I have heard accounts of unbootable disks under Truecrypt (which I use currently for folder encryption). Which tool have you used successfully for full disk encryption?
I have used truecrypt FDE for several years now and never had a problem. Sure, if your hard disk crashes, it will be much more difficult to recover data from it if encrypted. The most important thing about encryption is to think about why you NEED it. If the increased risk is more scary to you than the though of your data getting into the wrong hands then you should not use encryption. The second rule of encryption is that the more you understand about how it works the more comfortable you will be with it. How about an analogy: You get a good feeling when you lock the doors to your car right? Nobody can just open the door and go through your stuff! You don't think about the risk you are taking do you? What if you loose your keys? What if you lock them in the car accidentally? Same thing with encryption. Just remember to make backup copies of your data and update it frequently.
That's the single valid answer you were looking for For me it's: The more you understand, the less you trust
I've used TrueCrypt on my laptop for a long time. I've never run into difficulties. That doesn't mean I couldn't tomorrow. Just try it out and be sure and read the documentation.
In my experience you can get an unbootable disk using any kind of full disk encryption, all that is needed is for the bootloader to get corrupted for some reason. Just make a recovery disk and back up your data, then enjoy your favourite full disk encryption software..
