external HD security
 

Is there a way to password protect access to a hard drive? I have one and
only plug it in when I back up anything to it, usually before shutting
down. This is hard on the connectors. I need to experiment but I think one
has failed now; or the HD has failed. Anyway, a password would protect it
from hackers and save wear and tear on the connectors.

TIA


--
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external HD security
 

KenK wrote:
Is there a way to password protect access to a hard drive? I have one and
only plug it in when I back up anything to it, usually before shutting
down. This is hard on the connectors. I need to experiment but I think one
has failed now; or the HD has failed. Anyway, a password would protect it
from hackers and save wear and tear on the connectors.

TIA

A metal-barrel USB connector has a service life of 5000 insertions.

A metal-barrel ESATA connector has a service life of 5000 insertions.

SATA connectors might be rated at 50 cycles (you get a few more than
that). They're in a different ball park than the others.

The head load/unload count can be 300,000 to 600,000 cycles or so.
I don't know if the "emergency retract" rating is quite
as generous (shutting off the drive before windows has
flushed and dismounted it).

*******

You can keep the drive in an external enclosure.
This one has a cooling fan, and a little air movement.

https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16817182247

You can see on the back, it has both ESATA (500MB/sec)
and USB3 (400MB/sec). And a power switch.

https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIm...182-247-05.jpg

You could keep an SSD inside the enclosure and get
those sorts of speeds. If you put a 250MB/sec
WDC Black drive in there, you get 250MB/sec at the
outer diameter of the platters, and around 125MB/sec
near the hub (inner diameter).

Any time you shop for a powered enclosure, you always
read the reviews for:

1) Power supply failures.
2) Premature cooling fan failures.
3) Ability to replace cooling fan with
computer case cooling fan of similar size.

*******

As for password protecting a hard drive, you could use Truecrypt.
Some versions of Windows come with BitLocker.

If you use the encryption built into your copy of Windows,
you should find a web article about "best practice" and
"recovery floppy", and the best means for keeping a recovery
key disc in case you forget the password.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encrypting_File_System

These methods are no good against ransomware. For ransomware,
switching off the drive power between usages might provide
some measure of protection. But modern ransomware waits in
hiding for up to a month before attacking, and it is no longer
in a rush to attack and get it over with. This leaves a longer
time interval, where your "goods" could be exposed to the
ransomware. Early ransomware attacked right away - it could
wipe out the OS drive, but if the backups were powered off
you were laughing all the way to the bank. That's not true
any more.

So far, only one USENET poster that I know of, has been tipped
over by ransomware (Osiris). And it happened when he double-clicked
an email attachment claiming to be an invoice. The email, of course,
was a fake. If you are "more skillful than that", you could
likely live a long time without seeing ransomware. I would
be more concerned if they coupled ransomware with Adobe
Flash attacks. Then, I'd be really scared... Why, you'd have to
uninstall Flash...

Paul

external HD security
 

On 03/12/2019 18:02, KenK wrote:
Is there a way to password protect access to a hard drive? I have one and
only plug it in when I back up anything to it, usually before shutting
down. This is hard on the connectors. I need to experiment but I think one
has failed now; or the HD has failed. Anyway, a password would protect it
from hackers and save wear and tear on the connectors.

TIA



EFS - Windows XP Encrypting File System (EFS)

https://www.queensu.ca/its/security/encryption-service/tutorials/other-software/windows-xp-encrypting-file-system

It's a Canadian site so be very careful about it!!.





--
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external HD security
 

KenK wrote:

Is there a way to password protect access to a hard drive? I have one
and only plug it in when I back up anything to it, usually before
shutting down. This is hard on the connectors. I need to experiment
but I think one has failed now; or the HD has failed. Anyway, a
password would protect it from hackers and save wear and tear on the
connectors.

No mention of brand and model of USB-attached HDD. If it is A/C
powered, it might have a power switch. You could plug the A/C adapter
into a power strip with switched outlets. There are USB hubs with
switches to enable/disable its ports. There are also USB cables with an
inline switch. Be sure to eject first to flush the buffers to the
platters.

Some USB drives include software to lock/unlock the drive. If you wiped
the drive, you lost the software (unless you first copied it elsewhere).
You said "hard drive". While not a hard drive, some flash drives come
with secure/lock software, and some flash drives have a physical switch
to lock/unlock them. I've not bought a pre-made USB HDD that came with
securing software, but some HDD makers provide a download. The problem
might be supporting an discontinued OS (Windows XP).

You could encrypt the entire drive (i.e., whole-disk encryption). Using
an encrypted file container still has the file container in a file
system that you, software, or malware can find, rename, delete, or
encrypt (atop any existing encryption). If the entire drive (partition)
is encrypted, the file system within is not accessible until you mount
the volume using the encryption software and enter the password.

You could use UWE Sieber's drive tools. When you eject a USB drive, it
gets unmounted but is left in a connect state that could be remounted.
See https://www.uwe-sieber.de/drivetools_e.html on RemoveDrive and how a
supposedly removed (ejected but still physically in port) USB device can
be restarted.

external HD security
 

Il giorno Wed 04 Dec 2019 10:18:29a, *VanguardLH* ha inviato su
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general il messaggio
. Vediamo cosa ha scritto:

Be sure to eject first to flush the buffers to the
platters.


MS says this is not any more necessary with W10

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...809-change-in-
default-removal-policy-for-external-media

https://is.gd/4cmyOT is better ;)

--
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-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it :)
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

external HD security
 

Ammammata wrote:

VanguardLH:

Be sure to eject first to flush the buffers to the platters.

MS says this is not any more necessary with W10

Not applicable to Windows XP, the title of /this/ newsgroup.

external HD security
 

Il giorno Fri 06 Dec 2019 03:09:16a, *VanguardLH* ha inviato su
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general il messaggio
. Vediamo cosa ha scritto:

Not applicable to Windows XP

LOL, you're right!

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it :)
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

external HD security
 

Veracrypt. (formerly truecrypt) will encrypt files or a drive.
It is free.

https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html

external HD security
 

In message , aiole
writes:
Veracrypt. (formerly truecrypt) will encrypt files or a drive.
It is free.

https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html

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