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Thread: Windows Folder Encryption

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    Windows Folder Encryption

    I'm seeking a small utility to run on my Windows XP machine to encrypt folders on the fly. Ideally i would like to install it and then select the folders to encrypt: Folder1, Folder2, Folder3 etc. These folders will be updated every day but id like the contents to be encrypted, although when i logon when my pc starts i want them to be freely accessible ie i dont want to type the password in everytime i want to view something in them.

    I've seen TrueCrypt but it works off of a partition system and ideally i dont want to have "copies" of the data. It should be quick and ideally freeware. Anyone recommend?

    Cheers In Advance!

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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    Truecrypt springs to mind, and I see you have looked at that. Although you say it is partition based, there is another way of using truecrypt volume as a file. In this case the truecrypt file is used as a container, which contains the real folders and files that you want protected. (Compare with an outlook .pst file - a container that holds lots of mail messages).

    However you still have to mount and enter a password to acces that data, in addition to logging on to the windows system

    Other solutions might be GnuPGP (although it isn't particularly well supported under the windows gui - really a command line program) and again each file needs to be decrypted individually.

    Commercial solutions include BeCrypt, or if you want a complete hard disk encryption solution, look at Flagstone - again it needs a separate password as part of the boot process as the whole disk is encrypted using hardware encryption at the hard drive subsystem.

    You may like to go back to the Truecrypt web site and have another look through it, as it would appear to meet your requirement.
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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    Hmmm, Cheers.
    I just didnt like the idea of it copying the data ie if i encrypt 2gb then it requires another 2gb of space to copy and mount the image to. Ill install it and see how i get on.

    Thanks

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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    my Virtualisation Blog http://jfvi.co.uk Virtualisation Podcast http://vsoup.net

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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    Sounds just the job for the OP! (I didn't know XP pro had that facility built in...thank you for the info)
    Last edited by peterb; 31-03-2008 at 06:06 PM.
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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    something I came across the other day - having to retake one of my MCP's as my Win 2000 one just expired and I'm trying to finish off my MCSE by the end of the month
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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    From that link:
    "Always set the BIOS to require a password and then disable the floppy disk boot option. This prevents someone using a utility like NTFSDOS to read files without having to provide a username and password."

    That makes it sounds as if the folders/files will be easily recoverable without the password should the HDD be moved to another machine? Something to think about if what you're protecting is really important.

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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    I saw that, but I have just browsed this link

    Encrypting File System in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

    Which implies that Windows 2K machines may be susceptable to a disk editor attack if the certificate is not stored away from the machine. I haven't read it in depth (or fully understood it!) but it seems a pretty good privacy mechanism.
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    Re: Windows Folder Encryption

    I'm pretty certain thats not a full workaround although there are some ways of cracking EFS that isn't domain based. Individual files are not "password protected" - it uses your XP username / password to create the keys.

    https://www2.sans.org/reading_room/w...6153ccfc1c9d28

    Currently, there are no known methods of circumventing EFS by direct access to
    the hard drive using NTFSDOS, an NTFS driver for Linux, or similar methods.
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