypt only the ones you want encrypted.

No, I don't notice any slowdown.

Edited May 18, 2013 by NeverSure

[BB1950]

I like TrueCrypt. Windows 7 and 8 can encrypt a drive natively using BitLocker. I never tried it with earlier versions so I don't know.

.

.

.

BitLocker is only available in Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise. However, you can unlock encrypted removable drives on any version of Windows 7.

[NeverSure]

I like TrueCrypt. Windows 7 and 8 can encrypt a drive natively using BitLocker. I never tried it with earlier versions so I don't know.

.

.

.

BitLocker is only available in Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise. However, you can unlock encrypted removable drives on any version of Windows 7.

Thanks. I didn't know that about versions. As I said, I like TrueCrypt and haven't actually used BitLocker.

Good info.

[aarn]

If you use truecrypt, better to delete any history of it on your IT armada, prior to returning to USA, Australia, or such BigBrotherly places.

TrueCrypt is sure to set bells ringing in customs. AA