TrueCrypt Partition Recognition - Chaos

Discussion in 'encryption problems' started by incurablegeek, Feb 21, 2013.

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  1. At first I thought that TC might just not like 3TB drives so I moved all my 2TB stuff to the 3TB drive, hoping TC might recognize my 2TB drive. Well, it turns out that I should have known better.

    You'll notice from the attached snippets that there is absolutely no relationship between what is actually a Win7 Explorer Drive and what TC sees. Some of TC's drive letters don't even exist on this computer.

    1) A Snippet of my Explorer Drives

    2) A Snippet of Drives Seen by TC

    There is completely no relationship between the actual drives and what TC sees. The TC manual doesn't address this problem. As with most problems, there just aren't any problems. OK ....

    Any suggestions?
     

    Attached Files:

  2. PaulyDefran

    PaulyDefran Registered Member

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    TC is only showing you where it can mount a container or device in those screen shots...what's free and available in Windows...looks normal to me. Go to Volumes>Select A Device to see what TC can see. To create: Create New Volume>Encrypt Non-System Partition Or Drive>Standard/Hidden>Select device.

    PD
     
  3. dantz

    dantz Registered Member

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    I agree with PaulyDefran. You have simply misunderstood the purpose of the initial screen. You need to click on "Select Device" to see what disks and partitions TrueCrypt recognizes.

    This was a simple beginners' mistake. One of TrueCrypt's biggest "problems" is that is appears to be so easy to use. This lulls many users into risking large amounts of data before they even know what they're doing. But don't be fooled, TrueCrypt can be very dangerous! There are a great many ways to screw up, resulting in the permanent loss of your data.

    I strongly suggest you follow the TC tutorial and practice creating and using some small file-hosted containers filled with test data before committing to any large-scale activities such as encrypting disks, partitions or systems, especially if you choose to encrypt your data "in-place" and you don't have a backup.

    And while you're learning how the program works I suggest you practice backing up your headers, and make sure you ALWAYS have backup headers (stored off-disk) for any encrypted volumes that you create. Of course, data backups are also highly recommended, especially for encrypted partitions, as these are at higher risk.
     
  4. Whoosh! The fact that there is no correlation between the actual (Win 7 Explorer) drive letters and what TC says are your drive letters doesn't pique your interest?

    Excuse me for sounding abrupt here, but recently I seem to be ascending learning curves and ascending learning curves only. And too much of this is caused by poor design. In short, I don't have time to play with TC or become expert at it.

    I am an expert in my own field. I don't need to prove myself yet again.

    So I think I'm back at square 1, and that is can anyone suggest an alternative to TC that's just as effective and doesn't require me to wear a freshman beanie for a year?

    I don't mind paying for a seriously good program. I don't tolerate illogic very well and TC appears to be steeped in it. A =/= A; A is really equal to K. Ugh!

    I do know that you guys are seriously trying to help and please don't misunderstand for even an nanosecond that I do not appreciate you. This is a helluva good forum with some very helpful people, yourselves obviously included.

    I do own Kruptos2, which I believe uses the Blowfish algorithm. Should I look at others?

    Please allow me to repeat myself:

    I Do Appreciate Your Assistance, Especially Your Patience with My Ignorance in This Field.​


    -----------------
    Edit: This might be helpful. Your thoughts?

    1) http://www.hacker10.com/tag/truecrypt-alternative/

    2) http://diskcryptor.net/wiki/Main_Page/en

    Question: One fellow on this forum accused me of being much more knowledgeable than I present myself. Well, this question should provide some justification for my Daffy Duck avatar:

    If I used Diskcryptor, for example, would I encrypt and entire HDD drive:

    1) Before I loaded data in it or while it is formatted and empty?

    2) If I entered files into this encrypted drive on the fly would they automatically be encrypted.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 22, 2013
  5. aklies14

    aklies14 Registered Member

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    are you playing some kind of game with us?cause anyone who has used TC even a little would know that what you are seeing is normal and expected.

    what your explorer sees in #1 are the partitions available in windows,some of them may be NTFS,FAT filesystems while others may be encrypted and useless for windows.
    and what TC sees in #2 are the free partitions(lets say FREE partition numbers AVAILABLE) available where TC can mount an encrypted TC container or partition.and you don't select partition to mount like a file container.click on "select device" to see which partitions are visible in TC and then mount from there.
     
  6. I don't play games. I don't have time.

    Regarding my knowledge of encryption methodology, let me just say that I am dumber than a box of rocks.

    Regarding my intelligence:

    1) I speak 8 languages - 5 of which are non cognates

    2) I have taught research methodology in three countries

    3) I have employed doctorates from Caltech

    So yes, I am intelligent. I am also very well-educated.

    But in this area, you are light-years ahead of me. I need your help accordingly. Can we please put to rest all fears that I am a snob, a troll, or running a game on you folks.

    I need you. You are the savants here. I am not.
     
  7. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    I think that DiskCryptor will make more sense to you. TrueCrypt's main window lists the drive letters that are available for mounting an encrypted volume (a file) or encrypted partition to.
    TrueCrypt.png
    DiskCryptor's main window on the other hand, lists the volumes that the host operating system sees (which is what you see in Windows explorer).
    DiskCryptor.png
    1) I'm either misunderstanding or your choices actually mean the same thing. AFAIK, it doesn't matter to DiskCryptor whether the volume you are encrypting is empty or full, already formatted or not. It will encrypt and mount it non-destructively and you can do whatever you want to it once it is mounted.

    2) yes

    In my opinion both programs are excellent choices. I hope this helps.
     
  8. 0strodamus, you have made my day. I mean, seriously, I really must thank you. To be honest with you I've spent most of the afternoon reading up on encryption and pretty much came to the same conclusion. The only weakness with DiskCryptor is its lack of documentation but if it is "logically" and intelligently designed I should find it intuitive.

    And Wow! That is just what I am looking for. I knew when I asked the question about encrypting a blank drive and how it would handle file entry, I was setting myself up for an "are you kidding?" Thank you for your kind and considerate response.

    Well, I'm off to eat my evening meal. Somehow I think it will taste even better thanks to you.

    Dunno if you're interested but I found this today in my Google travels:

    http://privazer.com/

    It's reviewed here, and the review is worth reading. This little program finds stuff I knew was there but didn't know how to securely delete easily.

    http://www.wipeyourdata.com/

    Hope that helps. And, once again, Thank You So Much!
     
  9. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    I'm glad that I was able to help you. Just make sure you verify my findings about being able to encrypt your volume(s) non-destructively. I tested this on a small USB drive, but you should make sure for yourself before committing. Have fun encrypting and enjoy your meal. ;)
     
  10. dantz

    dantz Registered Member

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    FYI, TrueCrypt has an excellent tutorial here:
    http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=tutorial

    It doesn't take long, and once you go through it you will have a much better understanding of how TrueCrypt works. You will also be better equipped to compare it with other programs that have similar functionality.
    How can I say this without hurting your feelings? Please don't take this personally, but I feel that the above attitude is incompatible with the proper usage of encryption software. Data encryption and data security are extremely complex topics, and if you won't put in the time and effort to understand the details of what you are doing then you could easily end up putting your data at risk.

    Whichever encryption program you choose, I strongly recommend that you read all of the available documentation as well as regularly browsing the appropriate user forums. Good luck!
     
  11. Please don't ever worry about hurting my feelings. I have an ego larger than Montana. As long as you speak your mind and give me valuable advice which I can then evaluate, I don't care how you frame your comments.

    I appreciate your observation, but (and there's always a "but") ...

    Unfortunately, I do not have unlimited time. When the files I am told by TC are volumes than can be encrypted, and they don't match up with the hard drives or partitions I actually have, I feel that TC is poorly designed.

    I don't need a manual to learn that, "no we were just kidding, your Drive M is not really Drive M; we call it Drive W". If DiskCryptor is more straightforward and doesn't speak with a forked tongue, then I will use it instead.

    But the jury is still out - and I am open to both input and criticism. :)

    --------------------
    Let me amend my above comments which I believe were both haughty and a bit defensive:
    That's damned good advice - and I will take it. Thanks for being so brutally honest. I like that!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 22, 2013
  12. dogbite

    dogbite Registered Member

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    bitlocker partition/path management is much clearer than TC.
    Try that as well.
     
  13. Nebulus

    Nebulus Registered Member

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    As PaulyDefran said in an earlier post, there is nothing wrong with TrueCrypt interface, it is just as it was supposed to work. It is also very easy to use, so I don't see where is the steep learning curve here....
     
  14. happyyarou666

    happyyarou666 Registered Member

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    me neither , mindboggled as well
     
  15. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    I think you guys are losing sight of what it is like to be new to something. What may be intuitive to most is not always intuitive to all.
     
  16. PaulyDefran

    PaulyDefran Registered Member

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    Got a PM from him, he wiped his account and left Wilder's.

    PD
     
  17. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    I got one too. Kind of sad that newbies too often get such short shrift here. :'(
     
  18. There needs to be a Truecrypt/Encryption forum just for noobs. So many posts are about it it's getting ridiculous. I mean they have an official forum don't they?

    That's the first place I would go. But I guess Wilders comes out on top for Google search results o_O
     
  19. PaulyDefran

    PaulyDefran Registered Member

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    Wilder's is more active, that's probably why. No PM system on TC's forums either.

    Ideally, one would spend a few days exhaustively reading the manual and searching the TC forum before posting questions...but we know how that goes.

    I don't think he got a 'short shrift' too much. I'm a pretty patient guy, but some of those questions were basic, basic, basic stuff, and covered in the manual.

    When you see normally helpful and mellow members going "dude, wtf?", you know there's a disconnect somewhere :D

    PD
     
  20. Cudni

    Cudni Global Moderator

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    With thread more or less answered and before it goes on a tangent, closing. Thank you all.
     
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