Ubuntu – How to encrypt usb pendrive/thumdrive/ that can be accessed from windows also

encryptionusbusb-drivewindows

How to encrypt usb pendrive/thumdrive/ that can be accessed from windows also ?
Actually I have both ubuntu(Home) and Windows (Office) , and have to take my data to and fro using usb pendrive . So I need a software so that I can add files from cross platform OS unlocking with my password. Please help me .
thanks in advance …

Best Answer

For me, the easiest way to encrypt a thumbdrive that you can access from Windows and Ubuntu would be Veracrypt. It is available for both Windows and Ubuntu. I use it all the time.

https://www.veracrypt.fr

If you need to encrypt a container for storage in the cloud, consider Cryptomator. It is available for Windows, Ubuntu, and your phone/tablet.

https://cryptomator.org/

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How long does it takes to encrypt a 1TB usb disk

Caveat: I have not tried this myself

What does the INITIAL encryption do in practice?

For all data:
- Read a bunch of the data
- Process it in a special way
- Write it back to disk

Add the time to null out all free space (write zeroes).

Answer:
So the processing time should be similar to reading out all contents, then writing it back, with a slight penalty for processing it in between.

For estimated read speed of a drive:*
Open a terminal and type/copy + execute this (press ENTER on it).

dev="/dev/sdb"; echo "About to do READ-speed test on $dev"; sudo hdparm -Tt $dev

man hdparm will tell what it actually does.

Use lsblk to find out things to type into dev="..."

Live USB – How to Add Software to Ubuntu Live USB

Persistent live Ubuntu

A good and easy way to add some software to a live USB stick with Ubuntu is to create a persistent live system, and to install the software into it.

You can create such a system with mkusb according to the following links.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/persistent

Please notice that in a persistent live drive

Many valuable program packages are found in the repository universe, but it is not activated in [persistent] live standard Ubuntu. Make it active with
```
sudo add-apt-repository universe
```
Do not update & upgrade like an installed system
Update the lists according to the current content of the Ubuntu repositories
```
sudo apt update
```
Install programs like you would install into an installed system, for example to install the package manager Synaptic,
```
sudo apt install synaptic
```
and then install the Teamviewer software you want from a debian file (like you would install it in an installed system),

https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Installation-of-TeamViewer-on-a-Ubuntu-system/ta-p/45
You cannot use a new kernel and cannot use new device drivers (for example proprietary drivers for graphics or wifi), because these are started at boot before the overlay system (of the persistent live system) is activated. If this is what you need, please use an ...

Installed Ubuntu system in a USB stick

A good method is to create an installed system in a fast USB 3 stick. This would work like an installed system in an internal drive (but maybe slower). It will be easier if you disconnect (unplug) the internal drive before you start installing.

An installed system (compared to a persistent live system)

is more stable and can be updated and upgraded without restrictions.
is portable but not as portable between computers (as a persistent live system). Installed proprietary drivers may reduce portability between computers,
should be tweaked to reduce writing to the stick in order to reduce wear of the memory cells.

You can create an installed system in a USB stick according to the following link to another question and answer at AskUbuntu (and links from my answer there),

How do I install Ubuntu to a USB key? (without using Startup Disk Creator)