Microsoft’S Bitlocker
February 21st, 2014
i have some very sensible data on my external HD.. I do not encrypt it but there is a high chance that it might get stolen one day (thieves are doing heists in here)… I am using W7 ultimate and there’s the bitlocker feature..
my question is:
if i encrypt my files on the external HD, can they still be opened without any hassle by any other third party software?
if i encrypt some music, can they still be played by Win media players or any other player? what about pictures, will they still open with win picture viewer when i double click?
or is it that windows store them in a encrypted container?
o.O thanks.
i have some very sensible data on my external HD
No,You have sensitive data,sensible is a term used to describe one or more emotionally aware/rational people.
I am using W7 ultimate and there's the bitlocker feature
Using Truecrypt would be much better,But whichever way you choose to go,Do backup your data first if your gonna encrypt
the whole partition,While the odds of the encryption process to go bad are slim,It’s better to be safer than sorry,But honestly,Keeping
backup of your data is important regardless as any HDD can fail at any time.
but there is a high chance that it might get stolen one day (thieves are doing heists in here)
If your that concerned,You should really keep backup on an off-site location,I mean,Get another external HDD,Encrypt
it and store a backup copy of your data on it,And give it for safekeeping to a close friend/family member,Or store
it in a safe deposit box in the bank,Whichever way you choose to go,You could easily update the HDD every once in
a while,You could also use online backup for small files.
if i encrypt my files on the external HD, can they still be opened without any hassle by any other third party software?
First I’d like to point one that one never actually “encrypts” his files,That’s just wrong terminology,It’s the container or partition (on
the sector level) that’s get encrypted,Not the files themselves,These just reside in it and are only accessible when the container/partition is mounted (mounted=authenticated to),As long as it’s mounted each file will open with it’s default application without a problem.
Encryption is not easy to crack (provided you use a solid,long password at least and don’t keep it on a sticky note),There are however
ways to get your password if physical access is breached (but that’s probably nothing to worry about for your intended purpose)
or is it that windows store them in a encrypted container?
Bitlocker doesn’t support containers.
haha.. yeah! that’s an EPIC answer.. thanks..
You welcome
There are a few other things I forgot to point out tho,Let’s start with data recoverability,On non-encrypted partitions,Data that
hasn’t been overwritten is always recoverable,So if you move or copy then delete a “sensitive” file onto an encrypted partition
or container it may still be possible to recover it from the source (non-encrypted) partition,Unless it was later on overwritten
by some other file/s of the same size or bigger,Ideally what you should do is copy the file and not move it,Then wipe (erase beyond recovery) the original using BCWipe (which you can get from the apps section),BCWipe can also wipe a partition’s free space (making all previously moved/deleted files irrecoverable),Up next,Data/Password caching in the main OS partition [C:],Under certain conditions,It’s possible
for content of the encrypted data opened (I.E text file) or your encryption key to be cached onto the pagefile (virtual memory),Also if you
hibernate (put it into standby) all data from the RAM is dumped into c:\hiberfil.sys first,There are two ways to tackle this:
1. Encrypt the OS partition.
Note: While this is effective when the partition is unmounted,It’s not when it is,In other words,If you tend to leave
your PC on when you go out or goto bed,Using a screen-lock app such as “lock my pc” is a good idea,It’d provide extra safety.
2. Use BCWipe’s task manager to enable swap file encryption,This will encrypt the page file,Also delete hiberfil.sys and avoid
hibernation completely from now on,Set the power options accordingly in control panel.
Note: In order to see hiberfil.sys,You’d probably have to goto control panel>folder options>view first and change certain
settings,Such as enabling “show hidden files and folders” and unchecking “hide protected operating system files”.
Other then that,If you keep your External HDD connected at all times and use it frequently,Do not leave the partition/container
mounted when going out or to sleep unless you have a good reason to,And if you must leave it mounted,At the very least
use a screen-lock app as suggested above.