Why There Is a Need to Password Protect External Hard Drive?
There are many good reasons to password protect external hard drive. These small handy devices come with a lot of benefits like portability, huge storage, etc. People carry these devices from home to office and vice-versa so that they can access the files whenever they want to but the files which they carry are sensitive and confidential. So, it is very necessary to encrypt external hard drives so that no other person can access important files or data. Analyze your hard drive and repair it in the easiest possible way, 7 Best Hard Drive Repair Software to Analyze Your Hard Drive
Best ways To Password Protect External Hard Drive
In this article, we have provided easy solutions through which you can password protect external hard drive in just a few simple steps.
Solution 1 – Password Protect External Hard Drive Using BitLocker Drive Encryption
BitLocker, an Encryption feature available in Windows 10, is used to password protect hard drives connected to the computer. The important thing here is that BitLocker is only available for Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 10. It is not available in Windows 10 Home version.
If you are using Windows 10 Home, you can use the other methods mentioned below to password protect external hard drive.
If you don’t know which version of Windows 10 you are using, you can find it out by using the following method –
- Open Settings on your PC and select ‘System’.
- Scroll down to the bottom and click on the ‘About’ option.
- Under ‘Windows Specifications’, you will find the version that you are using.
There are many other methods also by which you can easily find which version of Windows 10 is running on your PC. After doing this follow the below-mentioned steps to password protect external hard drive using BitLocker –
Step 1 – Insert your external Hard drive and open ‘This PC’. Now, right-click on the external hard drive and select ‘Turn on BitLocker’.
Step 2 – Chose the option ‘Use a password to unlock this drive’ and enter a password. Click Next.
Step 3 – There may be a chance that you forget the password and hence, it is important to keep a backup of the password you created. Choose any option through which you want to save the password. Click Next.
Step 4 – After this, two options will be shown for how much part of the drive you want to Encrypt. You have to choose this according to your requirements. Click Next. Choose Compatible mode and again click Next.
Step 5 – Click on ‘Start Encrypting’ to start the process of Encryption.
Step 6 – This will take a few minutes depending on the size of the hard rive you are encrypting.
Solution 2 – Password Protect External Hard Drive Using Third-party Encryption Software
If you do not use Windows 10 Pro or there are some issues while using the above methods to password protect external hard drive then you can use third-party software like TrueCrypt, AxCrypt, VeraCrypt, or StorageCrypt. We will take the example of VeraCrypt.
Step 1 – First, download it through the primary website of VeraCrypt. After downloading and installing it, connect your external hard drive to the computer. The encryption program or software that you have installed should be able to read it.
Step 2 – Click on the ‘Create Volume‘ button.
Step 3 – VeraCrypt provides 3 options and since, you have to password protect external hard drive, click on the “Encrypt a non-system partition/drive” option.
Step 4 – Click on the ‘Select VeraCrypt volume‘ option and then Next.
Step 5 – First click on ‘Select Device‘ and then select the hard drive and then click ‘OK‘.
Step 6 – A screen will be shown asking you about the Volume creation mode. The first option will create and encryption and format all the data on it. So, if you want to save the data then first copy it on your computer and then proceed with this option. If you don’t want to format the data, go with the second option. It encrypts the external hard drive and keeps the data safe.
Step 7 – All the algorithms that veraCrypt supports will be shown and if you want any specific ones, you can change the default option. Although, it is best to go with the default settings. Click Next.
Step 8 – After selecting and confirming the volume size, a screen will be shown on which you have to create a password. Choose a strong password, confirm it and then click Next.
Step 9 – A progress bar will be shown on your screen. You have to move your mouse randomly so that the bar gets completely filled. Click Next.
Step 10 – Click ‘Encrypt’ or ‘Format’ according to the option shown on your screen. If you are formatting it, then one or two warnings will be shown to you about the confirmation. Click Next. The hard drive will be encrypted in a few minutes.
Conclusion
Hope you find our guide helpful. Did we miss another method to encrypt a hard drive? If yes, please write to us from the contact page and we’ll be happy to update the article.
