File-and-folder encryption<\/strong> avoids this. It can be just as secure as whole-disk encryption, but to the OS, your encrypted files are just files, nothing fancy. Backup\/restore\/copy\/send\/whatever operations all operate utterly normally, with zero extra complications or risk; and your files and folders remain fully encrypted no matter where or how they\u2019re moved \u2014 even off-disk, such as to cloud storage; to a thumb drive; to a new PC; or to a different OS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, problems and errors with file-and-folder encryption are usually confined only to the files and folders actively being en- or de-crypted — not the whole disk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n File-and-folder encryption tools are widely available. For example, the free, open-source <\/strong>7-Zip<\/strong><\/a> can encrypt your files and folders to the AES-256 standard; which is at present regarded as uncrackable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Combined with a good password manager (to generate long, complex passwords and remember them for you), file-and-folder encryption tools like 7-Zip are easy to use and make your data very, very secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (7-Zip can also compress your files, if you need space.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, yes, encrypt. But choose carefully so you don\u2019t add needless complications to your quest for security. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2861<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> Depending on how you perform the encryption, yes. I don\u2019t recommend whole-drive encryption because the encrypting is effectively part of the operating system. That is convenient, and can work great if the user is careful and knows what they\u2019re doing. But it can lead to lockout issues even if the files themselves would otherwise be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,10,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-science-and-tech","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-K9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3983,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/24\/is-there-any-possibility-to-recover-data-from-a-256-bit-encrypted-nas-hdd\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":0},"title":"“Is there any possibility to recover data from a 256-bit encrypted NAS HDD?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-12-24","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by ZeeForce Gaming) Encrypted files are still just 1s and 0s. So, if you're talking about recovering encrypted files after a crash, hardware failure, or something similar, you may be able to lift the encrypted bits off the defective drive using utterly normal data\/disk-recovery software, and write the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/safecracker-123rf-e1612187334162.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1661,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/14\/a-reader-asks-what-happens-if-windows-is-infected-with-ransomware-but-the-files-are-already-encrypted-with-truecrypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “What happens if Windows is infected with ransomware but the files are already encrypted with TrueCrypt?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-14","format":false,"excerpt":"The files will then be doubly-encrypted; once by TrueCrypt, and once by the ransomware. The good news is that the malware can't read the contents of your TrueCrypt-encrypted files. That's not what ransomware is really about anyway: It's not designed to snoop; it's just designed to take your files hostage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3158,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/31\/can-i-clone-an-encrypted-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":2},"title":"“Can I clone an encrypted hard drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-07-31","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Anthony Dimpu) Sure. In general, drive cloning basically just hoovers up the ones and zeros from a source disk; and lays them down, unchanged and unexamined, in an exactly analogous pattern on another disk. It doesn't matter to the cloning software what the ones and zeros represent,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3121,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/25\/i-saved-an-important-word-document-on-my-desktop-renamed-it-and-then-made-it-hidden-when-i-came-back-some-days-later-i-selected-view-hidden-files-but-my-document-is-not-there-what-should-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":3},"title":"“I saved an important Word document on my desktop, renamed it, and then made it hidden. Some days later, I selected ‘view hidden files,’ but my file’s not there! What should I do?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-07-25","format":false,"excerpt":"What a strange and dangerous way to hide a file! Because it was hidden, there\u2019s no good way to track what happened. But you might --- might --- be able to recover the file. I assume you searched the entire disk for the file, including the Recycle Bin. You might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/06\/a-reader-asks-fred-whats-your-current-recommendation-for-backups\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: Fred, what’s your current recommendation for backups?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-06","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Eric Desman writes: Fred, You have always had a practical approach to layered backups. In 2018, what is your recommendation for backups? I currently backup to a local external hard drive and use Backblaze for off-site backups. I found an old version of Zipit.bat that made me think of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":212,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/29\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-recover-save-my-phones-internal-storage-before-doing-reset\/","url_meta":{"origin":2861,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: How do I recover\/save my phone’s internal storage before doing Reset?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-08-29","format":false,"excerpt":"Q:\u00a0How do I recover\/save my phone's internal storage before doing Reset?\u00a0 (via Quora) A: It depends on where\u2019s the data stored --- but should always be relatively easy to do. 1) If the data is on a plug-in\/add-on memory card, recovery is trivially simple: Turn off the phone, remove the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2863,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions\/2863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"[seperator]\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SEPERATOR-short-grey.png?resize=104%2C6\")
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