How do I Password Protect an External Drive ?

[Bubey]

I have purchased an external USB drive to keep all
my files on rather
than the hard drive on the laptop for security. I
would like to Password
Protect this external drive so that someone can't
just plug it in and
see all my info and files. Help !

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Protecting folders on external and removable drives
http://www.password-protect-software.com/protect-folders.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I have purchased an external USB drive to keep all
| my files on rather
| than the hard drive on the laptop for security. I
| would like to Password
| Protect this external drive so that someone can't
| just plug it in and
| see all my info and files. Help !

 

[Bubey]

Thanks for the reply Carey, but what I want is to
Password the whole
external drive from access without knowing the
password. Especially
not to be able to just plug it in to their PC and
have access to it's
contents.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <[email protected]>
wrote in message
Protecting folders on external and removable
drives
http://www.password-protect-software.com/protect-folders.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I have purchased an external USB drive to keep
all
| my files on rather
| than the hard drive on the laptop for security.
I
| would like to Password
| Protect this external drive so that someone
can't
| just plug it in and
| see all my info and files. Help !

 

[Zilbandy]

Thanks for the reply Carey, but what I want is to
Password the whole
external drive from access without knowing the
password. Especially
not to be able to just plug it in to their PC and
have access to it's
contents.

Carey just gave you the answer.

 

[Gordon]

Thanks for the reply Carey, but what I want is to
Password the whole
external drive from access without knowing the
password. Especially
not to be able to just plug it in to their PC and
have access to it's
contents.

Did you REALLY do any research before posting?
Look here:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=password+protect+external+drive&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Google is YOUR friend.

 

[Bubey]

Yes, I do.....Having a bad day ?
The info on the website Carey referred me to said
"folders",
nothing about securing a hard drive entirely.

message
message

Thanks for the reply Carey, but what I want is
to
Password the whole
external drive from access without knowing the
password. Especially
not to be able to just plug it in to their PC
and
have access to it's
contents.

Did you REALLY do any research before posting?
Look here:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=password+protect+external+drive&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Google is YOUR friend.

 

[Gordon]

Yes, I do.....Having a bad day ?
The info on the website Carey referred me to said
"folders",
nothing about securing a hard drive entirely.

My link DID.

So you STILL didn't go to Google then? I'd done half your work for you.
Do your own from now on.

 

[Zilbandy]

The info on the website Carey referred me to said
"folders",
nothing about securing a hard drive entirely.

Would you be storing all your "data" in the root directory, or would
you be using sub directories (folders). Think about it for a minute,
the light might come on. :/

 

[Guest]

Don't use "passwords", encrypt!

There's a very fine, and free, program called TrueCrypt that you can use to
encrypt the entire drive - you could even encrypt your notebook drive with it
- so if the hds ever get stolen, the data will not be compromised.

 

[Bubey]

Thanks ! If I understand what you mean, My Doc's
would be a folder?
But couldn't a person just search the drive and
then access within the
MyDoc's folder?

message

The info on the website Carey referred me to said
"folders",
nothing about securing a hard drive entirely.

Would you be storing all your "data" in the root
directory, or would
you be using sub directories (folders). Think
about it for a minute,
the light might come on. :/

--
Zilbandy - Tucson, Arizona USA
<[email protected]>
Dead Suburban's Home Page:
http://zilbandy.com/suburb/
PGP Public Key: http://zilbandy.com/pgpkey.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Zilbandy]

Thanks ! If I understand what you mean, My Doc's
would be a folder?
But couldn't a person just search the drive and
then access within the
MyDoc's folder?

No. Not if the folder is password protected.

An excerpt from the page Carey suggested:
(http://www.password-protect-software.com/protect-folders.html)

*** Begin Quote ***
Do folders retain protection when the external drive is disconnected?
Yes, they do. To open the folder, you need to connect your drive to a
PC, run Password Protect USB from the installation directory on your
external drive, select the folder and enter the password.

What drives are supported?
Password Protect USB is fully compatible with all types of external
and removable drives (including USB drives):
*** End Quote ***

 

[Bubey]

Gordon, these sites are to "help" people. Newbie
or old users.
If you don't want to help then don't answer these
questions.
Your rude attitude is not one I appreciate or
would trust that
you are giving me good information. Maybe you are
sending
me down the wrong path to get even............

message

Yes, I do.....Having a bad day ?
The info on the website Carey referred me to
said
"folders",
nothing about securing a hard drive entirely.

