Password Protecting A USB Stick

[Woo]

How does one go aboot this? And is there any freeware available to do so. Got an 8GB USB stick that I want to back up some files onto, but want to password protect it for security reasons.

 

Rep for any help.

 

Muchos grassyarse.

[Guest simon]

Free Hide Folder: a free security software to hide folders. You make a folder then put your stuff intom that.

Also here WinSesame : Software to password protect folders. How to password protect a folder in Windows. Find a crack via t*****t then your done.

[Duff Man]

Enterprise versions of Vista and Windows 7 have a utility called BitLocker which would do the job.

 

If you don't have either of the above try TrueCrypt.

[Duncan Clench]

See above. Truecrypt is immense.

[Woo]

I actually downloaded truecrypt, and I believe I've managed to create and mount a volume, but I've not got a clue how to use it.

[Joe Le Taxi]

When I got my laptop, I had this stuff called MyWinLocker which encrypts files and makes them password protected. Not sure if that is included with Windows 7 or not but it came with the laptop.

[Duncan Clench]

I actually downloaded truecrypt, and I believe I've managed to create and mount a volume, but I've not got a clue how to use it.

 

When the volume is mounted it'll appear as another 'drive' for example, (E:). Then you can save docs onto that drive. If you now dismount the volume that drive won't show up and you can only see it again if you know where that little file is and the password you used.

 

If you're going to use the USB on different machines then you need to have that little file saved on the stick.

[Duff Man]

To encrypt your USB drive; open TrueCrypt and click Create Volume.

 

Select the 'Encrypt a non-system partition/drive' option and click Next.

 

Select the 'Standard TrueCrypt volume' and click Next.

 

Click Select Device and highlight the USB drive making sure you select the partition rather than the entire device (the one with the drive letter).

 

Select 'Create encrypted volume and format it' and click Next. Make sure you have a copy of the data on the USB drive saved elsewhere.

 

Leave the Encryption Options as they are and click Next and then Next again at the Volume Size screen.

 

Put a password in and click Next.

 

Move the mouse around a bit and click Format.

 

Click OK and Next to complete the wizard.

 

 

 

To mount the drive; open TrueCrypt and click Select Device.

 

Highlight the device and click OK.

 

Highlight a drive letter above and click Mount.

 

Put in the password and you should be able to use the drive as normal.

[Allan]

Woo, you do know that there are plenty of security enabled USB flash drives out there? Though I assume that as you already have a flash drive, you don't want to be buying another?

 

I have a 4 Gig Sandisk myself for personal info and the sort.

 

What type of files are you putting on the flash drive itself? As you may be just as well off password protecting the individual files, as well as, or instead of, the drive itself.

[Woo]

Woo, you do know that there are plenty of security enabled USB flash drives out there? Though I assume that as you already have a flash drive, you don't want to be buying another?

 

I have a 4 Gig Sandisk myself for personal info and the sort.

 

What type of files are you putting on the flash drive itself? As you may be just as well off password protecting the individual files, as well as, or instead of, the drive itself.

 

We want to back up most of our emails, word docs and spreadsheets, Al, but there's fucking loads. A good 6GB worth of data. So password protecting each file isn't an option.

 

How much are the password protected ones? We'd need at least an 8BG one.

[Lucky Pierre]

Not read every suggestion so may sound stupid, so could you not zip it all and password protect that?

[Woo]

Not read every suggestion so may sound stupid, so could you not zip it all and password protect that?

 

It's probably a last resort, but we want to be able to easily access the files, so zipping it would mean you'd have to extract thousands of files, and it would be a royal pain in the arse.

[Captain]

Bitlocker is excellent for this. Even works seamlessly with the built in back-up feature in Windows 7.

 

I have only used it under Windows 7 though, can't say how it works under Vista, if that's what you're using.

[Allan]

We want to back up most of our emails, word docs and spreadsheets, Al, but there's fucking loads. A good 6GB worth of data. So password protecting each file isn't an option.

