Windows setup initializing Truecrypt volumes without promt ?

I've recently tried to find out whether to use device or partition encryption on my HDD. In so doing I've heard from people on this forum that Windows setup initializes drives even without prompting you first if you try to reinstall windows(and in so doing alters the TC headers of the volume so that the volume becomes unaccessible. And possibly even irrevocably overwrites some of the data itself). But, obviously that can not be entirely correct. Since I've had a partition based encrypted drive, and done many windows reinstalls without this happening. So far no one as known in my other threads I've participated in, so I thought it was time to make this one issue the main point in a separate thread now in an attempt to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully someone will see this who knows.

I've been increasingly curious about device encryption, and I do not know from personal experience at least whether or not windows setup will behave any differently then and cause the above described problem. That's what I am seeking the answer for here. i.e. Does windows setup initialize a TC encrypted drive during window setup as in when your reinstalling windows when ?

Regards and thanks in advance.

 

Enough people have had it happen that it's established that under some circumstances/configurations it does.
In others it does not.

You can:

1. Take a chance
2. Avoid it with certainty by using partition based encryption
3. Avoid it with certainty by unplugging such drives
4. Spend forever with virtual box testing all possible configurations to find out

 

Oki, so with the device encryption it's supposed to be established then that it can happen variably, even though I don't understand how circumstances might change such basic windows setup behavior, that should be static afaik. It's too bad those circumstances are so unexplicit and not talked about explicitly too. (like hardware?, should a gpu, or motherboard affect wether or not windows initialize your drives without a prompt ? that would be news for me certainly) Good thing I was able to reveal that at least partition level encryption is safe despite the scary rumors of this phenomenon. If it applies equally to internal drives as external then based on what you say and what I also discovered it really becomes more apparent that partition encryption is both safer and easier than device encryption on windows especially for the nonexpert/tech type person, despite the more general belief to the contrary around here.

Though as a brainstorm, if what you say is true that it is variable whether windows does it or not, then we might actually both be wrong about partitions being a certain and safe way after all, and it could just not be happening for me, while still might happen for someone else...hmm. Yes if this is how unpredictable technology can be then "love to backup"

 

The TrueCrypt forum isn't any longer available for me to look over and see what commonalities I can find, this leaves testing and my possibly skewed perception of what I remember as the only viable way to determine things.

As to the relative safety, the general feeling here is correct when dealing with the default encryption setup, simply because far more people see that format prompt and click it than reinstall windows with a truecrypted drive attached. So purley based on *numbers who fall victim* device based is safer than partition based, when no extra steps are taken.

What happens in the cases where careful users do other than the default and use unsupported partition *types* or subsequently unassign drive letters, is frankly impossible to determine, no data available for those, or how many of them as a proportion there are, however, the fact that TrueCrypt does neither *for you* by default really skews the numbers, I think those careful users probably suffer different proportions of header damage.... but I cannot PROVE that.. it just seems a logical conclusion.

 

I see, well your speaking statistically then, and so subjectively relatively to people that are not good at not clicking format for some reason. Where as I don't consider that prompt of any real objective effect on the safety itself. Even without the subsequent linux partition trick. But, I get the validity of the point your saying.

I was hoping there would be some simple and explicit so and so answer to this though that would put the issue of this in some deterministic pattern without unknown variables. I get disappointed when even technology is revealed to have some elements of chaos, unknowns and arbitrary like issues.