Often we have to use removable media to store personal files or valuable information. For these purposes, you can buy a USB flash drive with a keyboard for a pin code or a fingerprint scanner. But such a pleasure is not cheap, so it’s easier to resort to software methods for setting a password on a USB flash drive, which we’ll talk about later.
To set a password on a portable drive, you can use one of the following utilities:
- Rohos MiniDrive;
- USB Flash Security;
- TrueCrypt;
- bitlocker.
Perhaps not all options are suitable for your flash drive, so it's best to try a few of them before giving up trying to complete the task.
Method 1: Rohos Mini Drive
This utility is free and easy to use. It will not password protect the entire drive, but only a certain section of it.
To use this program, do the following:
By the way, with Rohos Mini Drive you can put a password on a folder and on some applications. The procedure will be exactly the same as described above, but all actions are performed with a separate folder or shortcut.
Method 2: USB Flash Security
This utility in a few clicks will allow you to password protect all files on a flash drive. To download the free version, click on the button on the official website Download free edition.
And to take advantage of the ability of this software to set passwords on flash drives, do the following:
Now you can again dump the files that you previously transferred to your computer to the USB drive. When you re-insert it, it will be password protected again, and it does not matter if this program is installed on this computer or not.
Method 3: TrueCrypt
The program is very functional, perhaps it has the largest number of functions among all the software samples presented in our review. If you wish, you can password-protect not only a flash drive, but also a whole HDD. But before doing anything, download it to your computer.
Using the program looks like this:
- Run the program and click the button "Create Volume".
- Check "Encrypt non-system partition/disk" and press "Further".
- In our case, it will be enough to create "Regular Volume". Click "Further".
- Select your flash drive and click "Further".
- If choose "Create and format an encrypted volume", then all data on the media will be deleted, but the volume will be created faster. And if you choose "Encrypt partition in place", the data will be saved, but the procedure will take longer. Once you've made your choice, click "Further".
- AT "Encryption settings" it's better to leave everything as default and just click "Further". Do it.
- Verify that the indicated media size is correct, and then press "Further".
- Enter and confirm your password. Click "Further". We also recommend that you specify a key file that can help you recover data if you forget your password.
- Specify your preferred file system and press "Place".
- Confirm the action by clicking the button "Yes" in the next window.
- When the procedure is finished, press "Exit".
- Your flash drive will look like the photo below. This also means that the procedure was completed successfully.
- You don't need to touch her. The exception is when encryption is no longer required. To access the created volume, click "Automount" in the main window of the program.
- Enter your password and click "OK".
- In the list hard drives can now be found new disk, which will be available if you insert a USB flash drive and run the same automount. After completing the usage procedure, press the button "Unmount" and you can remove the media.
This method may seem complicated, but experts confidently say that there is nothing more reliable than it.
USB flash drive is a convenient device for storing various data. But what if the flash drive contains very valuable information that needs to be securely protected? The first option is to set a password on a USB flash drive in the Windows 7 operating system without using third party programs. The second option is to purchase a data-protected USB flash drive with a built-in PIN pad.
Setting a password on a flash drive using standard Windows 7 tools
Operating room users Windows systems 7 Ultimate (maximum) have the ability to set a password on a USB flash drive and thereby protect the information on it using the built-in BitLocker utility. Protecting information on a USB drive using BitLocker technology is very reliable, and hacking it is a difficult task even for a confident PC user. Of the minuses, one can only note that this technology Windows 7 only has the Ultimate version. The main advantage of this encryption technology is its reliable protection against hacking.
Let's proceed directly to password-protecting a flash drive.
- Take the flash drive you want to protect and insert it into the USB port.
- Go to "My Computer" and click right click mouse on the selected flash drive to open the context menu.
- AT context menu select "Turn on BitLocker".
- After that, you need to wait a bit while BitLocker initializes the drive.
When working with BitLocker encryption, never remove the USB flash drive from the USB connector, as this may corrupt the files stored on it.
- Upon completion of disk initialization, a window will appear with the ability to select a method for encrypting the flash drive.
- Select the first item "Use a password to unlock the disk", enter the password you thought up and click on the "Next" button.
The more complex the password, the less likely it is to be cracked. Don't use popular hacking passwords like 123456789, password or abc123!
- Next, you need to choose how to save the recovery key. It will be necessary to resume access to the flash drive if you suddenly forget the main password. Select "Save recovery key in a file".
