Can anyone recommend a portable app for encrypting a USB Flash Drive?
Any input is appreciated.
Thank you.
SB
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but how are you going to decrypt it later?
I mean if there are just data on it and you use it on your personal PC you can use what ever, but when you come to some other PC and the *whole* stick is encrypted how are you going to decrypt it?
to make it simple for you:
http://worldsbestflashdrive.com/
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
Usually, safe/good encryption requires admin rights which you cannot be sure to have when you travel. So if your eally need it, follow ottosykora's advice and buy a flash drive with hardware encryption like the Portableapps.com Carbide.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Pretty impressive.
I am low on cash right now. Is there another alternative until I am more flush with money?
I was hoping for something simple. I really like what is displayed but I think I would need to wait awhile.
Thoughts?
Thanks
SB
Steven Bolton
The only way to fully encrypt a drive or to have a partially encrypted mountable part of a drive on Windows is to use a tool like TrueCrypt or FreeOTFE. Both have a portable mode. But, the give caveat, is that they both require admin rights on every PC you use them on. So you can forget about using it on most school or work PCs or using it at a hotel business center, net cafe, library, etc. This is a limitation of Windows by design and can't be worked around. FreeOTFE does supply a limited mode 'explorer' that lets you move files into and out of the encrypted container without admin rights, but you won't be able to use any portable apps using this mode.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Has anyone looked at SafeHouse. It appears you can use it in a way similar to a portable app.
http://www.safehousesoftware.com/SafeHouseExplorer.aspx
Thanks for the advice.
SB
Steven Bolton
Do note the app isn't free. It's free to download, and free to try for 30 days. Then it becomes read only, unless you pay.
SanDisk has flash drives for that price that include an app named SecureAccess, which will run on all pcs, without installation or Admin rights requirements.
Ed
I already have a flash drive with SecureAccess installed! I don't need to install any software! Thanks dude!
The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
from sandisk?
These types of solutions are basically the same as having an encrypted, password-protected 7z file on your stick and being able to open it with 7-Zip Portable. You can move files in and out of it via the interface. You have to move any files you want to use out of it to open them in any app. And you have to copy any apps you want to run out of it. Same as with using FreeOTFE with the FreeOTFE Explorer bit.
Many of these products also do something they call 'locking' which is basically just hiding a folder and using some Windows tricks to prevent it from being opened/visible in Windows Explorer. I'm planning on building this into the PA.c Platform at some point as a poor man's password protection.
Again, it is technically IMPOSSIBLE on Windows to have an encrypted set of files that you can access directly and run portably without either having admin rights (with TrueCrypt, FreeOTFE, etc) or using a hardware encrypted drive (PortableApps.com Carbide as shown in the site header). There is no other solution. Period.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thanks.
I am sure you are right.
One thing however, is that there is a free version of SafeHouse. I just want to clarify that. I do no know the merits of the product. Several of the versions you can download but I am quite sure there is a totally free version.
I do appreciate the responses.
SB
Steven Bolton
I explained exactly what it can and can't do above. As Ed_P explained, it's only a 30 day trial.
Note that FreeOTFE and TrueCrypt are *real* full encryption, open source and completely free, though they do require admin rights. They will work with portable software, though, unlike SafeHouse which will not unless it can be mounted as a drive letter (in which case it will also require admin rights) or uses the fake 'lock/unlock' method instead of actual encryption I explained above.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
With all due respect, but you're wrong.
I am using Safe House for several years now, both in a payed version and, when I am working in a different environment, a portable, free version. This free version does NOT expire ever.
You can use SafeHouse explorer in three different modes:
a) Installed (and integrated) version, which indeed requires a payed license, for either a 'PRO' or an 'Enterprise' release.
b) Portable and free version (which will NOT expire), with performance enhancements installed (You will not need admin rights, but you will need authorization to apply changes to the registry, in order to be able to install the performance enhancements provided by the portable app).
c) Portable and free version (which will NOT expire), without performance enhancements installed (You will not need admin rights, nor authorization to apply changes to the registry).
Safehouse has some advantages over several other encryption softwares: The portable version is a single file application, so there's only one file to copy or transport, which incorporates it's complete functionality. Furthermore, it works similar to TrueCrypt, or nowerdays: VeraCrypt, as it creates a container in which you can store all the files you want to have encrypted, rather than compress and pack your files in an archive which needs to be unpacked before you can access your files, or encrypting every file one by one,
Once you close the Safehouse container, all your files stored in it, are encrypted.
Once you open the Safehouse password protected container, you can access all your files without the need to unpack or extract any of the files first.
