best way to password protect a harddrive

kala85

What is the best way to password protect a hard drive.

Gadgetman496

kala85 wrote: »

What is the best way to password protect a hard drive.

I suppose you could use something like Folder Lock

beauf

Depends what you want to do with it. I would have said encryption like Truecrypt.

biko

Truecrypt have got some criticism but for an everyday user it's one of the easiest and best tools imo.

Some reading here http://www.pcworld.com/article/2304851/so-long-truecrypt-5-encryption-alternatives-that-can-lock-down-your-data.html

Overheal

What is the best way to password protect a hard drive.

I would begin with a password.

also, for all passwords use passphrases. Password cracking technology can take down things like Ch@nk7l0v3r53 in seconds, whereas if your password is "The Pope Donkey Elizabeth is 100% Camel" would not be readily crackable by current methods - and easier to remember.

shanec1928

I use deslock which give the option to encrypt either folders or the whole drive.

feelgoodinc27

Overheal wrote: »

I would begin with a password.

also, for all passwords use passphrases. Password cracking technology can take down things like Ch@nk7l0v3r53 in seconds, whereas if your password is "The Pope Donkey Elizabeth is 100% Camel" would not be readily crackable by current methods - and easier to remember.

Do passphrases need to be totally random? Would an obscure sentence work e.g. "fatherjacknotfathertedloveshisbrick"

biko

Of course longer passwords are better than short, but use a phrase with upper case, lower case and some numbers and you'll be ok.

iLiveAroundTheCornerFromNr13

You can try out various on this site http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/pc-security/password-checker.aspx

ObeyTheSuit

If you want something simple to keep the kids out or something just use BitLocker or the like. That is, if you are running Windows.

Pretty simple to encrypt your drive by putting a PIN number on it. The PIN number is actually stored in a piece of hardware that newer devices have called a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), it's a chip especially for security.

Read: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows-vista/what-is-a-bitlocker-drive-encryption-startup-key-or-pin

Anything Vista or above will support it.

shanec1928

ObeyTheSuit wrote: »

If you want something simple to keep the kids out or something just use BitLocker or the like. That is, if you are running Windows.

Pretty simple to encrypt your drive by putting a PIN number on it. The PIN number is actually stored in a piece of hardware that newer devices have called a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), it's a chip especially for security.

Read: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows-vista/what-is-a-bitlocker-drive-encryption-startup-key-or-pin

Anything Vista or above will support it.

Do you not need enterprise on w7 and pro on w8 to use the encryption functions from bitlocker

edanto

kala85 wrote: »

What is the best way to password protect a hard drive.

Is it the internal hard drive on your computer, or an external one that you don't want anyone else to have access to?

What's your computer skill level like [ie, can you follow the Truecrypt article that biko linked to above or these instructions - http://www.pcworld.com/article/242614/how_to_use_diskcryptor_to_encrypt_your_hard_drive.html], or your budget [sure, it's low, but is it actually zero? Some paid solutions might be easier for you to use and rely on if your skill level is low]?

Is the data backed up?

The answer to your question depends a lot on your situation.

For passwords...

ObeyTheSuit

shanec1928 wrote: »

Do you not need enterprise on w7 and pro on w8 to use the encryption functions from bitlocker

BitLocker Drive Encryption and BitLocker To Go require a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows 8, or 8.1, or the Ultimate version of Windows 7. However, the “core” version of Windows 8.1 includes a “Device Encryption” feature that works similarly called BitLocker pervasive drive encryption.

Long story short:

Win7: Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.
Win8.1: Pro or Enterprise
8.1: BitLocker pervasive drive encryption is free on all versions.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/jj983723.aspx <==differences

We don't know what OS the OP is running though.

edanto

When you made the long story short I think you made a mistake. afaik (and according to what you quoted) BitLocker is not available with Win7 Pro.

ozmo

kala85 wrote: »

What is the best way to password protect a hard drive.

Best way is to buy a drive that has the encryption built in.

All other options will slow your pc - to varying degrees - as data needs to be encrypted as its written.

But the SED drives do it in hardware and run same speed if you encrypt or not - and are about the same price as normal drives.

eg. a Seagate Momentus drive.

Panda_Turtle

On a related note - how best to ensure a guest account on Windows 8 does not have access to any files or anything at all from the main account?