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Windows XP Home does not have built-in file encryption like XP Pro, so if you are like me and keep business-sensitive files on your Sammy, it’s a concern. You could upgrade to XP Pro, but there is also a simple and free solution.
I installed the free open-source software Truecrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org). It creates an encrypted file on your hard dirive (of any size you chose). When you open the file it shows up as a virtual disk drive, on which you can store those consulting reports and business contracts that you want to keep safe and secure. When you load the documents up in Word or Open Office they are also encrypted in RAM, so at no time do they get temporarily written to your unencrypted drive space.
I guess, the best encryption system is PGP (also open source).
Check from here:
http://www.pgpi.org/Best regards…
I remembered a microsoft solution called “My Private Folder”, that they released and then withdrew for some reason. So I did a quick search and found it available on softpedia.
I’ve downloaded and it’s installed, quick and simple.It does the job and is free.
[quote1227998106=cpa]
I guess, the best encryption system is PGP (also open source).Check from here:
http://www.pgpi.org/Best regards…
[/quote1227998106]Just so you know, it’s development appears to have stopped in 2002, and the download links now point to 30-day trialware for the commercial PGP version 8.
[quote1227998715=topcat]
I remembered a microsoft solution called “My Private Folder”, that they released and then withdrew for some reason. So I did a quick search and found it available on softpedia.
I’ve downloaded and it’s installed, quick and simple.It does the job and is free.
[/quote1227998715]The problem is that “My Private Folder” does not encrypt the data, it just password protects the file folder. Anyone with a hex editor (like Winhex) can still read your files on the hard drive. That’s one reason it was pulled from development.
Hi scientist, thanks I didn’t know that. I suppose I’ll have a think about it and decide do I really need a higher level of security than my present level. I don’t carry sensitive business data on my sammy.
[quote1228045391=scientist]
Just so you know, it’s development appears to have stopped in 2002, and the download links now point to 30-day trialware for the commercial PGP version 8.
[/quote1228045391]O_o… I didn’t know it… 🙁
It is a very bad news… It was the better encryption system before…
Listen, ONLY today on http://giveawayoftheday.com/ you can get the program Magical File Encrypt for free…
I don’t know how is it, but you can get for free…, test it!…
I usually visit this web page for interesting free soft activation… have a look.
There is some background on the site here. I guess it is like the “free” software on the covers of magazines here in the UK. The publisher gives it away just before the release of a major new version in the hope that the increase in user base will ultimately lead to more sales. Makes sense.
By the way I’m a big truecrypt fan and had included it in a security article I was writing 🙂
All our work laptops have just been encrypted with Truecrypt (boot encryption) and it’s a management consultancy so if they’re happy to use that then it’s a good sign.
Anyone else using boot crypt encryption (i.e. the whole disk) and is there a performance hit or is it OK?
Yep, works fine and I’ve not noticed a difference in performance. Truecrypt asks you to create a recovery CD and checks that it’s been done before letting you continue. Using the Microsoft free tool to mount the iso as a disc works fine.
I was thinking of using TruCrypt just to encrpyt my data drive. Does anyone how battery life gets affected? I have to imaging the computer is using more cycles to encrypt the data on each read and write.
I have used private file for encryption for some time now, it was a free give away on a mag cover disk.
I still have it here if anyone wants a copy, pretty sure it is a freely distributable licence on it, it is very small, very simple and pretty quick.
I have now used TrueCrypt to encrypt the entire system/drive and it works fine with no performance hit that I’ve noticed. It means if the netbook is stolen they can’t access anything at all, even if they took the harddrive out.
TrueCrypt is easy to use and you just type your password (first thing to come up on powering the machine up) and after that it’s business as usual.
Truecrypt is fantastic, I use truecrypt disk encryption on my regular laptop (which is an older Thinkpad so not really much different in spec to the NC10) and there is a performance hit but mostly on boot, other than that I don’t really notice it.
Upgrading to XP Pro for EFS would be a bit silly since EFS is essentially broken, as all it takes to get access to the files is to get the local user password which isn’t a great stretch.
I also wouldn’t trust “Magic file encrypt” as far as I could throw it, it makes no mention of what cipher it uses nor which implementation, “custom high speed algoritms.” doesn’t quite make me want to trust it.
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