TrueCrypt is a free and open source on-the-fly encryption software. TrueCrypt will create a 'drive' (TrueCrypt volume) and you can work with the drive' just like any other normal drive. The encryption and decryption process will be done on-the-fly without the need of interaction from user. In this post, I will show you the way to use TrueCrypt easily to protect and encrypt your sensitive files.

Basic Way to Use TrueCrypt

Creating TrueCrypt File Container for TrueCrypt Virtual Drive

1. Download and install TrueCrypt if you haven't done so. Run TrueCrypt application.

2. Click 'Create Volume'. This will open the 'TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard'.

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3. In 'TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard', select 'Create a file container' (1) and click 'Next' (2). This option will create a virtual drive within a file.

4. Select 'Standard TrueCrypt volume' (3) and click 'Next' (4).

5. On the next screen, click 'Select File' (5) to choose the location to create your TrueCrypt container file (6). The container file can use any file names and without any file extension. I will create the container file in D:\volume\mu sensitive files. Then, click 'Next' (7).

6. On the next screen, you can choose different type of algorithm to be used for the encryption process and hash. You can just leave it to the default value, and click 'Next'. The encryption and decryption speed will be different with different algorithm (you can click benchmark button).

7. Next, you can specify the size of the volume (8). I will set it to 4GB (4096 MB). Click 'Next'.

8. On the next screen, you can specify the password (9) to be used on the volume. This password will be needed to mount the volume so the files inside it can be accessed. Choose a strong password. Click 'Next'.

9. Choose the filesystem type to be used on the volume (10). I will use NTFS. Click 'Format' (11). The formatting process should take some times. After the formatting process finished, click 'Exit' (12) to exit the 'TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard'.

Mounting TrueCrypt Volume

1. Now you have created the TrueCrypt container file. You can mount the container file to create a virtual drive which you can work just like any other drive (example, simple drag and drop to copy files). The encryption and decryption process will be done on-the-fly in the background, seamlessly to user.

2. Run TrueCrypt. Click 'Select File' (13). Select the container file that you've created earlier (in my case, D:\volume\mu sensitive files). Select the drive letter (14) that you want to use to mount the virtual drive. I will select X:. Then, click 'Mount' (15).

3. You will be asked for the password (16). Use the password that you created before when you create the container file. Click OK to mount the virtual drive. You can check if the virtual drive is successfully mounted (17) or not.

4. You can work with the virtual drive just like any other volume (18).

Dismounting TrueCrypt Volume

1. Since the password is only needed to be entered when you mount the volume, you might want to dismount the volume to make the files inside it inaccessible.

2. Select the drive letter of your TrueCrypt virtual drive (19) and click 'Dismount' (20). The drive will be inaccessible.

[Download: TrueCrypt]