If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
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 -- I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook. |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
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!!. -- With over 1,000,000 million devices now running Windows 10, customer satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
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. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
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 -- /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\ -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=- http://www.bb2002.it ............ [ al lavoro ] ........... |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
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. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
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 ] ........... |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
external HD security
Veracrypt. (formerly truecrypt) will encrypt files or a drive.
It is free. https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
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 Was this posted in reply to a query? (If not, why was it?) -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf science is not intended to be foolproof. Science is about crawling toward the truth over time. - Scott Adams, 2015-2-2 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|