Which encryption software (free or paid) for full volume encryption?

Richdog · 12 Nov 2015 at 18:22

As per title, I am looking to fully encrypt my boot and storage drives. I'm not paranoid, but at the same time I do work in IT security related areas and in the absence of a TPM chip on my private laptop I just want peace of mind that if my HD or laptop were stolen, no personal data would be accessible. I plan on getting a QNAP NAS next year, but for the moment it's just my lappy that has everything on.

I have done my research and the best options appear to be:

Free: Veracrypt http://sourceforge.net/projects/veracrypt/

Paid: Symantec Endpoint Encryption https://www.symantec.com/endpoint-encryption/

Will Veracrypt on-the-fly encryption be fine without giving too much of a performance hit?

KIA · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:10

Bitlocker?

kayomani · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:15

You can use bitlocker without a tpm. You'll likely not see much difference in performance between the difference products unless you use a disk which does the encryption instead of the cpu such as the samsung pro ssd range.

Richdog · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:25

KIA said:
Bitlocker?

I am on Windows 10 Home and Bitlocker is not available... I do a search for it, I get the "Manage Bitlocker" option, and then when clicked it doesn't find anything. I presumed this was due to lack of TPM module... didn't know I could use it without.

Either way, Bitlocker doesn't appear to be editable on my laptop... :confused:

EDIT - Appears WIndows 10 Home doesn't have it anyway? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-edition/4fd2eecd-2931-4709-ad4e-85bbf3e241f0

kayomani · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:29

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6229/how-to-use-bitlocker-on-drives-without-tpm/

Turn on allow enhanced pins too else you'll only be able to use numbers.

Are you on pro? I think its only on pro.

Richdog · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:36

kayomani said:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6229/how-to-use-bitlocker-on-drives-without-tpm/

Turn on allow enhanced pins too else you'll only be able to use numbers.

Are you on pro? I think its only on pro.

Correct, and I'm on the free Home Windows 10 upgrade (from 8.1)... so no dice! http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-edition/4fd2eecd-2931-4709-ad4e-85bbf3e241f0

George Hincapie · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:46

Just use whatever took over from TrueCrypt.

*edit*

VeraCrypt then!

If you can afford an SSD with hardware encryption then that would be preferable.

Caged · 12 Nov 2015 at 19:57

Upgrade to Windows Pro, use Bitlocker.

How do you have a modern laptop without a TPM?

Richdog · 12 Nov 2015 at 20:00

George Hincapie said:
Just use whatever took over from TrueCrypt.

*edit*

VeraCrypt then!

If you can afford an SSD with hardware encryption then that would be preferable.

I just bought a 1TB Samsung 850 Evo, so too late! VeryCrypt it probably is then...

Caged said:
Upgrade to Windows Pro, use Bitlocker.

I'm not paying for Pro just to enable encryption which is likely inferior to VeraCrypt anyway!

How do you have a modern laptop without a TPM?

Feel free to write an email to ASUS on my behalf, as unfortunately I was not privy to their gaming laptop design strategy.

KIA · 13 Nov 2015 at 18:44

Caged said:
How do you have a modern laptop without a TPM?

Quite common.

Scougar · 13 Nov 2015 at 20:36

Too late now it seems for this but for others:

You could always buy a license for 8.1 pro and install that, then free upgrade to 10 pro, and that way you get bitlocker extremely cheaply.

Caged · 13 Nov 2015 at 22:15

8.1 Pro isn't much cheaper than any other Pro version of Windows though, unless you're finding stuff on eBay which will deactivate itself.