Windows 7 Bitlocker Feature

[ritchie58]

I decided to use the Windows 7 BitLocker Encryption feature on my Music Library drive (I've spent a lot of time amassing and tagging my tunes) and Backup partitions as an extra precaution against unauthorized users or malware being able to modify or delete those files. You can still access and use the files that are protected by the 256 bit encryption which is virtually impossible to crack (but not completely impossible) . You can even encrypt the drive that's got the operating system but that's a bit of a hassle since it would require (if your already using an OS password) an additional encryption password prior to boot up if your motherboard is newer and has a special TPM security chip installed. If that chip is absent then a USB device with the start up information and password must be used in order for the system to boot. Before encryption of the drive the program requires you to save a copy of the encryption password, preferably on an external drive or USB device. One disadvantage would be if you forgot your password and lost the backup. Then your seriously screwed if you wanted to move, modify or delete any of those files or reformat the drive or partition. BitLocker is included in the Ultimate and Enterprise editions only. More information about BitLocker can be found here.