- Decide where to save Text Document with the USB recovery key, and change the file name if necessary. Click Save. With a printer connected to your computer, you can also select Print Recovery Key. But then it’s better to immediately put it in a turnkey safe from prying eyes.
- After that, you can proceed directly to disk encryption. Click the "Start Encryption" button.
- Encryption is a long process. It all depends on how big your flash drive is. In our case, for example, for a flash drive with a data volume of 8 GB, the encryption process took 20 minutes.
- Upon completion of the encryption process, in the "My Computer" section, the USB drive will have a "Lock" icon. It signals that the flash drive is password protected.
- Try removing the flash drive from the usb port and inserting it again. When you try to view the contents of the flash drive, you will first need to enter a password and click "Unlock".
Now, when copying files from a computer to a USB drive or vice versa, the process of encrypting and decrypting the transferred data takes place.
To disable the function BitLocker encryption, you need to do the following:
- Go to the "Start Menu" and then to the "Control Panel" section.
- In control panel operating system in the right upper corner select the menu view option "Categories" and go to the "System and Security" section.
- Next, go to the BitLocker Drive Encryption section.
- Now in the list, find the flash drive for which protection is provided, click on the "Unlock disk" item and enter the password.
- After that, two items will appear next to the flash drive: 1 - BitLocker Management; 2- Turn off BitLocker. Click on the second item and then click the "Perform disk decryption" button.
- It remains to wait for the completion of the disk decryption operation. Will have to wait! So, for an 8GB disk, the decryption of the disk lasted 32 minutes.
Secure flash drive with hardware data encryption
This option ensure data protection without the use of any third party applications involves purchasing a USB storage device with hardware data encryption in the store. How a flash drive works:
- insert the flash drive into the USB port;
- enter a numeric or alphabetic code using the keyboard on the USB flash drive;
- work with files.
If the password is entered incorrectly several times, then the information on the flash drive becomes inaccessible to everyone. The leaders in the production of these devices can be considered Kingston and iStorage.
The advantages of these flash drives include the following:
- It is impossible to read the entered PIN code from the computer (laptop) keyboard using spyware.
- Dust and moisture protection of these devices according to class IP57 (immersion in water up to 1 meter), IP58 (protection when immersed in water up to a certain pressure).
- The ability to set a pin code of varying complexity (from 7 to 15 characters).
- Ability to set two passwords. User - if the code is entered incorrectly, a certain number of times the possibility of entering a password is blocked. Those. the flash drive can be given for use without the risk of losing access to information. Admin - if you enter this pin code a certain number of times, the data is completely blocked.
- Automatic data encryption using the AES algorithm (U.S. government encryption standard).
- No loss of speed when transferring files from a flash drive to a computer and vice versa compared to conventional flash drives.
- Filling the internal elements of the flash drive with epoxy resin, which makes soldering the memory chips almost impossible.
What can be attributed to the minuses:
- The only downside is the cost. So, a 16GB flash drive will cost about 6000-7000 rubles, and 32GB 8000-10000. But here you need to think more, because in modern world information is sometimes worth millions of rubles.
So, today we looked at two options for assigning a password to a USB drive without third-party software. The first option is only suitable for users of the seventh Windows (maximum version). The second option is suitable for absolutely all users, not counting the financial component.
In the next topic, we will look at how to put a password on a flash drive using specialized programs for Windows.
If your USB drive does not have pre-installed encryption software, the easiest way is to use windows tool bitlocker. To do this, right-click on the drive partition, select "Turn on BitLocker" and set a password. If this item is not in the context menu, activate the utility through "Control Panel" - "System and Security" - "BitLocker Drive Encryption". Unfortunately, the program is not available for all Windows versions(for example, Windows 7 Home Premium does not have it), but you can use third-party software to encrypt USB drives.
CyberSafe Top Secret
CyberSafe Top Secret not only protects USB flash drives, but also encrypts files and folders, hard drives, emails, and more. To put a password on the drive, it is enough free version applications. main feature method: you can open a flash drive protected in CyberSafe Top Secret only on the computer on which this program is installed. Other devices do not recognize the file system of the secure USB drive.
1. Install the CyberSafe Top Secret app on your computer. AT side menu select "Encrypt partition", find your flash drive in the list and click "Create".
2. A window will open in which you need to set a password for the USB drive and determine the file system. Be careful: if you change the file system of the flash drive, it will be formatted. We advise you to create backup disk data before encryption.
3.
You can also specify how much memory will be available without a password. By default, protection is installed on all sections of the drive at once. To change this, uncheck "Use all available device size" and set the required limit.
