Truecrypt is a handy tool for providing a secure environment to lock your documents, photo’s and private information etc. It achieves this level of security by creating a virtual encrypt disk that can be accessed as a real disk drive. This is extremely important when carrying your data on a USB stick or laptop which is easier lost or stolen. Truecrypt is open source and available on different platforms.

I have been using Truecrypt for about a year now and I just wanted to write some information on it that others may find useful. I began searching for a reliable tool for safeguarding documents for a client, but also it was around the time when politicians were leaving CD’s and laptops containing sensitive information on public transport, so I wondered how hard it would be to actually try and make data a little more safe.

I didn’t have to search too hard and Truecrypt really was the standout solution for providing strong encryption at no cost. Due to Truecrypt’s vast options it needed a bit of time to get my head around, but once I completed the process a few times, simply mounting an encrypted drive now looks embarrassingly easy. But please beware that this program has very powerful tools that could lead to undesired results, so understand the guide before making any changes.

I now use Truecrypt daily and because of a handy feature that allows the program to run from my USB stick; I can use it from any of my clients workstation without having to install it on their machines. It also only consumes around 3,000k of RAM when operational which is ideal on older units. I created a 1.5GB hidden container on a 2GB, which ‘auto-mounts’ when I plug the USB and all I need is to input my password and a new drive appears in My Computer from which I can access my files and save new ones too. Once I’m finished I can just ‘dismount’ and the drive disappears and although anyone can see that some of the available space on the USB has used, the actual files, documents and even the location of the drive is encrypted and hidden away. If my USB was lost or stolen on my way home tonight, I will confident that they will remain unseen.

I have only used a few features from Truecrypt so far, but I am in no doubt I will be impressed and reassured by it’s other capabilities!

So I have now been using the free version of NetSetMan 3.2.6 for a few weeks and have found it incredibly nifty little ‘gadget’. In fact it’s a very lightweight application, which is good news for those users with precious RAM availability. I created my two profiles which took a fair amount of time, being sure that all the settings were correct and selected to start the application on windows launch. The 6 tabs from the free version are nice and simple to rename and the whole layout is very user friendly, but if you get stuck at any time then refer to the extremely detailed help section from the toolbar or press f1.

Once setup correctly the hard work has been done and now you can effortlessly hop between a school and home networks for example. Or Mr Business man can use his Pro version between his Domain offices and saving himself the effort and hassle of inputting the network settings each visit. I guess it’s one of these things that we will get blasé about because it’s so simple and effective, it’s not until we go to a different network or use another workstation that we full appreciate the efforts of NetSetMan and it’s developers.

You can obtain the latest freeware (here) If you’re going to be using it at work, within a domain environment or needing additional profiles then the licensed Pro version will be more applicable (here).