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Posted by Jeffrey F. Bloss on September 15, 2005, 9:59 pm
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>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Is there a low cost way to password protect my hard drive, so that if it
>>>was stolen along with my computer, no one could access it? Something not
>>>too hard to log in with when I start it up though?
>>>
>>>I have Systemworks 2005 but don't think there's anything in there for
>>>this.
>>
>> I think encryption's the key ( excuse pun ). Once someone has access to
>> your computer's internals it's pretty much all over bar the shouting -
>> but if the data is securely encrypted then all they really have is a
>> nice new computer.
>>
>> There are quite a few freeware apps that you might find useful. I use
>> Blowfish Advanced CS to encrypt my sensitive data, and there are other
>> good encryption programs out there. Some people prefer to use encrypted
>> drives or 'containers'. Both systems will work for you, it's just a
>> matter of preference/convenience.
>
> By encrypted drives or 'containers', do you mean that it encrypts the
> whole drive as a container? Does that slow everything down a lot?
>
>> Blowfish Advanced can make use of 'job files', which essentially act
>> like DOS batch files. You can set up a series of encryption/decryption
>> tasks that run from a shortcut on your desktop.
>
> I need the whole thing to be transparent, and hopefully fast enough where
> it doesn't slow my system way down.
Whole disk encryption would generally be the most transparent. Your
machine asks for a pass phrase at boot time, and that's that. It's also
the most resource intense because everything is being encrypted and
decrypted on the fly.
Container or partition type encryption can be nearly as transparent. You
can configure the software that opens the container to run at startup,
enter the pass phrase then, and have access to your data until you shut
off the machine. But if the container gets closed (unmounted), you have to
re-mount it manually. That's typically a few mouse clicks and and entering
your pass phrase again. Container encryption is less resource intense
because you're only working on the files in the container, not every file
on the whole drive.
File by file encryption is by far the least transparent, and least
resource intense. You have to manually decrypt every file you want to
access, then encrypt it again when you're done. But it takes almost no
system resources beyond the storage space on your hard drive. You can do
some fiddling around and "streamline" the process with batch files and/or
scripts, but that's a lot of puttering around and if you're not familiar
with such things it's a lot of pain for little gain.
Maybe if you explained in a little more detail your circumstances,
what you're trying to secure and from whom, and describe your machine and
operating system a bit, someone can give you a specific suggestion.
--
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Marx
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