There are many ways to block unauthorized access to your computer and also to protect external hard drives, USB sticks and all drives in general. So if the USB stick is lost or stolen you can make sure that the thief never manages to access the data stored in it.
It would even be possible to protect the computer's hard disk so that, if it were disassembled and stolen, it would be inaccessible without a password.
In Windows 7 Windows 8 and Windows 10, however, there is also an excellent data and file encryption function called BitLocker (also present in Windows Vista Enterprise Edition) that protects both internal hard drives and USB sticks and external drives ( Bitlocker To Go ).
In this article we will then see how to use BitLocker encryption, how to use it also on USB sticks and hard disks which in theory are not supported ( without TPM ) and how to access files protected by Bitlocker .
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To protect a USB stick or any hard disk, both internal and external with Bitlocker encryption, you can press, from My Computer, right click on the disk or memory icon and choose the " Activate Bitlocker " item.
Below you must simply specify a password (not to be forgotten) which will then be used to access the disk.
You can also use a smart card to unlock the drive or choose to automatically unlock the drive on your computer.
The latter option therefore allows you to use, without a password, the hard disk or USB stick on your computer but not on other PCs.
The password can also be printed or saved in a file because if you forget it, you can recover it.
Without password there will be no possibility to access the data and files of the drive.
If you want to remove the protection, you can disable Bitlocker and decrypt the data and files of any unit, both external and internal to the PC.
In many cases, almost on all non-brand new PCs, clicking on Activate Bitlocker, an error message appears warning that a Trusted Platform Module ( TPM) security device is not available on the computer .
This TPM would be a microchip found only in recent laptops.
To activate Bitlocker without TPM then you have to go to Start -> Run and type the command gpedit.msc .
From the window that opens Local Group Policy, you have to follow the following path: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Bitlocker Drive Encryption -> Operating System Drive .
Then click on the item Request additional authentication at startup and enable it.
Below you should notice the check mark on the item " Allow Bitlocker without a compatible TPM ", if not, put the flag.
Finally press on Apply and then OK.
At this point it is possible to protect and encrypt, with the same procedure above, both the hard disk and USB sticks, external drives and memory cards.
After protecting, for example, a USB stick, it can only be used on computers that run Windows 7 because there is no Bitlocker To Go on XP and Vista.
To use a USB stick protected and encrypted with Bitlocker also on Windows XP and Vista, you need to download and install on your PC a Microsoft tool called Bitlocker To Go Reader .
It allows you to read data encrypted with Bitlocker even if there is no Windows 7 on the computer but not to modify or delete them.
