Encrypt mobile disks using Windows 7’s BitLocker To Go

Are you worried that your personal files might leak out if your mobile drive falls into the wrong hands? We have all heard of scary stories where someone’s private files were stolen and then get posted onto the Internet.

If you don’t want to become famous online with your confidential files, follow the steps below on how to encrypt your mobile disk using BitLocker, a built in security feature in Windows 7 RC.

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 BitLocker shares the same core benefits of Windows Vista BitLocker; however, the core functionality in Windows 7 BitLocker has been enhanced to provide a better user experience. One of the improvements over the Vista version is the ability to quickly enable BitLocker on any drive.

To access BitLocker go to the Control Panel and choose System and Security then click on BitLocker Drive Encryption.

To turn on BitLocker To Go on a removable drive, click Turn On BitLocker for that particular drive.

The drive will be initialized with BitLocker. Do not remove the drive while this process is ongoing.

Type in the password that you can use to unlock the drive. Keep this password in a safely guarded place.

You can then choose to print the security key or save it to a file. I usually just save the recovery key on a secured computer.

After that the drive will begin encrypting.

After the encryption is done, you can start adding new files to the drive as BitLocker encrypts them automatically. Files remain encrypted only while they are stored on the encrypted drive. Files copied to another drive or computer are decrypted.

If you share files with other users, such as through a network, these files are encrypted while stored on the encrypted drive, but they can be accessed normally by authorized users. If your mobile drive is stolen from you, they will not be able to open your encrypted files if they don’t know the password to the BitLocker encryption.

As a user who requires security with personal files, I will benefit from this safeguarding tool. It is good to know that Windows 7 is using new technologies and features to safeguard privacy and personal information. You wouldn’t want those embarrassing files get into the wrong hands do you? For businesses who require tight security with their data, this is also a recommendable safeguarding software.