USB Safeguard
The free version of the USB Safeguard program allows you to put a password on flash drives up to 4 GB. You need to run the utility directly from the drive. If your flash drive has a FAT file system, the program will prompt you to format it to NTFS, so be sure to back up your data before encrypting the drive.
1. Install the program from the flash drive, as usual by clicking "Next". If you are prompted to format to NTFS, accept. In the window that appears, enter the password that will protect the flash drive and a hint.
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2. The program will prompt you to set the letter virtual disk, which will become a mirror of the encrypted drive. Now, when a flash drive is connected, a protected partition will appear in the list of disks, access to which will be possible only with a password.
Rohos Mini Drive
Another one free program for encrypting USB drives - Rohos Mini Drive. The application selects a section on the flash drive that will be available on any PC after entering the password.
1. Download and install Rohos MiniDrive. In the main window of the program, select "Encrypt USB Drive".
2.
Set a password and configure the protected disk settings: its size, file system, encryption algorithm, and letter. You can encrypt all or part of the memory.
How to put a password on USB flash drive- the most reliable ways in this article! Although a large number of people prefer to store confidential data on a flash drive and carry it with them. What if she gets lost, or worse, gets kidnapped? Information that falls into the wrong hands can cause a lot of trouble. Take care of how to put a password on a USB flash drive, storing something really important on it.
Content:
What is the most effective way to protect data on a flash drive?
Most reliable way storing really important information is its content under the supervision of armed guards deep underground. And in the case of an electronic drive, it must also be disconnected from the network (Internet). The method is exaggerated, but this is not a joke. However, the real world and the constant need to have access to the right data does not allow the use of such methods. For this reason, developed various ways restrictions on access to information.
Encryption is the most widely used because right approach encryption prevents an attacker or a random person from gaining access to the data. Encryption tools using modern algorithms with a long key, subject to use by the user complex password provide effective protection. The use of such protection will be discussed.
How to put a password on a USB flash drive without additional programs
The question of how to password-protect a USB flash drive without using special programs. It happens when at the right time there is simply no opportunity to use the special. software. There are two possible options.
First way. You initially took care of purchasing a USB flash drive with hardware encryption. For such devices, third-party software is not required, when connecting to a USB port, you need to enter a pin code on the keyboard located on the body of the flash drive itself. Disconnecting from the port will result in automatic blocking. It is important to remember that multiple incorrect password entry will result in the eternal blocking of all stored information. Toshiba Encrypted USB Flash Drive is one of the representatives of this class of devices.
The second way. Use of improvised means.
Timely concern for protecting data on your phone's flash drive can return a hundredfold, as users increasingly trust confidential data with always-on devices (which are phones). Full phone memory encryption is standard for android versions above 4.0, and for external card memory - starting from version 4.1.1, but in inexpensive models such information protection may not be available.
If you have a non-budget class phone, you can enable encryption in the settings, the “Security” section, for which the screen lock with a password must be active, otherwise encryption will not be available. Starting with the sixth version of Android, this option will be enabled initially, which, by the way, is already implemented in iOS (iPhone).
If standard tools are not available, search Google Play offers a good selection of data protection programs. Good feedback has "SSE encryption", which, among other things, has such additional functions, as a text encoder and password manager. After installation, you will see intuitively clear interface, prompting you to select the data to protect.
The situation is somewhat simpler with older Symbian-based phones. In Nokia (similarly with phones from other manufacturers), go sequentially through the items "Menu" - "Settings" - "Protection" - "Protection level", where select the desired option.
How to password-protect a flash drive using programs
It cannot be said that the choice software tools for data protection is scarce. In addition to independent development, every decent manufacturer of flash drives offers its own solution. General principle settings are present, if not in all, then in most of these utilities. How to set a password on a USB flash drive, consider the example of a program.
- Download from the manufacturer's website and install the program.
- Connect your flash drive to your computer.
- Run the program, select "Encrypt USB Drive".
- come up with good password and enter it in the appropriate fields.
- In the Disk Options section, specify the required size of the protected partition. The peculiarity of the program is that it does not encrypt all data, but creates a special partition for this purpose.
- After the inputs are set, you can click "Create Disc".
Now all data will be securely protected and hidden from view. You can access them through the main menu of the program or using an executable file created on an unprotected partition (Rohosmini.exe).
The best flash card password programs
Not all specialized programs are good for data protection. Some have obvious flaws with stability or reliability. Four programs that have already proven themselves on the positive side will be listed and briefly reviewed below.