Windows 10: Is there any way to password-protect portable drives we connect?

Hi, I have a WD My Passport Ultra portable drive which comes with password protection to secure the data in case of loss. But I also have a Seagate one which does NOT come with such a feature. Is there another method I could use to password-protect these drives, perhaps built-in to Windows 10? I would probably prefer that anyway because I don't like using the pre-installed software that comes on portable drives...

:)

 

Is there any way to password-protect/encrypt files or directories?

Hi,

I noticed that Word Mobile 5 does not support password-protected documents.

- So my question is: Does anybody know of any way, using 3rd party software or otherwise, of password-protecting or encrypting a Word document (or any document, for that matter), OR any way of protecting/encrypting a whole directory?

Thx in advance,

Neville

 

Do I have BitLocker on Windows 10

I'm running Windows 10 and have a new portable external hard drive.

How can I password-protect this drive? Does Windows 10 come with the capability to lock an external drive?

(I have an older external drive that has built-in security and I am surprised that this is not a standard feature with external drives, especially portable ones, where they contain an image of a password-protected internal hard drive).

Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Devices & drivers

 

If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise you can use BitLocker.

This seems to be free:
Password Protecting USB Drives • Productivity Portfolio

 

i think BitLocker encrypts the data (which takes a while) rather than simply password-protect, no?

 

That would be correct, but it would only be a one time encryption of the existing data.

 

Passwording USB drives would be nice but the ones I use have to be accessible from any computer I happen to be working on, would have to have any such software stored only on the drive and be OS-independent.

 

So if I use the portable drive as a MIRROR (daily or weekly backup), will I be creating additional headaches for myself by activating BitLocker on such drives? Does this mean I will need to encrypt the new data everytime something is modified? And if so, will it be done automatically?

 

Here is another suggestion

How to Lock Files, Folders and Drive

 

I think you'd find your WD My Passport is also encrypting the data, although this article suggests it isn't as secure as we might hope.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/29955...pose-data.html

My experience of Bitlocker is that once you've done the initial encryption (and that's only an issue when you've got existing data on the drive, not on a new one), performance is reasonable.

 

Hi there
I might be being obtuse here but if the drives are PORTABLE why in the world would you need to password protect them -- IMO after you've used them simply remove them -- no physical drive = no access !! -- Simple.

Am I missing something here -- seems people are creating a problem where none exists.

Now I CAN understand why data from say a corporate network should be protected from being copied to an external USB drive but that's another issue entirely.

Cheers
jimbo

 

I use Veracrypt. VeraCrypt - Home

 

Simple, these are backups that I'll be storing offsite. I don't want anyone casually plugging these in and accessing my data. I'd like a prompt for password to come up. That's all.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!