Solved Password protect the WHOLE of the USB drive

J

J456t

Guest
Hi Guys,

I was just wondering if there was an application that can password protect the WHOLE of the USB drive not just a partition? I really need an app fast as I'll be using a USB to hold some pretty sensitive information, thanks.

All the best,
J
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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    Custom build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X 4 965 BE
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    Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4
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    2l Samsung SyncMaster S20B300
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    Seagate Barracuda 320 GB w/OS
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB data storage
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    Ultra X4 750 watt fully modular
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    Thermaltake OverSeer RX 1 fulltower
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    Cooler Master Hyper212 120mm
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    Logitech G510
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    Razor DeathAdder 3.5

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  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
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    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
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    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
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    Thermaltake Core P3
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    Logitech wireless K800
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    Logitech MX Master 3
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    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi guys, thanks for the help, my Internet has been down as I've just switched ISP.

I'm preferably looking at freeware

Brink, hello too! :) I've used BitLocker in the past and found it to be quite bad as you can't copy files to your USB from a different computer, if I'm not mistaken.

All the best and thanks for the replies :)

J
 

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Hey J,

If the USB flash drive has been unlocked, then you should be able to.

To avoid any possible NTFS permission issues that may prevent you from accessing it, I would recommend to format the USB as FAT32, then decrypt with BitLocker. With FAT32, permissions are not carried over, and can be accessed on any computer as long as you unlocked BitLocker with your password first.
 

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System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Brilliant! Thanks Brink :) It works perfectly! USB 3.0 is amazing, just transferred a 1.38 GB file across in just under 15 seconds! Write speeds of 58 MB/s.

Once again, thanks
J
 

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If you need to copy files larger that 4GB you will need to convert the flashdrive to NTFS, you can convert it without losing the data on it with a partitioning program, there are many free ones out there..

Back it up first! Glitches can happen at ANY time....

USB 3.0 IS amazing, we need to stop making snail paced USB 2.0 drives..

Also, USB 3.0 are not all equal, some are faster than others, depending on manufacturer, but even a mid priced one can give you 75MB/s transfer...

Brooklyn
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 & Windows 7 Dual Boot
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    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP G60
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    AMD Turion RM-70 Dual Core 2.0 GHZ
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    3 GB
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    Nvidia GeForce 8200M G
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Mouse
    MS Intellipoint 5 button (love it!)
    Browser
    Chrome and Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast Free & Malwarebytes

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System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I usually format my USB thumb drives NTFS so I can use the Encrypt capabilities of NTFS (EFS).

It's been a while since I set that up, but you go through a process where you get an encryption certificate and install it.
I make a folder called 'Private' and set it up to be encrypted. Then, only my security certificate can decrypt it.

It's all painless and transparent once set up, but you need to keep the certificate in a safe place and install it when you need access.

As far as I know this only works on NTFS. Certainly not FAT or exFAT and not certain about reFS.

You import them in Internet Properties->Content->Certificates, although it has little to do with the Internet.

Once installed and active, encryption is handled by the file system, transparent to the application.

See:

The Encrypting File System

Also, the 'Cipher.exe' command.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center (64-bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-build
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600K @ 4.3 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 PRO Rev 3.0
    Memory
    16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (4 banks 4GB DIMM DDR3 8-8-8-24 5-32-12-7 1T 1.5V)
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    NVIDIA GeForce GT 440
    Sound Card
    Firewire Focusrite Saffire Pro 14
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W2353V
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 of Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS (2TB ea.);
    1 of Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 (2TB);
    1 of Hitachi Deskstar HDS722020ALA330 (2TB);
    2 of Seagate Desktop ST4000DM000-1F2168 (4TB)
    PSU
    Corsair AX850 Gold
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    Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
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    ThermalTake Silent 1156
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    Logitech K520
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    Logitech M310
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    7Mbps
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    Kaspersky
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    Event Studio Precision 6 powered audio monitors;
    Boston Acoustics CS Sub 10 Powered Subwoofer;
    NI Kore controller;
    NI Maschine controller;
    M-Audio Axiom 61 keyboard controller; expression pedal; sustain pedal;

    ... and tons of audio software ...

    I also keep two USB 3 thumb drives (A: and B:) attached with boot recovery and security stuff that I can boot into from BIOS in case of emergency
Thanks for all of your help guys, really appreciate it, we've got a great forum here with very helpful and friendly people! :)
 

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You're most welcome Joewl. Glad we could help. :)
 

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System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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