The difference between the three modes you can use the application:
Obviously, in mode a) the most administrative power is offered. In mode b), you will have only the most basic administrative functionality, but enough for standard use: create, open, use containers, and assign or change passwords. Once a container is opened, it will be presented as an extra harddrive, making its working completely transparent both to the user and the system it's running on.
In mode c) due to the performance enhancements not being isntalled, the opened containers cannot be presented as an extra, virtual drive, thus the content of your containers will only be accessible through the (portable) safehouse browser. So, you will have access to all your files, though you lose some transparency there.
Unfortunately, Safehouse has some disadvantages too (in case you were thinking I am a safehouse payed employee: You're wrong again!
Safahouse does offer to format your container in FAT32 or NTFS format. However, if you choose another format than the standard FAT32, the application will most likely hangup your system. So you can perfectly create a container of 1Tb capacity, and store 1Tb worth of files, but you cannot store a file larger than 4Gb in it, asFAT doesn't support this.
This I consider to be a major defect, as a result of which I recently switched over to VeraCrypt. However, VeraCrypt alike TrueCrypt, does sport a portable version, but these won't work without Admin rights.
Thus, for portable use, I still use safehouse
Can you point me to the safe house software for usb stick? portable version?
All I found is software you have to install to your PC first and it will be able to handle containers.
I have even tried to install it to the usb stick, however there was still regular installation in windows going on, incl. entries in menu and registry etc.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
You could try www.pendriveapps.com
Or, why not the manufacturer's site: http://www.safehousesoftware.com/SafeHouseExplorer.aspx
Be aware that there is three different ways to use the application.
You will need the file Safehouse Explorer.exe, which is a single file application.
It does not require any installation, though it will work best if the performance enhancement is installed (which is optional, from the started portable app). With the enhancement installed, an opened container will be presented as a virtual, extra harddrive. Without it, you can still access the content of your container through the safehouse app (but exclusively through the app).
Whether it is possible to install these enhancements, depends on restrictions on your particular environment, of course
I got the one already, but it is an windows installer. The software will be installed to the pc.
Yes I got the explorer.
OK I then 'rescued' the exe and uninstalled all in windows, copied the exe to a stick, created a volume, pasted some files into it.
However it seems still, and this is common to all software solutions for that task, that without a driver installed on the host computer one can not do very much with it.
It seems definitely not possible to run any apps (portable apps) from it.
Simple data files can be moved from it to be used.
So nothing portable.
It seems that this is exactly same functionality as OTFE explorer, Truecrypt or Veracrypt or jus simple zip file.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
well this a simple driver installation, same as all other similar solutions. So yes, it needs admin rights on the host.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
As I stated above, it requires admin rights for portable app use. Without admin rights, it can't install its driver. Without its driver, it can't mount it as a drive. Without being mounted as a drive, you can't use your apps.
So, with admin rights, Safe House has the same functionality as VeraCrypt. Without admin rights, Safe House has the same functionality as an encrypted 7z file used with 7-Zip Portable.
I installed Safe House in a virtual machine to verify the above.
Personally, I'd trust an open source encrypted volume like VeraCrypt than a closed source one.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Archive your files which you want to protect with 7z (protected with password). So no one can open these files.
When you archive your personel files do not compress them. Just use "store" feature, so you will not lose time when you decompress/compress operations each time.
7z is open source format. 7-zip is open source/free app which is simple, fast and portable.
You can decompress (open) your files with 7z everywhere, because 7z is supporting by most operation system and third party apps. But in any way always keep a copy of 7-Zip portable on your drive where you keep your password protected files.
Don't pay money for softwares. Make donation on this project when you have cash
7z protection really perfect.
If you want a bettter GUI, you can use also free/open source Peazip which is also portable.
The disadvantages to make archive files:
- For some operations you will need to first decompress and than compress your ALL DATAS inside your 7z file. There are some limited operations for example: update or add files on subdirectories inside 7z filesystem (I'm not sure if still exist).
- When you decompress your files to open, some files are writing on Temp directories of operation system (for example: C:\Users\win7username\AppData\Local\Temp ). This can be a security problem for you.
Not sure if I missed the point in this discussion, but I just enabled bitlocker on my usb stick. Job done. Fair enough I need windows 7/8 to use it 'natively' but I dont go on older machines than that (even in XP bitlocker togo helps there). Another option is AXCrypt (excellent resident OTFE) but I am not sure if that needs admin rights, and it doesn't sit too well with executable calling other files that are encrypted I find....
Still.
Hello,
I have the best experiences with EncryptStick:
http://www.encryptstick.com
If you goto order now, there is a trial version available.
Regards