How to password protect a USB flash drive
USB drives came into existence almost 2 decades ago and have been the most commonly used drives in the data storage category. They have been for so long due to the convenience they offer as they are small, portable, easy to use and provide ample amount for data storage. The problem however, lies in the area where these drives are a bit open to threats from the prying eyes, cyber goons and more.
If we talk about its replacement, cloud storage is the option that may or may not be able to replace this technology but that as well is a bit far from happening anytime soon as users aren’t interested or having faith in lending their data to someone else while they stood to watch.
It has been stated and reviewed that these USB drives do not really have a reliable option of being protected without any third-party software hence, the best option you have to password protect USB drive is to get acquainted with a USB security software that works as per your needs.
Built-in security:
Connect your USB drive into the PC and tap on ‘start button’. Furthermore, type bit locker in the search program and files option and launch the application. Doing so would result in Windows asking you to enter or create a password. Make sure to set a password strong enough and not be easily guessable and tap on ‘next’. Finally, your drive would be protected.
Password protect individual files:
You can also opt for saving each file separately using individual passwords for individual files. Files like Word and Excel contain important data and needs to be protected by all means necessary. To protect a file, open the document and go to File>Info>Protect Document Menu<Encrypt with a password. Doing so would require you to add or set a password which must be hard to guess as well.
But the absolute truth is, thinking of protecting these devices without any software isn’t a reliable option. There are some free as well as paid USB security software that protects your data from being lost or stolen from the prying eyes even you have turned your back. Some of the recently reviewed USB security software as follows:
USB Secure:
If all the steps as mentioned above are hard for you to understand, don’t worry as you can only opt for this USB secure software. It simply lets you password protect your USB drives with dependable security and also gives you the option to select between unlocking the locked files completely and accessing only the locked files. Furthermore, you can also use the plug and play feature which comes handy while ejecting your drive abruptly from the PC. In case if you lose your device, you can opt for USB Securer’s lost & found feature where the finder would be able to contact you with the provided information.
USB Flash Security:
USB Flash Security is known for encrypting the entire drive at once. But know that it leaves a portion of space free for the release tool to decrypt the area secured when running. This left out portion ranges to about 0.5 MB Fat partition usbenter.exe is utilized to insert the password while making the rest of the drive usable or available.
Summary:
If compared between the two, USB Secure has an edge over its competition as it has way too much to offer. The important points to note is that it works on all disk types like FAT/FAT32/NTFS and more. It also stays at the top with its multiple options of either locking your data entirely or simply unlocking them.
