Don;t allow it to auto update.. or you'll lose your registration key

I realize this giveaway is over, but I wanted to clarify my comment in #21 that WinAbility said was "incorrect" in comment #23. I believe there was a slight mis-understanding of terms. I was relating to the loss of the License Key for the program, not the passcode used as the encryption key. I did realize there is a backup mode for the program passcode.

As for the program License key, the manual for USBCrypt states, "When this initial evaluation period expires, you can still run USBCrypt, but you cannot use it to encrypt any new drives with it. Also, you can start the previously encrypted drives in the write-protected mode only. This should allow you to extract your existing files out of the encrypted disks, but you won't be able save the modifications back to them."

The reason this is important is because GOTD products are usually not eligible for upgrades. If a user accidentally updates USBCrypt (or otherwise loses their GOTD version of the USBCrypt executable), it is possible that the program license will expire, placing USBCrypt back in demo mode and leaving all of the encrypted virtual drives in a read only mode. I was glad to see that at least a user should be able to read and copy their data in such a case.

WinAbility-

It's ten minutes before time for the site to close for this promotion for the day. I just find it incredibly suspicious when a piece of installation software feels the need to tell you that if you don't backup your hard drive, you get no pity. I mean come on, it's a given, but the fact your message needed to drill it in with a three part message makes me think hard drives are getting destroyed everywhere, I had a perfectly good hard drive destroyed when Carbonite online storage service was rolling out their beta software required to upload data to their paid online storage service. I got the same amount of pity, even though I had gotten their service for purchasing a triple interface 1Tb USB Drive from LaCie for the purpose of backing up my hard drive on the USB drive and Carbonite online paid for one year.

My next comment is, because I don't like to put my face right up against my computer screen and get screen fatigue, I set the level at 115 DPI instead of the standard 96DPI in XP or in Windows 7 it is 100 DPI. Anyway, long story short, when I launch the small window for USB Crypt, I cannot select the drive I want to encrypt, because it does not fit in the window. Even the most rudimentary programmers of freeware software make up for variable width windows so that no matter the DPI of the user's screen, the window will always appear the same size.

Thank You GOTD team for the continued giveaways and technical support when applicable. Have a great summer.

@DonP msg #32

As a long time truecrypt user I usually create encrypted containers but occasionally prefer to encrypt a full USB drive, as this program essentially does. When I do that with truecrypt I can only use it on a computer with truecrypt already installed, whereas USBCrypt appears keeps a version of the USBCrypt software in the clear, so the encrypted drive can be accessed on any computer (with admin rights). That's all I can think of; and it doesn't take much to install truecrypt on a prospective host pc if I need to.

At work we're in the process of writing security policies for removable drives, though, and I'm learning - as was mentioned above - that truecrypt is not for everyone. So options like this interest me.

I have installed the software and think it's very user-friendly. But I also noted a potential problem (I may be wrong): to decrypt the usb flash drive, we need the original usbcrypt programme. But if my pc crashes and I reinstall windows, I can't reinstall USBcrypt since I can only install the programme on its giveaway day. So how could I decrypt the USB flash drive for my own use?

How is TrueCrypt platform independent when it has 2 versions, one for Windows and one for Mac (see http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads)?

Win XP SP3 . The prog does not let you choose which folder to save the installation in , to me this is a bad point . Yet to try the rest of it. I had trouble with Truecrypt not working properly on my set up so Iam looking forward to this one to see if it is any better.

@#32

TrueCrypt does require administrative privileges. See the topic Using TrueCrypt Without Administrator Privileges at http://www.truecrypt.org/faq

To add to the above mix, TrueCrypt doesnot just create an encrypted volume, it hides the volume form view such that when you click the original un=encryted volume, it tells you "volume not found" or something that indicates it does not exists at all.
If your disk is stolen, no one will even know you have such volume, less trying to pry it open.
To me, its a better option,...and l use it in the library and all sorts of public computers, without admin rights!

@DonP msg#33:

TrueCrypt requires admin privileges just like USBCrypt does. It's all about personal preferences: look at Linux: it's free and open source and can do a lot of things, yet many people prefer Windows or Mac Os. TrueCrypt attempts to do a lot of different things, while USBCrypt ties to do one thing, but do it well. How well and whether it's worth the money we are asking for it - you decide!

I agree with @DonP msg #32. I have been using TrueCrypt for the past year and a half. I have encrypted logical drives, a laptop using TrueCrypt FDE, and thumb drives runing the portable TrueCrypt. I also have TrueCrypt installed on a Linux box. I am able to open encrypted drives from either platform without any problems. The only platform I have not tried is Mac since I do not have one.

Sorry USBCrypt, I will be staying with TrueCrypt.

Why, besides naivete, would someone purchase a program like this when TrueCrypt is free and open source, and doesn't require administrative privileges? I'm not being snide, I'm wondering if this program has any significant features or benefits that are missing from TrueCrypt.

@cb msg#29:

Yes, you would NOT be able to use the encrypted drive with the computers in libraries and schools, sorry. However, even if it was possible to use the drive without the admin rights, it would be of little use anyway, because many public placed block the ability to run any program from the removable drive, even if it requires no admin rights. In such a case using an alternative file storage (such as a private online repository) would serve better. Unless, of course, the public place blocks access to such web sites, too. Better come to the library with your own laptop and use it via wifi, that would solve many such problems :-)

@6
System Requirements: Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000 (x32 and x64)
From the developer webpage:
"Encryption, security, and file management software for Windows"

@winAbility

- If you use the encrypted drive on another computer, the admin right are required (once per Windows session)

So, the one reason I would want this software -- to be able to use my flash on school and public library computers --- You are saying I wouldn't be able to as don't have admin rights on public.
Have forgotten a few flash drives and never gotten them back. And of course, did have personal and sensitive data on them

#27 should start with: @mike

sorry for my fat fingers :-)

@mile msg#15:

Very thorough technical review! About USBCrypt being not open source - true, it is not, however the core encryption routines we use ARE open source, you can find the details here:

http://www.encryption-driver.com/

(click on the WinAbility Encryption Driver User's Guide link). We only use the standard encryption algorithms and protocols, thoroughly analyzed and tested by the cryptographic community. Of course, it's still quite possible to write a lousy encryption program while using only the standard encryption algorithms, but even open source does not always protect from that (as a recently discovered flaw in the open source SSL libraries shows). Anyway, thanks for taking a deep look into USBCrypt!

@PY: Please see my message #22 about the support option that we offer with this promotion.

BTW, the Facebook page I mentioned in comment #22 has a link to a 5-minute video that shows USBCrypt in action: you may want to watch it if you are not sure how it works or what to do with it. Have fun!

Hi Andrei,

I have installing the program, it stops at "Installing WinAbility Encryption Driver" and after few seconds gives error that "The installation did NOT complete successfully. Would you like to try again?"

Retrying does not help. At first I thought it might be issue with the downloaded program from GAOTD website so I downloaded from manufacturer website, but same problem.

Does anyone else has same issues with installation.

PY..

About the following statement in the comment #21: "The manual for USBCrypt claims that if you lose your license key, then you can still open and read a Virtual Drive, you just can’t save to it anymore."

This is incorrect. USBCrypt offers you an option of creating a "spare key" file on your desktop computer. If you forget your encryption password, USBCrypt can use that file to open the encrypted disk for you, for full access (not just to read the files). However, this is only an option and you should decide if you want to use it or not. If you don't select that option and then forget the encryption password, then you lose your encrypted data, period, with no possibility of their recovery.

Hello everyone, Andrei from WinAbility Software here. First of all, thank you all who voted up for USBCrypt (all 101 of you :-) ) Let me answer some question posted so far:

- If you use the encrypted drive on another computer, the admin right are required (once per Windows session);

- If you plug the drive into a Mac or Linux computer, the drive will remain encrypted, because the software does not run on Mac or Linux;

- If you back up the host drive, the encrypted data will be saved in the encrypted form. If you backup the encrypted files after entering your password, they will be backed up in the decrypted form.

If you have other questions, please note that although this promotion does not include the standard technical or customer support we usually provide, we've set up a special Facebook page for the GOTD customers:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Encryption/115647851807099

Please feel free to post your comments or questions on the Wall or within the Discussions tab, and we will try to answer your questions there.

Thanks again!

USBCrypt creates Virtual Encrypted Disks. That is, it creates a large file on your USB stick and runs drivers that make this large file look like an additional drive in Explorer. When USBCrypt is not running and the passcode has not been entered, all you will see is a large file whose contents look like garbage. All your individual files are stored in this large file (Virtual Disk). They don't show up as individually encrypted files.

Let's assume your USB drive is a 2G drive and appears as drive E in explorer. Let's also assume you want to use 1/2 of this drive for encrypted data, so you use USBCrypt to create a 1GB Virtual Encrypted Disk on the USB Drive.

When USBCrypt is running, you will see two drives appear: Drive E and an additional drive F. Drive E will have 1GB of free space, and you can still store files here unencrypted, accessible on any PC.

Drive F can only be accessed when you enter the correct passcode. If you copy any files out of this drive onto, say, drive C, they will be stored unencrypted. Only files saved in drive F are saved encrypted as part of this large virtual disk.

The main caution as mentioned here is that if you lose your key or the USBCrypt executable, then all you are left with is large 1GB encrypted file that you can't get anything out of. The manual for USBCrypt claims that if you lose your license key, then you can still open and read a Virtual Drive, you just can't save to it anymore. Thus you should at least be able to extract your files and save them somewhere else.

#17: "I wonder if anyone can comment about what happens when you encrypt some of the files on your computer and you then have an automatic backup occur? are the encrypted files also backed up or are they disregarded? "

It depends on what you use for encryption. If you have a basic, password protected zip file, all backup software sees is a zip file, & it'll treat it like any other file on your drive/partition. If you change something inside that zip file, & if your backup software is set to look for changed files, the entire zip file is different & will be archived/saved that way. The same goes for the encrypted virtual disk USBCrypt creates, *if* you don't open, decrypt, or mount it, with the twist that since the USBCrypt v/disk never changes on the outside, it always appears to be the same file -- it won't grow/shrink like the zip file or the archive the Wondershare app uses. If you have the disk opened for access [i.e. have the software running & have entered your password], & if there are no driver or software conflicts, your backup software should treat the v/disk like any other drive, looking at & archiving the individual files it contains. I believe Microsoft's disk encryption, being built-in at a lower level than 3rd party encryption apps, can pose problems for backup software, so IMHO best to check the support docs for your backup app.

I wonder if anyone can comment about what happens when you encrypt some of the files on your computer and you then have an automatic backup occur? are the encrypted files also backed up or are they disregarded?

If you decrypt files to work on them and save them as regular files, does your automatic backup program save them as if they are a new file? Can anyone point me to a tutorial on this? thanks.

This does look to be a nice and useful software, and I'm going to DL and give it a try, but I'm with #8; There are all positive comments posted here so far, yet there is only a 36% thumbs up, and 64% thumbs down!

What's up with that? I always read the comments first to get a quick idea about others experience, but with all positive comments posted, I would think that the current ratings should be reversed!

#6: "Anybody know what happens if a protected usb drive is plugged into a mac computer? Will the security just be bypassed? Will the password still work?"

No & No... TO decrypt & access the v/disk the included app has to run, which won't happen natively in a non-Windows OS. Both MAC & *nix OSes do have ways you can run Windows software [e.g. boot camp & wine], but since USBCrypt uses/relies on drivers, I've no idea if or how reliably it would work. Probably better to use an open source alternative that's been ported to the OSes you plan on using it with.

I've also been waiting for this giveaway. I wanted to keep some sensitive data files in USBs because it's rather portable and very convenient. But when I think of the big likelihood it will be lost as it's easy to be misplaced, I hesitate. Thanks Winability Software and GAOTD I can now save my files on USBs without anxiety.

USBCrypt creates an encrypted virtual disk on the target drive, & adds a mini-copy of itself to the drive so it's usable on PCs/laptops without USBCrypt installed -- the software copied to the encrypted drive includes both 32 & 64 bit versions, & is only for opening the encrypted virtual disk [it can't encrypt another drive]. The developer provides a manual on their site, including a printable version that comes in handy using PDFCreator [or some other PDF print driver] -- [winability.com/usbcrypt/users-guide-printable.htm]. This manual recommends removing all files from a USB drive before adding USBCrypt, & this is repeated during install -- the USB stick I used to test doesn't have a partition structure that's compatible with Paragon or EASEUS partition software, so I couldn't track whether partitioning was effected or not, but I'd suggest following the developer's advice & backing up any hard drives before using USBCrypt to add an encrypted virtual disk to a hard drive. Since that partial copy of USBCrypt is added when you set up an encrypted v/disk you should always have access, but, remember that today's GOTD does not come with or need a key, & the included setup.exe is only good today.

USBCrypt uses the Microsoft Windows Installer, which can & does cause problems occasionally [normally based on how well apps that you've installed previously using the win installer were written -- if WinAbility, the developer, screwed up, it *likely* won't show up until you install something in the future using the win installer]. USBCrypt installs to 2 folders by default under Program Files --> USBCrypt & WinAbility Encryption Driver.10.2.0.1180 ... 2 files are added to the Windows' Installer folder, & [monitored in XP Pro SP3 32] by default password reset files are stored in Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Local Settings\Application Data\USBCrypt. While drivers are added, they aren't placed in the normal Windows folder location, & needed copies are included when you create an encrypted v/disk on a USB stick. Bear in mind that whenever drivers are used that's something else that can go wrong [potential incompatibilities, restrictions on PCs where you try to use the encrypted USB stick etc]. In the registry my logs show both WED1180 & Winability Encryption Driver added to ...ControlSet\Services. Windows' Admin Tools -> Services shows the WinAbility Encryption Driver set to Automatic [i.e. starts with Windows], & it in a nutshell watches for you to insert a USB stick with an USBCrypt v/disk.

During install &/or when you start the app from the Start Menu, the wizard's started to create an encrypted v/disk... when you do, on the USB stick you'll wind up with USBCrypt.exe [double click this to start the encryption/decryption app], autorun.inf [starts that app if autorun is turned on for the PC/laptop you're using], & a folder called: USBCrypt-System. That folder holds 10 program files plus the encrypted v/disk & a file with the same name. You allot however much space to the v/disk when you create it, & the v/disk uses it all -- it does not grow/shrink dynamically. Once the USBCrypt [installed or on-key app] is started you enter the v/disk name & password, & the encrypted v/disk shows up & behaves in Windows Explorer as another drive. Because you're adding another layer between you & your storage device, it will be slower.

The WinAbility Software site has info on the encryption used etc, but not being open-source [which can be independently evaluated], IMHO you shouldn't place as much confidence in USBCrypt as TrueCrypt, plus it doesn't have it's stealth features. That said, TrueCrypt isn't for everyone -- no app is -- so for many PC/laptop users this might be a good alternative. In contrast the similar Wondershare app recently on GOTD [Wondershare USB Drive Encryption] is more light weight, both in terms of features & of it's impact on Windows &/or a USB stick. Personally I'd be more inclined to use today's GOTD for biz purposes, & Wondershare's alternative if I just wanted to keep nosy co-workers, family members, &/or kids out of my stored files.

Hi
I had a question about this one and even trucrypt.
If I encrypt a USB basd flash drive or USB portable hard drive on my computer and then take it to another computer where I do NOT have administrator rights, would the encryption software work or do I NEED to have administrator rights on another computer to have this work? I am sorry I am asking this as I can not test it out as the the computer that I do not have access is the one at Sunday School (of course that would mean that I get to see it on Sunday!)

Thanks

Hi,

@Noah Parker
Re. cross-platform use

From developer's page:
http://www.winability.info/
"You can install USBCrypt on any computer running one of the supported versions of Windows: laptop, desktop, netbook, tablet, workstation, or server. If it can run Windows, it can run USBCrypt."

BTW: there's a link there to the "user's guide"

Also read Universal Cynic #3 above!..
"A free alternative is TrueCrypt, which has the advantage of being cross-platform and can also run as a portable app from the USB drive itself."

So it's no use to rely on Java to get around this one... It's really OS-dependent/Windows only.

Greetz.
Patrick.

When you install the program, there is a "Public Service Message" pops up about backing up important data.

This is VERY important. Flash memory used in USB memory does not last forever. It can only be written to a certain number of times. While this number is very high, the memory might be written to more often that you would think depending on what sort of files you have stored there. If an unencrypted drive fails, you still might be able to recover files. With an encrypted volume though, it would seem unlikely you would be able to recover anything.

So please take their warning seriously, and keep a back-up.

Good point there #8 , I was wondering the same thing myself . This has happened before with other offers ; could be confusing .

#6
I'm not familiar with this pgm itself, but the premise of encrypting software is that it changes the bits/bytes of the file so that if you just try to look at it with a low level drive access program, it won't make any sense. The program, as well as your password combine to create the key to reading the file. So - as long as this software operates like this, your data's unreadable on a mac.

#7 - Retell - Some of the programs that we get from GOTD have little programs in them that automatically search for and install updates. It is after this update process that they revert to 'trial' versions and expire on us after a set period of time. Some programs don't do it automatically but will give us a message "New version available"and getting the update will screw us out of the freebie we currently have working on our machine.

# 2 of the terms and conditions (up above) says, "No free upgrades to future versions" yet some programs will, as said, automatically upgrade so you have to check and turn off that function if the program is set for it. Would be nice if the setup instructions would tell us about auto-update and turning it off or if the settings would be 'opt in' as opposed to 'opt out' but they don't so one has to check if the options are available. - Ethical or unethical? That is debatable. I'd prefer they be upfront about it. -

I've lost quite a few good programs through this system but they were free to start with. So it goes. But if the free software does the auto-update with a program that is setting up encryption/passwords and you forget the password... - - Be careful out there.

Be careful out there.

At the moment the rating is 66 (34%) thumbs up, # 129 (66%) thumbs down, and yet there are no negative comments.

Would someone who has given it the thumbs down please explain what's wrong with it, or whether it's simply because they don't want it.

hey guys and girls

a while ago dowmloaded the womdershare veesion of this from gaoth
at first was fine but apeared not activated after a while
had to remove all encription from about 7 flash and a few portable harddrives
hopefully this works longer on my pc or i was plainstupid to missed something in the activating processs (that would be the first time then cause i always read the readme file)

stil thanks a lot to all off you to keep giving us these good working progs keep on going like this 3 thumbs up for GAOTHD

kind regards Retell'O' Thailand

Here's a really stupid question! But it's the first time I'm asking anything here, so have mercy...

Anybody know what happens if a protected usb drive is plugged into a mac computer? Will the security just be bypassed? Will the password still work?

I'm only asking because I have no way of testing this possibly simple way to bypass the security! I would have thought something like this would need to be java based (or something else cross platform) to be truly effective.

I hope I'm wrong.

Could this also be used to password protect a single folder on your hard drive?

question: do you need administrator rights like you do with truecrypt or doe it work independently?

Download and installs easily. Activated automatically... so no hassle there. Seems to work fine in Windows XP SP3 though I haven't got a chance to test encrypting a USB drive yet. I like the fact that you can access the encrypted files even on a PC without USBCrypt as it automatically installs a portable version of itself on the unencrypted part of the USB drive. On Windows-only PC, of course.

A free alternative is TrueCrypt, which has the advantage of being cross-platform and can also run as a portable app from the USB drive itself.

Installed and runs just fine on Win 7 Ultimate. Made a secure vault on one of my flash drives, seemes to work great.

Oh yes yes yes, this is just what I've been waiting for. I have many USB sticks and some of them contain very sensitive information I wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands :) I just downloaded USBCrypt and will be playing around with it. Oh i love turtles :)