#External hard drive for windows 7 pdf#
#External hard drive for windows 7 password#
#External hard drive for windows 7 windows 7#

The amount of time that it will take to complete the process will depend on how large the drive is.

#External hard drive for windows 7 password#

When you create the password and save your recovery key, you'll be prompted to begin the encryption process, as shown in Figure E.ДЇigure E You'll be prompted to begin the encryption process once you save the recovery key.Дuring the encryption process, you'll see a standard progress monitor that will keep you apprised of the operation, as shown in Figure F. You can use the recovery key to unlock your drive in the event that you forget the password or lose your smart card.ДЇigure D To ensure that you don't lock yourself out of your drive, BitLocker To Go will create a recovery key. If you have a smart card, you can use its PIN to unlock the drive.ДЇigure C You can use a password or a smart card to unlock a BitLocker To Go protected drive.ДЄfter you set up a password or use a smart card, BitLocker To Go will prompt you to store a recovery key, as shown in Figure D. Once the initialization process is complete, BitLocker To Go will prompt you to set up a password that you will use to unlock the drive, as shown in Figure C.

The process is nondestructive, so you don't have to worry about any data that is already on the drive.ДЇigure B When BitLocker To Go initializes your USB drive, you don't have to worry about any data that is already on the drive. Once you insert a USB drive, right-click on it and select the Turn on BitLocker command from the menu, as shown in Figure A.ДЇigure A When you right-click on a USB drive in Windows 7, you'll see the Turn on BitLocker command.ДЄs soon as you do, BitLocker To Go will begin initializing your USB drive, as shown in Figure B. Setting up BitLocker To Go on a USB drive is a simple procedure. Furthermore, the policy can specify password length as well as complexity.ДЇor a comparison, check out ' Product Spotlight: IronKey Encrypted Flash Drive.' Setting up a USB drive In a Domain system, IT administrators can configure a policy that requires users to apply BitLocker protection to removable drives before being able to write to them. When you connect the USB drive to a computer running XP or Vista, the BitLocker To Go Reader takes control, prompts for the password, and then basically makes the USB drive a read-only device.Д«itLocker To Go can be used by both home and business users.

#External hard drive for windows 7 windows 7#

When you connect the USB drive to a Windows 7 computer, you are prompted for the password, and upon entering it you can read and write to the drive as you normally would.Дuring the encryption process, Windows 7 installs a special reader on the USB drive. Without the password, the USB drive is worthless.

#External hard drive for windows 7 pdf#

This blog post is also available in PDF format as a free TechRepublic download and as a TechRepublic Photo Gallery.Д«asically, BitLocker To Go allows you to encrypt a USB drive and restrict access with a password.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I'll introduce you to BitLocker To Go and show you how it works on a 1GB USB thumb drive. To protect sensitive data stored on USB drives, Microsoft Windows 7 features the encryption scheme called BitLocker To Go. With the huge increase in the use of very small, large capacity, USB drives, the potential for sensitive data to be lost or stolen has really become more of a problem because it is much easier to lose or steal a device no bigger than a package of chewing gum. When Microsoft introduced Windows Vista, one of the big security features in that operating system was BitLocker, a hard drive encryption scheme designed to protect sensitive data from being accessed on lost or stolen computers - mainly laptops. Greg Shultz thought we should revisit the topic because encryption is generally underutilized.

This blog post was originally published in May 2009.