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Rohos Mini Drive Encrypts Your USB Drive Files
Posted by Lifehacker US Edition at 11:30 PM on September 3, 2008
Windows only: Encryption tool Rohos Mini Drive secures the files on your flash drive—but unlike our favourite encryption utility TrueCrypt, it creates partitions you can access even without administrative access on the computer in question (like a coffee shop workstation). Creating a drive is simple: Install Rohos Mini Drive on your primary workstation, plug in the USB drive you wish to secure and the wizard walks you through the rest. The only hiccup you may experience is if you have multiple USB drives plugged in when you run the wizard; just make sure you specify which drive if the auto detection picks your camera's SD card instead of your USB drive. Rohos Mini Drive has an autorun feature which can launch applications when it opens the partition, and a virtual keyboard for an added layer of security. The application uses AES 256 bit encryption and currently has a partition size limit of 1GB. Rohos Mini Drive is a free download for Windows only. Thanks, Pavv!
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
DHT
Posted 12:26 AM 4/9/08
If you don't have Administrator privileges on your Windows box, you can still create a TrueCrypt "partition" as a file on the thumb drive. And TrueCrypt is cross-platform, so you can use your thumb drive on Linux and Mac computers too.
Or am I missing something here?
DHT
dagwud
Posted 12:25 AM 4/9/08
The fact that this doesn't require admin privileges is reason enough for me to try it out. I love Truecrypt on my own computers. But traveling can be a hassle.
dagwud
BenUrsa
Posted 12:52 AM 4/9/08
True security is about trust. Without open source code the trust I can put in the Rohos application is significantly lower than the trust I can put in TrueCrypt. Public computers are, however, a bad place for anyone with security as a priority.
BenUrsa
EracMan
Posted 12:51 AM 4/9/08
The only downside I see thus far is that it has a 1GB limit. I have 2GB flash drive that I encrypt with GeekMenu (which uses truecrypt). I leave about 200MB of unprotected space for quick copies but have a 1.8GB TC volume. If I use this I will need to rethink what goes in the volume and what doesn't.
I will definitely try this though since it allows for use without administrator privileges. A big deal when you are use campus PC's.
EracMan
thor222
Posted 12:42 AM 4/9/08
@DHT: You have to then mount the file as a drive letter to access it and AFAIK, you can't actually mount it if you are a non-admin.
thor222
dagwud
Posted 12:57 AM 4/9/08
@thor222: You can mount it as a non-admin, but only if an admin has installed TrueCrypt first.
dagwud
zia
Posted 2:06 AM 4/9/08
Fab! thanks
zia
rainbowsky
Posted 4:30 AM 4/9/08
Yes! This is a terrific solution. After trying TrueCrypt, but not being able to access my files, I found this jewel along with several others at pendriveapps.com. It quite well, and I don't have to worry about losing my drive (unless I haven't made a backup someplace). Always surprising to see LH not mention the source where numerous portable apps can be found.
rainbowsky
johnsmith1234
Posted 10:09 AM 4/9/08
I'm going to look into this, as much as I love Truecrypt on my own machines, and the ability to create Fixed disks even from removable flash drives *cough* Allen-Bradly license keys *cough* the lack of ability to mount on restricted user accounts has been a non-starter for me.
Things like this, Pismo file mount and StExbar that keep me visiting Lifehacker. These are things I use all the time to improve productivity. Sadly articles like this get overwhelmed by ones on browser betas / alphas and telephone flashlights. Not that I can blame Lifehacker completely, those posts generate more views and comments.
johnsmith1234
Terry Wang
Posted 5:53 PM 4/9/08
TrueCrypt would be better solution. No need to install, cross platform. Create the encrypted chunk and use it. It's good enough.
Terry Wang
Dagenham
Posted 6:31 PM 4/9/08
TrueCrypt for life. On computers without admin privileges, the best thing you can do is not to open anything that personal/confidental/classified.
Anyways, I would say that this Rohos stuff a nice, easy-to-use alternative for less-experienced users, I'll give it a try.
Dagenham
Stormbringer
Posted 3:52 AM 5/9/08
Not sure if I'm missing something here, but I'll bring up the fact that PMhesse made a comment at LH that you simply have to create your encrypted volume(s), then copy from your installed copy of TrueCrypt the files truecrpyt.exe and truecrypt.sys, and you're ready to go. S/he is right, it works for me, even under IT lockdown.
Stormbringer
Dagenham
Posted 4:57 AM 5/9/08
You do not have to install TrueCrypt, you can simply copy the executables/drivers and your container, but you will need administrator rights to mount your volume.
Dagenham
Netkillercat
Posted 11:53 PM 3/9/08
great tool for me
you guys are really kicking a++
day after day i find something i need or want on your site keep up the good work
Netkillercat
deisner
Posted 8:21 AM 4/9/08
If I had sensitive data on an encrypted thumb drive I'd think twice before entering the password or accessing the data on a coffee shop workstation.
deisner