 

How much are the password protected ones? We'd need at least an 8BG one.

 

SanDisk cruzer flashdrives come with an application called U3 pre installed on the drive, the 16Gb version can be had for £17.79 from Play.

The 8Gb version will cost you £14.99 from Play.

 

There are plenty more options available above those prices, the Enterprise versions are a little more professional, we use these for secure personal info at work.

[Woo]

SanDisk cruzer flashdrives come with an application called U3 pre installed on the drive, the 16Gb version can be had for £17.79 from Play.

The 8Gb version will cost you £14.99 from Play.

 

There are plenty more options available above those prices, the Enterprise versions are a little more professional, we use these for secure personal info at work.

 

Cheers, Al. What's the biggest you can find? Something around 32GB would be perfect.

[Allan]

Cheers, Al. What's the biggest you can find? Something around 32GB would be perfect.

 

They do a 32Gb version, though that'll set you back £59.99.

 

SanDisk product page on Play.

 

Do you really think you'll need that sort of capacity Woo? Is this for home & personal use or for work?

[Woo]

Sandisk 16GB Cruzer USB Flash Drive - Retail Pack: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Is this the same one, Al? And can it definitely be password protected? We've actually got an 8GB sandisk cruzer slice, but it doesn't have anything on it? Could I just download the U3 software?

[Allan]

Sandisk 16GB Cruzer USB Flash Drive - Retail Pack: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Is this the same one, Al? And can it definitely be password protected? We've actually got an 8GB sandisk cruzer slice, but it doesn't have anything on it? Could I just download the U3 software?

 

That's the same one mate.

 

I think U3 can be downloaded from their site, will check quickly.

[Allan]

Looks like you can only download trial versions of the software from U3, and then purchase after the expiration of the trial.

 

The U3 software on the flashdrives themselves is housed on its own partition on the drive.

 

So, if you put the flashdrive in drive J for instance, and look at My Computer, there should be 2 new entries, one for J (the flashdrive itself), and then another on the next available drive, K in this example. The U3 software will be on K for you to use.

[Lucky Pierre]

Used to have one of them a few years ago, and the U3 software just automatically came up when you plug it in. Didn't have a scooby what it did, though.

[Allan]

Here's a screenshot of my 4Gb drive when I've plugged it in and gone to My Computer.

 

[Guest davelfc]

http://apps.katz.cd/download/2231767/App/TrueCrypt-4-3/

 

 

TrueCrypt can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk, or an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB memory stick, floppy disk, etc.

This software provides two levels of security: a hidden volume (more information may be found here), and a volume cannot be identified (no part of the volume can be distinguished from random data).

It utilizes the following encryption algorithms: AES (256-bit key), Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5 (128-bit key), Serpent (256-bit key), Triple DES, and Twofish (256-bit key), and also supports cascading (e.g., AES-Serpent-Twofish).

[Allan]

Used to have one of them a few years ago, and the U3 software just automatically came up when you plug it in. Didn't have a scooby what it did, though.

 

I've had a couple, sometimes the autorun doesn't work. Well, that's what I found anyway.

 

It can take some getting used to, especially when autorun doesn't kick in for whatever reason, but once you get the hang of it, it's decent enough.

[Allan]

http://apps.katz.cd/download/2231767/App/TrueCrypt-4-3/

 

 

TrueCrypt can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk, or an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB memory stick, floppy disk, etc.

This software provides two levels of security: a hidden volume (more information may be found here), and a volume cannot be identified (no part of the volume can be distinguished from random data).

It utilizes the following encryption algorithms: AES (256-bit key), Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5 (128-bit key), Serpent (256-bit key), Triple DES, and Twofish (256-bit key), and also supports cascading (e.g., AES-Serpent-Twofish).

 

Not tried TrueCrypt, but by all accounts, from what I've read, it's a very good piece of software.

[Woo]

Tried truecrypt about ten times yesterday, and it never worked. The drive wasn't password protected.