Secure USB Drives with BitLocker in Windows7

Dear Friends,

You can secure your USB flash drives using BitLocker encryption.

In this way you can protect sensitive data on your USB drives.

More on BitLocker-

“Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption provides protection for the computer operating system and data stored on the operating system volume by ensuring that data stored on a computer remains encrypted, even if the computer is tampered with when the operating system is not running. BitLocker provides a closely integrated solution in Windows 7 to address the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned personal computers.”

But keep in mind that BitLocker facility is only available in Windows7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions.

Steps-

     (1)   Navigate to My Computer

     (2)   Right click on USB drive

     (3)   Select Turn on BitLocker…

     (4)   Now a screen will come up. Enable Use a password to unlock the drive.

      

     (5)   Enter your desired password and click on Next. And Follow the onscreen instructions.

     (6)  When done, this lock icon will display with your USB drive.

              

     (7)   Remove your USB drive.

     (8)   The next time you use your USB drive on another computer, it will prompt you for the password before allowing you read-only access to your flash drive. You can even use the drive on Windows XP/Vista.

               

     (9)   After entering password you can use your USB drive and now there will be more self explanatory options like the below shown figure- 

                     

       

{Note- When you add new files to an external hard drive or flash drive that is encrypted with BitLocker, BitLocker encrypts them automatically. Files remain encrypted only while they are stored in the encrypted drive. Files that are copied to another drive or computer are decrypted.}

That’s all.

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Source- http://adminkunal.blogspot.in