I'm sorry if I'm repeating an FAQ, but is there any way to make my PortableApp flash drive password protected like the U3 drives by SanDisk? Are there any free encryption programs that can password protect or encrypt/decrypt my entire 4 GB flash drive without the need for administrator privileges BEFORE the PortableApps Menu starts up when I insert it into any Windows computer?
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No
Yes, asked many times
but Welcome to PorableApps.com
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
The answer is yes and no. The best bet is to get a drive with true hardware encryption. Kingston and others sell drives of this type but they are more expensive than other drives.
There will be a security by obscurity method in the next platform release that presents a password before you can access the platform as well which is roughly equivalent to what you want.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
That is exactly what I was hoping for. Can't wait for it to be complteted! Thanks John!
I guess i misunderstood the question, I thought he wanted software that he could add to his existing drive to password protect the drive itself, not just the menu.
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
No, you got it right. But the password does more than just block access to the menu. It isn't complete yet, though.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Can't wait for this feature... You rock dude!
i am also waiting for this feature!!
though someone may say that's useless as someone can format the stick,
but at least i don't want them to see the content
and sometime people may force us to lend them the stick for some simple purpose for a day or two
then the public and password encryted private section of the stick become important issue
well if you have some password for the menu and similar, what should prevent you from seeing the content?
This would be like the password in the U3, which does ask you the password, but no one ca say for what since the content is there still anyway.
I also own a U3 stick, I have tested the password there, but could not figure out what is this for or what it should protect.
Data can still be read, printed, copied or what ever, only the main U3 application will not work. So where is the secret of it?
Or recently someone wanted a password to spot someone opening thunderbird. The aim was to stop people to see his mails and mail settings etc.
Have no idea what this is for, the settings and mails are stored in plain text on the stick, so what the password is for?
You can delete the application itself, the data are still here in plain text.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
Not sure what your saying here, if I don't use the password on my U3 Stick I cannot access the data portion of the disk, i can't get into it to read, print, or copy anything ???
I also own a U3 stick, I have tested the password there, but could not figure out what is this for or what it should protect.
Data can still be read, printed, copied or what ever, only the main U3 application will not work. So where is the secret of it?
[Note All: that is question is independent of the whole reformat drive w/o password, and data recovery question]
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
I was wondering about having something like that, especially for things like FF and TB.
In my opinion, a good way of using a password-protected menu would be to use something similar to Toucan with preset files to be encrypted and decrypted. Like when you password-protect the menu, it will encrypt the files
\PortableApps\PidginPortable\Data\settings\.purple\accounts.xml
\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\Data\profile\signons3.txt
etc..
Or whatever defined by the user or by a specific file.
What could be used to make this process more user-friendly would be to have a file in each PortableApps folders (ie: \PortableApps\PidginPortable\encrypt.lst)
which would contain the relative path of the file to encrypt and that is read everytime the user decide to password-protect his thumbdrive.
The encrypt.lst file would be created by the application developer, who is likely to know which files could contain sensitive informations.
I'm pretty sure this would be a lot of work, but it would be a good trade-off between useability and security.
Go here:
http://www.truecrypt.org/
I think it will answer the need.
True crypt requires administrator privileges. This prevents it's use on a public pc, internet cafe, etc. for security reasons. There's another thread here with more detailed info.
Mi chip a Super Talent USB 2.0, 2GB, has a software downloadable from the web site of the manufacturer. This software partitions the chip and creates a public and a privete zone, protected with password. If you have sensitive data, you can encript it. There are two software for that purpose.
Denis J Navas
By the way, it requires admin rights the first time you use this software.
The last post on this seems to have been Nov 16 2008. I wonder how close a solution is? I've been spoilt by having U3 drives in the past. My new 16G drive is unprotected. I've tried playing around with Toucan - but it just won't do it simply (I think). The drive manufacturer invites you to download Jetflash Elite - but it seems to require to be partially installed on the host machine - and anyway, also only seems to be a non-free, less intuitive Toucan-alike.
So... Any progress? Seems to be a Portable Apps 'no-brainer' of an app...
David
Encrypting a full drive (the only way to actually secure your data) as a software-only solution is not possible under Windows without either administrative rights or software installed on the PC ahead of time. Period. End of story. No additional discussion is required.
You can buy a drive with encryption built in. Or a simple password to load the partition without encryption (as most U3 drives do). But this must be built into the drive at a hardware level. There are lots of drives from lots of manufacturers that do hardware encryption, many with military grade encryption.
We will offer an option to password protect the Platform and partially protect your files in a future release but an enterprising techie can get at your data.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!