Hi guys,
I have a little bit of a dilemma. I'm a previous Windows-only user who is getting ready to make the jump to Mac. I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to do everything I want to do in on the MacOS, but one thing I can't really figure out how to do optimally is use an external USB HDD on both my Mac and Windows 10 AND maintain some level of password protection/encryption.
What is the optimal setup for this?
-I know that I can format the USB to exFAT so that drive is readable by both Mac and Windows, but then I can't enable Bitlocker of Filevault due to the filesystem type.
-I know I can install an NTFS driver on MacOS so that I can read and write to the drive in NTFS, but then if I encrypt the drive, it will no longer be readable on MacOS, no matter what drivers I have installed.
-Veracrypt is an option, but my USB drive is 4GB in size. Since you're essentially creating a "container" with Veracrypt, it would take me 10 hours to encrypt the drive, even in its blank state.
Full disclosure, I'll probably just have some porn and photos that I don't want my GF to see on the drive, so I don't need some over-the-top solution. I just want to be able plug the drive into my Mac and use it, and also be able to use it when I am running Windows on my Mac or my standalone Windows laptop AND have it password protected, so that my GF can't snoop around and see things I don't want her to see.
I have Googled and Googled for a solution on how to lock up and external drive and have it usable on both Windows and Mac, but I'm starting to think maybe this isn't possible other than going the Veracrypt route?
One thing that seems like it might be possible is keeping the external drive on NTFS and using Bitlocker and then installing Parallels on my MaxOS install. Would a virtual copy of Windows running out of Parallels be able to read a Bitlocker encrypted drive? That would be an excellent solution if it worked...
The other thing I found is a program called M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac? I am not sure if the program is legit or not because I haven't found any reviews or anything on of the program, but if that made Bitlocker usable, that would solve the problem also.
Has anyone else run into the problem and how did you solve it? What's the optimal solution for having a password-protected encrypted drive that will work on both Mac and Windows?
Note: I don't care about encrypting my main drive. Only an external.
I have a little bit of a dilemma. I'm a previous Windows-only user who is getting ready to make the jump to Mac. I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to do everything I want to do in on the MacOS, but one thing I can't really figure out how to do optimally is use an external USB HDD on both my Mac and Windows 10 AND maintain some level of password protection/encryption.
What is the optimal setup for this?
-I know that I can format the USB to exFAT so that drive is readable by both Mac and Windows, but then I can't enable Bitlocker of Filevault due to the filesystem type.
-I know I can install an NTFS driver on MacOS so that I can read and write to the drive in NTFS, but then if I encrypt the drive, it will no longer be readable on MacOS, no matter what drivers I have installed.
-Veracrypt is an option, but my USB drive is 4GB in size. Since you're essentially creating a "container" with Veracrypt, it would take me 10 hours to encrypt the drive, even in its blank state.
Full disclosure, I'll probably just have some porn and photos that I don't want my GF to see on the drive, so I don't need some over-the-top solution. I just want to be able plug the drive into my Mac and use it, and also be able to use it when I am running Windows on my Mac or my standalone Windows laptop AND have it password protected, so that my GF can't snoop around and see things I don't want her to see.
I have Googled and Googled for a solution on how to lock up and external drive and have it usable on both Windows and Mac, but I'm starting to think maybe this isn't possible other than going the Veracrypt route?
One thing that seems like it might be possible is keeping the external drive on NTFS and using Bitlocker and then installing Parallels on my MaxOS install. Would a virtual copy of Windows running out of Parallels be able to read a Bitlocker encrypted drive? That would be an excellent solution if it worked...
The other thing I found is a program called M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac? I am not sure if the program is legit or not because I haven't found any reviews or anything on of the program, but if that made Bitlocker usable, that would solve the problem also.
Has anyone else run into the problem and how did you solve it? What's the optimal solution for having a password-protected encrypted drive that will work on both Mac and Windows?
Note: I don't care about encrypting my main drive. Only an external.