

You can enter a password of up to 64 characters. The wizard recommends choosing a password of 20 more more characters.
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RELATED: How to Create a Strong Password (and Remember It)

Choosing an obvious or simple password will make your encryption vulnerable to brute-force attacks. As VeraCrypt’s wizard notes, it’s very important to choose a good password. You’ll then be asked to enter a password. “AES” encryption and the “SHA-256” hash algorithm are good choices. While there are multiple options available, we recommend sticking with the default settings. You’ll then be asked to choose which type of encryption you want to use. If you have more than one operating system installed and you choose between them when you boot your computer, select “Multi-boot”. Most people only have a single operating system installed and should choose “Single-boot”. VeraCrypt will ask how many operating systems you have on your PC. If you have multiple partitions with sensitive data-for example, a system partition at C: and a files partition at D:-select “Encrypt the whole drive” to ensure all your Windows partitions are encrypted.
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VeraCrypt has a variety of bug fixes and supports modern PCs with EFI system partitions, a configuration many Windows 10 PCs use. VeraCrypt is a project based on the source code of the old TrueCrypt software, which was discontinued. VeraCrypt handles the encryption in the background, and everything else happens transparently. It can also create encrypted file containers, but we’re focusing on encrypting your system drive here. You use your computer normally after it boots. It’s not complicated to use: After setting it up, you just have to enter your encryption password each time you boot your PC. RELATED: How to Secure Sensitive Files on Your PC with VeraCrypt It works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and even XP. VeraCrypt is a free and open-source tool you can use to enable full-disk encryption on any Windows PC. Of course, this doesn’t protect you against malware that attacks your PC while it’s running-just against someone stealing your PC or its hard drive and trying to view your files.

Even if someone gains access to your physical hard drive, they’ll need your password (or key file) to actually see what you have on the drive. It scrambles your files into random-looking gibberish and you need a secret key to access them. RELATED: How to Enable Full-Disk Encryption on Windows 10Įncryption is the best way to ensure attackers can’t read your files.
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If you’d rather not, you can use the free and open-source VeraCrypt software to get full-disk encryption on any version of Windows. Some Windows 10 devices ship with “Device Encryption”, but other PCs require you to pay another $99 to get BitLocker on Windows Pro for full-disk encryption.
