After this happens, you will be required to enter your password again. Your drive will be unlocked for as long as it is connected to your computer, but at some point, you may reboot, or need to eject it. Once you have encrypted your external drive and saved a recovery key, you’re ready to go.

Once the encryption process completes you will be notified by a window.Īccess an encrypted external storage drive.Encrypts the virtual volume with Advanced Encryption Standard(AES) 128-?bit.Creates a virtual volume with the full contents for the drive in the remaining drive space.The encryption process performs the following: USB drive encryption take approximately 6 to 10 minutes per gigabyte to complete. How long the encryption takes depends on the size of the drive. On the Are You Ready To Encrypt This Drive window, click Start Encrypting.ĭo not remove the USB flash drive until the encryption process is complete.The message Your Recovery Key has been saved will appear in the dialog box and you can now click Next to continue.With this recovery key file you can regain access to your encrypted USB flash drive in the event you forget your password! You can also print the recovery key if you desire (from here, or by opening your saved recovery key and printing). Insert and browse to the USB flash drive.To enable BitLocker encryption on a USB flash drive, perform the following steps: You can use BitLocker To Go to protect all file stored on a removable data drive, such as an external hard drive or USB flash drive. Improved for Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise and Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise. How can you protect MIT data from loss or theft? The answer: BitLocker To Go. With the increase in the use of small, large capacity USB drives, the potential for sensitive data to be lost or stolen has become a serious threat. Older Windows OS's and Macintosh users can download a 'BitLocker To Go Reader' utility to use with those systems. BitLocker is available on the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, the Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 8 and later, and Windows Server 2008 and later. It is not dependent on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) being enabled on PC's that support BitLocker natively. It is how BitLocker is referred to when used on an external attached drive. BitLocker To Go is NOT an additional application you need to install.

Bitlocker encrypt usb drive