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[David1965]

Hello,  does anyone know of any password protection software I can use to protect my external hard disk drive.
Its 160 gig SATA
Many thanks

[Tassie]

You can buy 3rd party software, but why not use the file protection options in Microsoft Explorer like you would on your hard drive.


Introduction to using Encrypting File SystemEncrypting File System (EFS) allows users to store their on-disk data in encrypted format.

Encryption is the process of converting data into a format that cannot be read by another user. Once a user has encrypted a file, the file automatically remains encrypted whenever the file is stored on disk.

Decryption is the process of converting data from encrypted format back to its original format. Once a user has decrypted a file, the file remains decrypted whenever the file is stored on disk.

EFS provides the following features:

Users can encrypt their files when storing them on disk. Encryption is as easy as selecting a check box in the file's Properties dialog box.
Accessing encrypted files is fast and easy. Users see their data in plain text when accessing the data from disk.
Encryption of data is accomplished automatically, and is completely transparent to the user.
Users can actively decrypt a file by clearing the Encryption check box on the file's Properties dialog box.
Administrators can recover data that was encrypted by another user. This ensures that data is accessible if the user that encrypted the data is no longer available or has lost their private key.

EFS only encrypts data when it is stored on disk. To encrypt data as it is transported over a TCP/IP network, two optional features are available--Internet Protocol security (IPSec) and PPTP encryption.

[David1965]

I'm confused by your answer.
I do know I can buy software.
As you have referred to being able to secure the contents of my external HDD, please can you describe how to do this,  as I can only vaguely find out if the hard disk is part of MY computer.
I want to password protect the contents of my external HDD so if it is stolen, the contents remain password protected.
I would be grateful for specific instructions.  Thanks

[Tassie]

The external hard drive becomes part of your computer when it is plugged in and powered up.

The windows feature of decrypting files is a little better explained here.

[ur]http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/learnmore/encryptdata.mspx[/url]

[David1965]

Tassie, thanks for your efforts, but, I need something much more simple.