TrueCrypted data partition, Win7, and BootCamp

[anthonyrc]

After a couple of hours of getting nowhere with google searches, its time to break down and ask the experts.

I have a MacBook Air, with Bootcamp. OSX on one partition, Windows system on another, and a data partition as a third partition (NTFS).

I understand that Truecrypt whole-disk encryption, for the Windows system partition, is a no-go, and the reasons are pretty clear (google is full of these questions about this)

However.. if I just want to encrypt the NTFS data partition, using the Windows version of TrueCrypt, in-place, am I likely to break anything?
i.e. does TrueCrypt change anything in partition tables, or other sensitive parts, when it encrypts in-place?

Hoping that someone out there has had experience with this...

 

[MJL]

After a couple of hours of getting nowhere with google searches, its time to break down and ask the experts.

I have a MacBook Air, with Bootcamp. OSX on one partition, Windows system on another, and a data partition as a third partition (NTFS).

I understand that Truecrypt whole-disk encryption, for the Windows system partition, is a no-go, and the reasons are pretty clear (google is full of these questions about this)

However.. if I just want to encrypt the NTFS data partition, using the Windows version of TrueCrypt, in-place, am I likely to break anything?
i.e. does TrueCrypt change anything in partition tables, or other sensitive parts, when it encrypts in-place?

Hoping that someone out there has had experience with this...

Never tried encrypting a whole partition but I am using a truecrypt container to store my data. Since the partition is NTFS you should be able to create a container as big as you want (FAT32 is limited to 4 GB) and use that. In the past three years did not experience any problems.

Personally I would be very careful about doing anything to partitions using Windows on the Mac since that often results in misery due to the hybrid portioning scheme that a Mac uses. Have myself lost both OS X and Windows.... Hope this bit helps.

 

[anthonyrc]

Thanks for the response.
I decided to take the 'backup and test' approach, and I can confirm that it is possible to encrypt a TrueCrypt data partition, from Windows, on a bootcamp setup. The partition was encrypted in-place, and didn't mess with the partition tables (luckily )

Shame that the system encryption doesn't work. For travel to China, without it, the whole bootcamp solution is kindof useless.

Never tried encrypting a whole partition but I am using a truecrypt container to store my data. Since the partition is NTFS you should be able to create a container as big as you want (FAT32 is limited to 4 GB) and use that. In the past three years did not experience any problems.

Personally I would be very careful about doing anything to partitions using Windows on the Mac since that often results in misery due to the hybrid portioning scheme that a Mac uses. Have myself lost both OS X and Windows.... Hope this bit helps.

 

[MJL]

Thanks for the response.
I decided to take the 'backup and test' approach, and I can confirm that it is possible to encrypt a TrueCrypt data partition, from Windows, on a bootcamp setup. The partition was encrypted in-place, and didn't mess with the partition tables (luckily )

Shame that the system encryption doesn't work. For travel to China, without it, the whole bootcamp solution is kindof useless.

Having travelled a lot myself I can understand where you are coming from. What data do you need to protect? Are it programs or is it pure data in the documents folder?

I've got a Truecrypt file that holds my "install" software. Rationale is that if I get malware then the malware does not damage the data inside the Truecrypt container.

If what you want to protect are documents then you can always put that in a container and open up that manually after booting. Never cache your passwords or open automatically that defeats the purpose of having it.

If it are programs then it becomes a lot more difficult to protect. In this case I would put the whole Windows environment into a virtual machine and put the virtual machine into a container. Then have another virtual Windows installation which does not hold your valuable stuff and make that "easily accessible" so you could deny the second lot exists. Putting it into a virtual machine (VMware would be my preference) allows you to put the Windows installation on an external USB 3.0 SSD and unhook it when finished but don't keep them together.

More likely it will be that when a computer disappears that it will be reformatted and sold off.

 

[monkeybagel]

You can use EFS built into Windows 7 Professional + and it should be fine.

BitLocker is a no go more than likely. If it did work, you would need a USB key with the encryption string to be inserted on boot.

 

[gunni]

working TrueCrypt + Boot Camp

http://blog.claesbrandt.dk/?p=80

Still works for Windows 8 and Mac OS X 10.8