Can Password my Portable HDD???

[SpiritualRain13]

I recently heard from a frend tat I can put a password 2 My Portable HardDisk Drive? Izzit True? So tat others can't access my Data. If so how do i go abt doin it

[redbeacon]

Few options:

 

[1] BestCrypt for Windows. 3rd party software. It needs to be installed on the computer so that it can "see" disks that you have password-protected.

 

[2] If your hard disk is NTFS formatted, you can apply a password to each file or folder. (NTFS is supplied by Microsoft Windows themselves)

[SpiritualRain13]

Yup My HD is NTFS Formatted. So how do i do tiz Password thingy Bro Do i need 2 reFormat b4 i can apply password to it ???

 

If I usin the 3rd Party Software. Then if i ever need 2 access My HD usin another PC, then the other PC muz also have the SoftWare installed izzit? Or iz the software embedded in the HD itself

 

Thankz Alot Bro...

[redbeacon]

Yup My HD is NTFS Formatted. So how do i do tiz Password thingy Bro Do i need 2 reFormat b4 i can apply password to it ???

 

If I usin the 3rd Party Software. Then if i ever need 2 access My HD usin another PC, then the other PC muz also have the SoftWare installed izzit? Or iz the software embedded in the HD itself

 

Thankz Alot Bro...

 

If you choose to go the 3rd Party software way, yes, you have to have that software installed on any PC of your choice, before you can "see" the contents of the hard disk on that same PC.

That software is not embedded into the hard drive itself. So if you want to use that data on a foreign PC, you have to have that software installed on it as well.

 

For the NTFS method (sorry, I meant to say "security", not "password")

You can apply NTFS permissions onto a folder or a file. When you do that, you're specifying what kind of users can access your file, leaving the rest out.

 

http://searchwindowssecurity.techtarget.com/digitalguide/images/Misc/dgw_fig_5_5.gif

 

Only caveat is that only that computer that you apply the NTFS permissions on, is the only PC that is able to open your files back. Moreover, if in the event your computer drive fails on you, and/or you do a re-install of Windows, it'll be hard to get access to that very same files on your drive.

 

NTFS Permissioning is commonly used by experienced Windows administrators to secure folders/files in a corporation. NTFS permissioning is only available on Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business/Ultimate only. One strict advice though is if you are not sure how to do this, you may lock yourself out from that file/folder.

 

In a nutshell, either way there's no flexible way to secure the entire disk. You may have to secure the file/folder one-by-one. Moreover, sometimes, you are restricted to having to access that data on the same PC that you've used to secure that disk.

 

P.S.: You may also want to look at AxCrypt. It password-protects and encrypts things like single files, or even an entire folder. It even has the option to install itself into a file, so for instance, when you pass it to your friend without AxCrypt, he/she will still have the flexibility to open that file.

 

Not sure whether you'll be interested in this since you need to encrypt the whole disk, but I just put it up just in case.

 

* Disclaimer and to-know's

Everything explained here assumes the environment of a usual power user on a home computer, not a computer on a corporate network that's typically connected to a server. Also, as with all common advices given by Administrators, I cannot stress enough recommendation to back up your original data before trying out the methods above. Whilst the suggestions above have not been proven to be dangerous to your data, I cannot accept liability for any data mishap that should arise from improperly tuning/setting/protecting your data. With all of that said, thanks for your time and have a nice day

[SpiritualRain13]

Thankz Bro for the very detailed explanation. Apprciate it :thumb: