DiskCryptor v1.1 Review (A Full Disk Encryption Tool) GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Backup & Utilities 30 30 people found this article helpful

DiskCryptor v1.1.846.118

A Tutorial and Full Review of DiskCryptor, a Free Disk Encryption Program

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 1, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email

In This Article

Expand Jump to a Section About DiskCryptor Pros and Cons Encrypt the System Partition Thoughts DiskCryptor is a free whole disk encryption program for Windows. It supports encrypting internal and external drives, the system partition, and even ISO images. A handy feature in DiskCryptor lets you pause an encryption and resume it at a later time or even on a different computer. Download DiskCryptor This review is of DiskCryptor version 1.1.846.118, which was released July 09, 2014. Please let us know if there's a newer version we need to review.

More About DiskCryptor

DiskCryptor supports a wide variety of encryption schemes, operating systems, and file systems: Can be installed on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 Windows Server 2012, 2008, and 2003 are also supported DiskCryptor supports common file systems like NTFS, FAT12/16/32, and exFAT It supports AES, Twofish, and Serpent encryption algorithms One or more keyfiles can be used to increase security. DiskCryptor supports using a custom file/folder and/or randomly generated file as a keyfile for added protection. If you choose this option, you don't have to create a password, though you can for even more security

DiskCryptor Pros and Cons

Aside from a lack of official documentation, there's little not to like about DiskCryptor: What We Like Encrypts external devices as well as internal ones. Can encrypt more than one partition simultaneously. Works with dynamic disks and RAID volumes. Supports pausing an encryption to reboot or transfer the drive to another computer. Can automatically dismount volumes on logoff. What We Don't Like Has a major bug (see #5 below). No update since 2014. Not very many help files/documentation.

How to Encrypt the System Partition Using DiskCryptor

Whether you need to encrypt the system partition or one from any other hard drive, the method is nearly the same. Before encrypting the system volume, it's recommended to create a bootable disc that can decrypt the partition in the event you can't access it for some reason in the future. See more about this on DiskCryptor's LiveCD page. Here's how to encrypt the system partition with DiskCryptor: Select the system partition. It can be hard to see if you've selected the right drive, but since it's the system partition, it will say sys to the far right and should have a larger size than the other ones. If you still aren't sure, double-click the name of the drive to open it in Windows Explorer and view its files. Click Encrypt. Choose Next. This screen is for choosing encryption settings. Leaving it at default is just fine, but you do you have the option to change the encryption algorithm DiskCryptor uses. The Wipe Mode section of this screen is for clearing all the data from the drive (identical to a hard drive wipe) before encrypting it, something you certainly don't want to do for the system drive, so it can remain as None. See this list of data sanitization methods to learn about these wipe modes. Click Next. This section is for configuring bootloader options. If you're interested in this, see DiskCryptor's information on these options. Enter and confirm a password. The more complex of a password you enter, the higher up the Password Rating bar will go—anywhere from Trivially Breakable to Unbreakable. Refer to this indicator while you're entering a password to know if you should adjust it. Passwords can be alphabetical (upper or lower case), numerical, or a mix of both. Selecting a keyfile on this screen will make it impossible to boot back into Windows! Whether you do or don't enter a password on this screen, if you add a keyfile, you will NOT be able to log back into Windows. If you were to select a keyfile, DiskCryptor would seemingly ignore your decision during boot up by not asking for it, which results in a failed authentication, which in turn means you can't proceed past the password checkpoint. Keyfiles are fine to use for any other volume, just make sure you don't use them when setting up encryption for a system/boot partition. If you're ready for the encryption process to start, click OK.

Thoughts on DiskCryptor

Despite the fact that there isn't much documentation (found here), DiskCryptor is still very easy to use. Accepting the default values all the way through the wizard will encrypt a partition without any problems. However, as is mentioned above, the keyfile and password combo issue is extremely important to realize. Missing that small bug will unfortunately render your files inaccessible. It's understandable that using a keyfile may not be supported when encrypting a system partition, but it'd still be very helpful if DiskCryptor either disabled the feature on that particular screen entirely, or at least displayed a warning. There are some things we do like about DiskCryptor, though, like being able to encrypt multiple volumes at once, which is extremely useful considering the time it takes to complete just one, and allowing an encryption to be paused. When pausing an encryption, you can even remove the drive and insert it into another computer to resume it, which is really cool. Also, keyboard shortcuts to mount and dismount encrypted volumes are very handy so you don't have to open DiskCryptor every time you want to do so. These can be configured in the Settings > Hot Keys menu. Download DiskCryptor Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire 3 Best Free Full Disk Encryption Programs EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition v17 Review COMODO Disk Encryption v1.2 (Free Full-Disk Encryption) 31 Best Free Backup Software Tools (October 2022) 11 Best Free Disk Partition Software Tools (Oct. 2022) AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition v9 Review MiniTool Partition Wizard Free v12.6 Review AOMEI Backupper Standard v7 Review (A Backup Tool) Disk Drill v4.5 Review (A Free Undelete Tool) 35 Best Free Data Destruction Tools (October 2022) EaseUS Todo Backup Free 2022 Review What Is a Hard Disk Drive? COMODO Backup v4.4.1.23 Review (Free Backup Software) Disk Wipe v1.7 Review (A Free Data Destruction Program) What Is a Hidden File & Why Are Some Files Hidden? Fixboot Command (Recovery Console) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies