Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Is it possible to encrypt a bootable drive?

Mar 10, 2017 1:52AM PST

Hello all,

I've been a Mac user all my life. Recently, I built a Windows 10 PC and love the OS. I decided to buy a TB external hard drive on Amazon and create a bootable HDD to run Windows on my Mac when I want to (BootCamp doesn't work on my Mac), which I successfully did.

My Mac is encrypted with FireVault (Apple's built-in encryption software) for general safety. I'd like to do the same with my bootable external hard drive running Windows 10.

My question is, is this possible? Will the Mac recognize an encrypted external hard drive at the boot menu? If it did, would I just have to enter the password immediately and then boot Windows?

Say it is possible to encrypt a bootable external HDD. How would I do it? Would I use a Windows software within the bootable WinOS, or would I use FireVault from the Mac?

Thanks a lot.
- Kevin.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
If you have Windows Pro
Mar 10, 2017 5:33AM PST

you can use Bitlocker which is built into Pro and not Home. It's been in Windows for awhile at least since Windows 7.

- Collapse -
Answer
Beyond the encryption.
Mar 10, 2017 6:31AM PST

Windows doesn't natively support booting and running from USB. There is a special Windows To Go version so you are talking an expensive version plus a lot of your time to get it working.

Possible? Yes. Is anyone likely to pay for this? Not so likely.

- Collapse -
Done.
Mar 11, 2017 5:14AM PST

Re-read my OP. I said I already successfully booted from a US, therefore using Windows To Go.

It was fully free for me, including the product key for Windows 10 as I'm on a trial of Pro. The software to create the Window To Go was also free.

- Collapse -
A trial is just that.
Mar 11, 2017 6:11AM PST

It appears you know more than you let on. Since you know all this, then all you need is the Pro or better version and your time.