USB memory stick encryption Created 12 years ago2012-03-29 19:23:44 UTC by Striker

I've decided I won't sell after all that 128gb stick that I've won, it's more of a niche market product and there are few people that could actually want to invest in such a thing, since portable hard-disks are a much more attractive alternative. If somebody actually offered to buy this from me I would invest part of the money in a portable HDD that I'd use for back-up. Meh... to keep me happy, I've got excellent portability and excellent transfer speeds(it's a USB 3.0 compatible device)

The problem is that if I'm going to use this as a form of backup(mainly for my photos, which would already occupy half of the stick space), I'd also like to protect it somehow. A portable hard-disk is harder to lose, but a minuscule thing like this memory stick is more prone to being lost. As such, I want to protect that data somehow.

I know there isn't software that renders the stick totally unusable- it can be formatted and be used again. But that doesn't bother me, the data was deleted so I won't be afraid somebody would use my data.
Basically what I need is some kind of software that asks me for a password, possibly a customizable welcoming screen( with an email in case it's lost and found by a good guy greg), and optionally some level of encryption.

TL;DR Want to use a memory stick for backup and normal use. Need password encryption software.

Any ideas?

Dont use small memory sticks, they will die as soon as the warranty expires.

Not to mention how slow will they get over time and how slow will scanning and reading be after they get filled with data.

My suggestion is to sell it and buy a 2.5" hard disc drive that can fit nicely into your pocket.

Can't you password protect 7zip archives?
If so, just make archives that will fit on the flash drive and then you can password protect them

Don't use small memory sticks, they will die as soon as the warranty expires.

I'm talking about a Kingston USB 3.0 128gb flashdrive. It's not exactly small, and not exactly bad quality either.

Can't you password protect 7zip archives?

Archives take a lot to be compressed. It's an impractical solution for gigabytes of data.

TrueCrypt

Since I'm talking about high amounts of data, possibly leaving only a quarter of the flashdrive with free space, is this going to slow a lot the transfer speeds?

I'm talking about a Kingston USB 3.0 128gb flashdrive. It's not exactly small, and not exactly bad quality either.

Flash memory wears out over time, dies quick. I am just telling you to be careful. It can die at any age or any circumstance. Plus when the disc is full of files it slows it down.

Better get a 2.5" HDD in my opinion.

Archives take a lot to be compressed. It's an impractical solution for gigabytes of data.

Use store function, to just store files with out compression processing. That way you can store data in an archive fast and password protect it.

Never used it myself but I do know that it's a far better solution than passworded archives.

Flash memory wears out over time, dies quick. I am just telling you to be careful. It can die at any age or any circumstance. Plus when the disc is full of files it slows it down.

Then what about SSDs? I mean, I totally understand you, I could expect a cheap flashdrive to fail at any moment, but not this one. I think this one has a greater lifespan.
I have an A-Data Jogr 2GB USB 2.0 flashdrive that I bought in 2008 and I've been using it ever since. I did an error-scan today and it reported no problems. I suppose I can trust even more this new stick, as it's newer technology :).

SSD's die in 3 years or less. Their chips have a set number of read/write cycles. SSD - Or solid state drives are also Compact Flash cards, or CF-s. These are good cards, and are used with Cameras usually. They are fast and small. But also, the more memory/speed the bigger the price.

All these memory chips have their limits and their good/bad sides.

What i am saying is that in that BIG flash, you have a lot of space and a lot more transistors on a smaller chip. The older one is still working because it is more durable. I have an 256MB flash ive been using to write all kinds of stuff, ever since 2003. It has gotten very slow, i rarely use it now because of that. It used to be 6MB/s write, now its 1.3MB/s write.

Just make sure you buy things with a large warranty. Today, the bigger the warranty, the better the buy. And it ain't no secret, but most of todays tech are made with flaws, that is, with a reduced life span. Its all about profit for those bastards...

Jesus christ go back to your car sized HDDS and floppy disks and be done with it.

You're not being very helpful Collapse. I already told that I'd buy myself an external hard drive but I'm stuck with this thing. And I'm going to use it.

Jesus christ go back to your car sized HDDS and floppy disks and be done with it.

Jesus christ id sure like to see how you plan before buying something crucial

I'm sure you don't plan at all. You've already got all the 1MB floppy disks you need.

Sure i do, thats why every important thing i ever bought still works.

Also, why would i need Amiga floppies?

TrueCrypt

Since I'm talking about high amounts of data, possibly leaving only a quarter of the flashdrive with free space, is this going to slow a lot the transfer speeds?

I use TrueCrypt on my flash drive, and I swear by it.

Effectively you have a TrueCrypt container on the drive, alongside a portable copy of the software which mounts the container as an additional drive on your pc.

It makes use of parallelization and pipelining, and so the I/O speed is negligibly different to that of an unencrypted drive.