Can I put a password on a USB Flash Drive?

mr_fishbulb

One thing to note is that you may need admin rights on machines you intend to use the encrypted key. Truecrypt says you need these rights when you are creating a traveller key.

If you are using it in an internet cafe where they lock down the machines, you may not be able to access you encrypted files.

buglawton

The admin rights needed for Truecrypt bit has been mentioned a few times in this thread - and also that Rohos mini drive should work without them. I'm going to try out Rohos on an old memory card.

mr_fishbulb

You could try one of these:

http://www.corsairmemory.com/products/padlock.aspx

tradetime

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

One thing to note is that you may need admin rights on machines you intend to use the encrypted key. Truecrypt says you need these rights when you are creating a traveller key.

If you are using it in an internet cafe where they lock down the machines, you may not be able to access you encrypted files.

That is probably true I'd have to check, but then one would have to wonder why you encrypted it in the first place. Presumably it is sensitive, private material you don't want prying eyes looking at, in which case why would you be opening it on an internet cafe computer where you have zero control over the security of the network.

Checked and yes it is true, to use Truecrypt you require administrator rights on the computer in order to decrypt and read what is on your flash drive. But as I say, who knows what is lurking on an internet cafe computer so I wouldn't be looking at sensitive data on it.

tradetime

Don't know anything about this one other than what it says on its website, but it is free.
http://www.picofactory.com/download/free/software/encryption_decryption/picocrypt
another one
http://www.timeatlas.com/mos/Useful_Utilities/Free/How_to_Password_Protect_Your_USB_Drive/
and another
http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=223943
oh, one more
http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?&docid=224888&promo=100511

buglawton

Rohos Mini Drive vs. Truecrypt - TESTED

Rohos:
- Extremely easy to install, granny could do it (and perhaps this is the problem).
- Password protection looks much weaker then Truecrypt as it does not have generate random key step.
- Extremely easy to use (and Admin rights not needed)
- However a limited non-admin use cannot WRITE to the usb stick. In my tests I was getting 'delayed write' errors and Windows crashes when I tried.
- For using on strange computers/internet cafe computers NOT RECOMMENDED
- Why?
a) Plug in your usb stick,click the orange Rohos icon on the drive, enter password.
b) A new drive opens up - where you sensitive data will be.
c) Click small orange quick launch icon to open the encoded drive.
d) Save another sensitive doc into this encoded drive.
e) Now here's the crunch: Unplug your usb and walk away.

- A copy of all your sensitive data is now sitting on the main computer and will remain there for all to see and open until that computer is rebooted.
- The doc you saved (or thought do did) to the drive will not actually be on the usb stick drive, it will be lost.

If you forget to do the 'disconnect' step before removing your usb, it will not copy your changes to the usb and will leave a COPY of your secret usb area on the computer you used!!!

There is an option to disconnect the usb stick properly in Rohos but I found it was greyed out and no reachable to be set. If this were fixed then Rohos would be one whole lot better.

Truecrypt:
- More steps to install it
- More complicated to use (though the mildly techy among us will handle it)
- If you unplug the usb stick, you private data immediately disappears form the host computer which is better!
- But note that anything saved to the Truecrypt usb stick will be lost if you forget to 'unmount' the stick before physically removing it.

Conclusion:
No security is perfect and Trojans can raid even Truecrypt drives once they are open. For taking your data between trusted computers, both the above products are OK and Truecrypt is the most secure.

tradetime

- But note that anything saved to the Truecrypt usb stick will be lost if you forget to 'unmount' the stick before physically removing it.

Hi, can you provide a source for this please, I really don't see how that is possible, where would it go to be lost?

10past6

tradetime wrote: »

Truecrypt is very good and not that hard, I know because I understand it, and if I can anyone can, just apply a little time. Here is a good tutorial that lays it all out.

Hi

When do I insert the memory stick before or after I've completed the installation?

10past6

I gave up with Truecrypt, I'm not able to understand it even following the tutorial was confusing, I tried the forum on Truecrypt website, but it's down.

tradetime

10past6 wrote: »

Hi

When do I insert the memory stick before or after I've completed the installation?

For the purpose of creating a traveler mode setup only, you would not be "installing" anything. You can install the program if you wish, but that would have nothing to do with setting up a USB stick in traveler mode and would be a separate operation.
To answer your question specifically, I would insert my USB drive, download Truecrypt if not already done so,
Double click the setup Icon > Accept the License Agreement > Select Extract from the next screen. (This effectively creates a Portable Truecrypt) if you are familiar with portable apps, this will make sense, for example I run portable Firefox on my laptop. This means it is not installed on my system it simply runs from a folder. If I did not want to use FF anymore there is no uninstall, I simply delete the folder it is in.
At this point Truecrypt would now be on your system as a portable app and functional, it will run from the folder it is in.