Geek Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 <div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/drive-password.jpg" alt="Drive Password in Mac OS X" title="drive-password" width="620" height="245" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26349" /></p> <p>We recently showed you how to <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/11/password-protect-files-folders-in-mac-os-x/">password protect files and folders</a> using encrypted Disk Images in Mac OS X, but if you have an external drive you can go a step further. By using encrypted disk partitions, any drive, be it a USB key, flash drive, hard disk, or whatever else, can be set to require a password before the drive can be mounted and the files accessed.</p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Require a Password to Access External Drives with an Encrypted Partition</h2> <p>Doing this will format the external drive and erase all of it’s contents, back up the contents before proceeding, and do not lose the set password.</p> <ol> <li>Launch “Disk Utility” from /Applications/Utilities/</li> <li>Connect the drive you want password protected</li> <li>Select the drive in Disk Utility, and click on the “Erase” tab</li> <li>Pull down the “Format” menu and choose “Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)”</li> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/format-encrypted-disk.jpg" alt="Format as Encrypted Disk to require a password before mounting" title="format-encrypted-disk" width="526" height="401" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26350" /></p> <li>Click on “Erase”</li> <li>At the next screen, set a password – do not lose this password or you will lose access to the drives data</li> <li>Set a hint that isn’t obvious and then click on “Erase”</li> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/set-disk-password.jpg" alt="Set a disk password" title="set-disk-password" width="422" height="260" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26351" /></p> <li>Let Disk Utility run, when finished the drives partition will show up on the desktop, the drive will be accessible for now without a password allowing files to be transferred over. Eject the disk when finished to require a password upon further mounting and usage.</li> </ol> <p>Once the drive has been ejected, connecting it again will require a password before it is even mounted. That screen will look like this:</p> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/enter-password-to-mount-disk.jpg" alt="Enter password to mount disk" title="enter-password-to-mount-disk" width="594" height="231" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26352" /></p> <p>Clicking on “Remember password in keychain” will allow the drive to be mounted on the Mac without entering the password on that Mac, but it will still require a password to be used on another Mac. For maximum security, it’s best to leave that option unchecked. </p> <p>For system-wide security measures, don’t forget to <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/21/password-protect-mac/">password protect a Mac with both login and screen saver passwords</a>, and if you don’t mind the trade offs, to use FileVault to encrypt the entire hard drive and its contents.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2pyU5hinK6yFmvEQEO9tM9hRdxQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2pyU5hinK6yFmvEQEO9tM9hRdxQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2pyU5hinK6yFmvEQEO9tM9hRdxQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2pyU5hinK6yFmvEQEO9tM9hRdxQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=CJQjglOrpaM:TthffJzDngs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/CJQjglOrpaM" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
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