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Encrypted External Drives?

post #1 of 6
Thread Starter 
I'm looking for a small 2.5" drive, or enclosure for a drive, that would support hardware 'crypting. This is to hold the more personal & important stuff (i.e. tax info and major work projects) off my machines, and not available unless I'm present with the hardware key.

I've looked around already, and have found one from wiebetech called firewire encrypt, but is for 3.5" drives. enovatech.com has a 2.5" external kit under their x-wall chip, as well as a multi-bay for laptops. I'm in process of getting more info from them, like a price list.

Has anyone used any of these, or can recommend something similar? I'm not looking for high levels of crypting here, the entry level stuff is perfectly fine. The most important thing is availability for a 2.5" drive of some sort.
post #2 of 6
why not just encrypt it with XP's encrypting file system?
post #3 of 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by litehedded
why not just encrypt it with XP's encrypting file system?
DO NOT! Do you really want to trust MS software with your data?

I would recommend BestCrypt (http://www.jetico.com/), available for both Windows and Linux. Supports a variety of strong algorithms and has been extensibly tested. What you do is create an encrypted 'image' on the external harddrive and mount the image with the BestCrypt utilites when you need the data. The fact that the image is encrypted is completely transparent to the system - it thinks that it is just another storage device.

Mikhail
post #4 of 6
Thread Starter 
The software looks like an OK idea, but I want a solution that will work anywhere, including a PC at work which will not have this installed (especially when it could be _any_ of their PCs).

I would also like to (eventually) be able to have ability to boot into this drive, to have 100% isolation of work data (including the IPs of the internet VPN points and first-level auth info). Therefore hardware solution is my best bet.
post #5 of 6
Hmmm. Thats reasonable. Let us know if you find something.
post #6 of 6
Thread Starter 
Quick update:

Well, the enovatech laptop bay is apparently designed for HP laptops, they're not sure if they'd work in a Sager. I'm checking which HP models that supports, perhaps I'll get lucky.

They also have a 'retrofit' kit for inside a laptop's case, but not certain if that will fit in the stock multi-bay either. And of course you cannot boot from USB on an 8890. Argh.

Still checking, I'm in no hurry to get this (need to get the drive first ).

--TSK
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NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › Encrypted External Drives?