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I am looking to create an external drive with important information and would like to encrypt this drive as well.

I would need to have a software that would allow me to view and run files inside the encrypted partitions on a computer, regardless of my permissions level. This means that veracrypt is off the table, as a veracrypt installation is required. I'm not sure about SecurStick, I don't understand German and I don't understand whether the data is only saved on one drive or can be transferred over.

Compatibility with Windows OS is required, preferably 2000 and up. Software is preferred but I'll work with hardware if need be.

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  • For reference (because the comment seems to be deleted): the suggested duplicate was: Portable, no-admin, no-install, Win/Linux USB encryption/decryption on the go
    – unor
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 1:45
  • hmm, I've been using Truecrypt for a long time, since xp.
    – VAO
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 10:39
  • Truecrypt is deprecated and has various security problems, so I would rather not use it
    – Basil Hershberger
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 11:27
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    Those various security problems are really minor. Listen e.g. to the discussion of the Truecrypt audit (or read the transciption) in Security Now ep. 502
    – user416
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 12:37
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    @BasilHershberger VeraCrypt is generally considered the successor to TrueCrypt.
    – Tim Malone
    Commented May 26, 2016 at 0:12

2 Answers 2

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Western Digital Passport external USB drives use hardware encryption, no need to use software. Here's a 3TB one from Amazon for $120usd. But beware, if the drive breaks you won't be able to get the data back, no one will.

1TB and 2TB of this line normally don't need an external power supply but larger ones might. I have 2 of them, a 1TB and 2TB.

I also like that they are thin and small, fit in a (largish) shirt pocket or the top part of a briefcase.

EDIT:

  • 3 year warranty!
  • USB 3.0
  • 256 bit hardware encryption
  • Comes with free backup software.
  • This one is for a Mac, looks like you will have to get an OS specific drive. Or reformat it for your OS. This one says "Formatted for Windows. For Mac compatibility this Hard Drive requires reformatting. Refer to Application Guide for guidance on this."
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  • Thanks for the advice, but its not what I'm looking for.
    – Basil Hershberger
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 19:45
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You could look at SecurePro from Verbatim, which enables on-drive encryption and launches a flash-based browser window on the target OS for the password, therefore making additional software installations unnecessary. The encrypted partition just mounts like a regular drive, so it should work for your use case.

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    Would it be possible to get a software version of that? I already have the hardware necessary
    – Basil Hershberger
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 11:26
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    I couldn't find any setup, so it might be tied to the hardware
    – fk2
    Commented May 25, 2016 at 11:57

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