My link DID.

So you STILL didn't go to Google then? I'd done
half your work for you.
Do your own from now on.

 

[Bubey]

Thank You for the idea. This might be the best
thing for me
to do. Then it's really secure. And if I get
Alzheimer's and
forgot the password it won't matter as I probably
don't
remember what I stored on it anyway. It's so much
fun
to get older......

in message
Don't use "passwords", encrypt!

There's a very fine, and free, program called
TrueCrypt that you can use to
encrypt the entire drive - you could even encrypt
your notebook drive with it
- so if the hds ever get stolen, the data will
not be compromised.

 

[Anna]

Thank You for the idea. This might be the best
thing for me
to do. Then it's really secure. And if I get
Alzheimer's and
forgot the password it won't matter as I probably
don't
remember what I stored on it anyway. It's so much
fun
to get older......

in message
Don't use "passwords", encrypt!

There's a very fine, and free, program called
TrueCrypt that you can use to
encrypt the entire drive - you could even encrypt
your notebook drive with it
- so if the hds ever get stolen, the data will
not be compromised.

Bubey:
Most likely you already know this, but in the event you don't...

You must understand that while these various password protection, encryption
schemes, etc. will afford you a degree of security protection against casual
users attempting to access your data, they afford little or no protection
against those who are determined to access same. As long as the "bad guys"
are willing to spend the time & utilize available resources to tap into your
data, they can do so. The security programs & devices that would protect us
from the latter group are simply not available to consumers such as you & I.

As I say, no doubt you're aware of this but I thought it might be worth
mentioning.
Anna

 

[Bubey]

Thank You for the info Anna. No I didn't know
this, but
I'm not really concerned about the Bad Guys, just
the
privacy of a guest using my PC. Eventhough they
are signed in as a Guest, if they know what they
are
doing couldn't they access the hard drive via
Right Click
on Start, then Explore and be able to open a file
by just
clicking on it? I thought if I kept this personal
info on the
USB hard drive it would be safer.

I did take the hint about the My Doc's actually
being
a folder and did a right click / properties on it.
I found the area of Sharing, but the area to
check,
"Keep this Folder Private" is grayed out. Any
idea
why ? And would clicking on the Keep this Folder
Private accomplish what I am trying to do.
Thanks


message

Thank You for the idea. This might be the best
thing for me
to do. Then it's really secure. And if I get
Alzheimer's and
forgot the password it won't matter as I
probably
don't
remember what I stored on it anyway. It's so
much
fun
to get older......

"Niniel" <[email protected]>
wrote
in message
Don't use "passwords", encrypt!

There's a very fine, and free, program called
TrueCrypt that you can use to
encrypt the entire drive - you could even
encrypt
your notebook drive with it
- so if the hds ever get stolen, the data will
not be compromised.

Bubey:
Most likely you already know this, but in the
event you don't...

You must understand that while these various
password protection, encryption
schemes, etc. will afford you a degree of security
protection against casual
users attempting to access your data, they afford
little or no protection
against those who are determined to access same.
As long as the "bad guys"
are willing to spend the time & utilize available
resources to tap into your
data, they can do so. The security programs &
devices that would protect us
from the latter group are simply not available to
consumers such as you & I.

As I say, no doubt you're aware of this but I
thought it might be worth
mentioning.
Anna

 

[Gordon]

Thank You for the info Anna. No I didn't know
this, but
I'm not really concerned about the Bad Guys, just
the
privacy of a guest using my PC. Eventhough they
are signed in as a Guest, if they know what they
are
doing couldn't they access the hard drive via
Right Click
on Start, then Explore and be able to open a file
by just
clicking on it? I thought if I kept this personal
info on the
USB hard drive it would be safer.

If THAT is all you are worried about, format the external drive as NTFS,
boot up into Administrator, disable simple file sharing, and then deny
any other user than yourself, access to the folders on the external HDD.
Then put a STRONG password on your user login.

That's all you need to do.