Working with Standard Volumes

TrueCrypt is a program which secures your files by preventing anyone without the correct password from accessing them. It functions like an electronic 'safe', letting you lock up your files so that only someone with the correct password can read them. TrueCrypt works by letting you set up volumes or sections on your computer where you can securely store files. When you create data in, or move data to these volumes, TrueCrypt will automatically encrypt that information. As you open or take your files out, it automatically decrypts them for use. This process is called on-the-fly encryption.

2.1 How to Create a Standard Volume

To start TrueCrypt, Select: Start > Programs > TrueCrypt > TrueCrypt or click: on your desktop.

Figure 1: The TrueCrypt screen

TrueCrypt lets you create two kinds of volumes: Hidden and Standard. In this section, you will learn how to create a Standard Volume in which to store your files.

Step 1. Click: to activate the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard as follows:

Figure 2: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard screen

The Volume Creation Wizard appears. You are presented with three options for creating an encrypted volume. We will describe the creation of an encrypted file container in this section, which is the preferred option for security and maintenance.

Step 2. Click:

The following screen of the Volume Creation Wizard offers the opportunity to create a Standard or Hidden TrueCrypt volume.

Figure 3: The TrueCrypt Volume Type screen

Important: For more information about How to Create a Hidden Volume, please see the Hidden Volumes Section.

Step 3. Check: the 'Standard TrueCrypt Volume' option

Step 4. Click:

You can specify where you would like to store your Standard Volume in the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard screen. This file can be stored like any other file. To specify a file name and location for your Standard Volume, perform the following steps:

Figure 4: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Location pane

Note: A TrueCrypt Standard Volume is contained inside a normal file. This means that it can be moved, copied or even deleted! It's important to remember which file it is, and where you’ve put it.

Step 5. Click:

Figure 5: The Specify Path and File Name window

In this tutorial, we will create our Standard Volume in the My Documents folder, and name the file My Volume (see Figure 5). However, you may choose your own file name and location (please refer to section 2.2 How to Create a Standard Volume on a USB Memory Stick).

Tip: You can use any file name and file extension. For example, you can name your Standard Volume recipes.doc, so that it will look like a Word document, or holidays.mpg, so it will look like a movie file. This is one way you can help disguise the existence of your Standard Volume.

Step 6. Type the Standard Volume file name in the File name text field.

Step 7. Click: to close the Specify Path and File Name window and return to the Volume Creation Wizard window as follows:

Figure 6: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Location pane

Step 8. Click:

2.2 How to Create a Standard Volume on a USB Memory Stick

To create a TrueCrypt Standard Volume on a USB memory stick, follow steps 1 to 3 in section 2.1 How to Create a Standard Volume, where you activate the Select a TrueCrypt Volume screen. Instead of choosing My Documents as your file location, navigate to and choose your USB memory stick. Then, choose a file name and create the Standard Volume there.

2.3 How to Create a Standard Volume (continued)

At this stage, you are ready to choose a specific encryption method (or algorithm as it is referred to on the screen) for your Standard Volume. This will be used to encode the data that will be stored in the Standard Volume.

Figure 7: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Encryption Options pane

Note: You may leave the default options here as they appear. All algorithms presented in the two options here are considered secure.

Step 1. Click: to activate the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard screen as follows:

Figure 8: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Size pane

The Volume Size pane lets you specify the size of the Standard Volume. In this example, it is set at 10 megabytes. However, you may specify a different size. Consider the documents and file types you would like to store, and their sizes, and then set an appropriate Volume Size for them.

Tip: If you want to backup your Standard Volume to a CD later on, then you could make the size 700MB.

Step 2. Type in your specific volume size into the text field.

Step 3. Click:

The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Password pane appears as follows:

Figure 9: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Password pane

Important: Choosing a secure and strong password is among the most important tasks you can perform in creating a Standard Volume. A good password will protect your encrypted volume, and the stronger the password you choose, the better. You don’t have to create your own passwords, or remember them, if you use a password generation program like KeePass. Please refer to the KeePass guide to learn more information about password creation and storage.

Step 4. Type then re-type your password into the Confirm text fields.

Step 5. Click:

Important: The Next button will remain disabled until passwords in both text fields match. If your password is not particularly safe or secure, you will see a warning advising you of this. Consider changing it! Although TrueCrypt will still work with any password you have chosen, your data may not be very secure.

Figure 10: The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard featuring the Volume Format pane

On the next screen, TrueCrypt will begin creating a Standard Volume. Move your mouse randomly within the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard window for at least 30 seconds. The longer you move the mouse, the better. This is important for the quality of the encryption key.

Step 6. Click:

TrueCrypt will begin creating a Standard Volume. TrueCrypt will now create a file named My Volume in the My Documents folder as earlier specified. This file will be a TrueCrypt Standard Volume, 10 Megabytes in size, that you can use to securely store your files .

After a Standard Volume has been created, the following dialog box will appear:

Figure 11: The TrueCrypt volume has been successfully created message screen

Step 7. Click:

We have just successfully created a TrueCrypt Standard Volume.

Step 8. Click: to finish creating your Standard Volume.