Please help me find a cost-effective way to secure my flash drive

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Please help me find a cost-effective way to secure my flash drive Dear CNET members, Happy Friday! Just a friendly reminder to new and current subscribers to this newsletter: We have an archive of our past Community newsletters, which cover many technical topics. So check it out, because I get a lot of questions e-mailed to me that have already been covered by our community members. Also, if you are in dire need of help with technical issues, you can always find help in the CNET Forums where hundreds of wonderful members and moderators are always willing to give great advice. Now, let's address Bob's question on a cost-effective way to secure his flash drive. Well, Bob, you asked and the community delivered. After reading through all our members' advice to you, 90 percent of our members recommended using TrueCrypt by TrueCrypt Foundation to encrypt your flash drive. There were a few additional recommendations, but this app got the most props, so it must be pretty darn good. Best of all, if you're worried about cost, it's free! I will warn you though, TrueCrypt, as explained by CNET Download editor Seth Rosenblatt, is very powerful and isn't an entry-level encryption program. Having a good understanding of this software is advisable--so read up on the manual. Also before you try any encryption software, it always a good idea to back up your data in case anything goes wrong. Also, don't forget your password, or you will be out of luck retrieving you data. There are many additional suggestions from members not only recommending other software title, but also a lot of other tips and advice about keeping your data safe, so please give all our members contributions a read. Good luck! Thanks, everyone and have an awesome weekend! Cheers! - Lee Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Lee Koo CNET Community manager

Last week's question Please help me find a cost-effective way to secure my flash drive I hope you and your readers can help me with securing a flash drive. I realize that I can password protect and encrypt individual files that I save to a flash drive, but I'm looking for a way to overlay another layer of security to the whole flash drive, if that's even possible. I know that there are flash drives available with this kind of security built in, but I'm looking for a more cost-effective solution for the flash drives I already own. I would appreciate hearing your readers' experiences with what's available, what works, and what doesn't work. Thanks! -- Submitted by: Bob M. of Alexandria, VA. Featured member solutions for last week's question:  "Use TrueCrypt and a password hint " -- Submitted by: DaveMiko  "Try TrueCrypt " -- Submitted by: Allan Press  "Securing a flash drive - TrueCrypt " -- Submitted by: Basuto9  "Re: Flash drive safety " -- Submitted by: sirpaul1  Read all member contributions  Thanks to all who contributed! Previous questions and answers 1. Windows XP: How do I completely remove items in my start-up folder? 2. I accidentally deleted the files on my SD card. How can I recover them? 3. What is a simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVDs? 4. Video card performance deteriorated in a short period of time, please help! 5. Need software for burning camcorder videos to DVDs for preservation  All previous Community newsletters Community buzz 1. How do I do simple things in Windows Vista? 2. PC spontaneously shuts down 3. HD scenes look fake - is it my HDTV? 4. What are your thoughts on the iPad? 5. On the hunt for digital camera - focal length, aperture, shutter speed? 6. Windows XP, Vista, or 7? 7. How to improve performance of my Windows 7? 8. Burning photos to DVD and be able to see them on DVD player?  More from the CNET forums Mac nugget 1. Forgot master password on MacBook 2. Is it possible to run two different Mac OS versions on the same computer? 3. Mac Mini- RAM upgrade  More from the Mac OS forum Security alerts and updates 1. News - February 5, 2010 2. Virus and spyware alerts - February 5, 2010 3. Updates - February 5, 2010 4. Vulnerabilities and fixes - February 5, 2010  More from the security forum

Check out next week's question: What's your take on online backup services? I truly enjoy the Friday afternoon (well, evening in my part of the country) newsletters. I seem to learn tons and tons about things that I never knew I wanted (or needed) to know! So many times I archive the questions because I know that I'll need to know that soon, or I had that exact same question before--and probably will again. Or, more often than not, the question is timely for my own issues, and I get to try out the suggestions right away. This is an AMAZING group! I have never written before, but I want to get the group's collective wisdom on online backup services (Carbonite.com just to use an example). I have had two fatal hard-drive failures in the last year. While I use an external hard-drive to back up data (most of the time), I am starting to really think about using an online backup service. That said, I am trying to understand the various services that these companies offer versus the costs (I am concerned about cost--an external hard drive is relatively cheap, so I'm not going to pay a small fortune for... (Click here to read Sandy's entire question) -- Submitted by: Sandy C. of Media, PA   Know the answer? Click here to submit it! Have a tech-related question? Click here to e-mail us on one of these topics: · PC troubleshooting · PC upgrading · Digital music · Consumer electronics · Multimedia · Internet security · Digital cameras · Home audio & video Need help tech right away? Don't wait for us, post your questions in the CNET forums for all the tech help and how-tos. Community quick poll Weigh in on this week poll topic! If my computer was compromised physically or through the Internet, I would be: (Please click on button to vote)  In a world of hurt. My whole life is on it!  In pretty bad shape. I have a lot of personal data on it.  OK. I would probably have to cancel a few credit cards.  Just fine. I don't store any important or personal data on my computer.   I have no idea.  Other. Vote and discuss it here! Simple question, simple answer 1. Best Web browser for 64bit Windows 7? 2. Looking for computer-controlled camera 3. Upgrading to Windows 7 from XP machine plagued with viruses 4. No Windows startup sound Help your fellow members 1. Recovering lost iPhone contacts after syncing with iTunes 2. Mouse works on every site except eBay!!! 3. Changed power supply, but PC still does not power up 4. Buy now or wait for 3D HDTV? 5. Which E-reader?

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