How to Install and Use True Crypt

A download can be found for windows, Mac, or Linux on https://truecrypt.ch/downloads/

As of 9/22/14 the latest windows version is 7.1A.

Table of Contents Installation on Windows .............................................................................................................................. 2

Encrypt an entire USB or portable hard drive ............................................................................................. 5

Create new container on USB or portable hard drive............................................................................... 12

How to Mount/Dismount a TrueCrypt container ..................................................................................... 18

Installation on Windows 1. Download the latest version of TrueCrypt and run the exe.

2. Accept the license agreement.

3. Next you have the option to install or extract this installation of TrueCrypt. If you will be

accessing TrueCrypt containers very often then it would be best to install it.

4. Next select the installation location, preferences, and click install.

5. TrueCrypt will now install and after installation you can find the program in the program files

directory or on the start menu.

6. Run the TrueCrypt program to bring up the main screen.

Encrypt an entire USB or portable hard drive

1. Insert a USB or portable hard drive in the computer with TrueCrypt installed.

2. Run TrueCrypt, and select “Create Volume”.

3. Select the option to “Encrypt a non-system partition/drive”.

4. Next, you may select a Standard volume or a hidden volume. If you are unsure, leave

the default “Standard TrueCrypt volume” selected and click next.

5. Click the “Select Device” button and select the drive that is the USB or portable hard

drive. Then click Next.

6. Next, you can choose to format the entire drive and encrypt it (faster), or if there is data

on the USB drive you can also use the option to “Encrypt partition in place”. If you are

unsure, leave the default selected “Create encrypted volume and format it” and click

next.

7. Select the encryption algorithm that you would like to use. If you are unsure, just leave

the default AES as the selected option.

8. The next screen will be greyed out as the entire drive is being encrypted and only the

full size is allowed.

9. Next choose a password for the container. This password will need to be shared by all

those accessing this drive. Key files can also be used if both users create and use key

files. TrueCrypt recommends using a password over 20 characters.

10. The next screen asks if this drive will be using large files or not. If the USB or portable

hard drive is less than 4GB then select no. Only select yes if you may have larger files on

this encrypted USB or portable hard drive.

11. The next screen allows you to move your mouse around the program window to

increase the strength of the encryption keys. Have fun on this screen and move your

mouse around. Once done, click Format to complete the volume creation wizard.

12. The volume will then begin formatting and encrypting the drive. This could take some

time depending on the size of the USB or portable hard drive.

Create new container on USB or portable hard drive

1. Insert a USB or portable hard drive in the computer with TrueCrypt installed.

2. Run TrueCrypt, and select Create Volume from the main window.

3. Next, select “Create an encrypted file container”. This option will allow you to create a

TrueCrypt ‘container’. A container is basically an encrypted folder that will allow you to

store files in that can only be opened with a key file or the password you set. The

container can be as large as the USB or portable hard drive space free. You can also

choose to encrypt an entire drive with TrueCrypt if that is preferred, which is covered in

a previous section.

4. Next select the “Standard TrueCrypt volume” to create a standard container.

5. Next, select the “Select File” button to browse to your USB or portable hard drive. Type

in a file container name for your TrueCrypt container and select Save.

6. Select the encryption algorithm that you would like to use. If you are unsure, just leave

the default AES as the selected option.

7. Select the size of the container you would like to make. It will allocate this amount of

space on the USB or portable hard drive, meaning it will no longer be able to be used.

We recommend creating a container that is a bit bigger than the files your want to add.

If you need more space in a container, you will have to create a new container of that

bigger size and copy the files to the new container.

8. Next choose a password for the container. This password will need to be shared by all

those accessing this container. Key files can also be used if both users create and use

key files. TrueCrypt recommends using a password over 20 characters.

9. The next screen allows you to move your mouse around the program window to

increase the strength of the encryption keys. Have fun on this screen and move your

mouse around. Once done, click Format to complete the container creation wizard.

10. The new container will now be created on the USB or portable hard drive. This step can

take some time if a large container is created.

How to Mount/Dismount a TrueCrypt container

To mount a TrueCrypt container, you must first have TrueCrypt installed or have the extracted

version of TrueCrypt.

1. Run TrueCrypt, and select the “Select File” option near the middle of the application.

2. Browse your file system to find the TrueCrypt container file and select Open.

3. Next select the open Drive letter in the upper portion of the application, then select the

“Mount” button.

4. Enter the password for the TrueCrypt container you would like to mount.

5. The TrueCrypt container will be mounted to that drive letter and appear in windows explorer

until the drive is dismounted.

6. To unmounts, select the drive letter in the TrueCrypt application and select Dismount.