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    Diskcryptor ruined my installation

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by Nemuren, Mar 25, 2015.

  1. Nemuren

    Nemuren Notebook Guru

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    So I installed a big SSD and removed all other drives on my brand new Alienware 15, reinstalled Windows and my basic programs, and the do what I usually do, which is install Diskcryptor and fully encrypt the drive. Diskcryptor created a small boot partition on the SSD.

    However when I rebooted the computer I was greeted to a message saying that files essential for the boot up process weren't found.

    I don't care if I have to reinstall everything again, but what could explain this? Could this be because UEFI was on? How can I fully encrypt my SSD? I will have work files on this computer, so full disk encryption is required from my employer.
     
    Nemuren, Mar 25, 2015
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  2. Nemuren

    Nemuren Notebook Guru

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    Thankfully it worked by disabling all this UEFI bs.

    It's such a giant POS.
     
    Nemuren, Mar 25, 2015
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    Mr. Fox likes this.
  3. Egnix

    Egnix Notebook Consultant

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    Glad you figured it out!
     
    Egnix, Mar 26, 2015
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  4. cookies981

    cookies981 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yup. Diskcryptor doesn't support UEFI, period. Right from their website:

     
    cookies981, Mar 26, 2015
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  5. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    Just gotta love that crippling UEFI security feces, LOL.

    Do you have some kind of super duper secret or sensitive data on you system that requires drive encryption? I've always avoided drive encryption as often as possible. I only have this on my work computer to protect the personal identification information of customers because I am required to, but never on my personal systems.
     
    Mr. Fox, Mar 26, 2015
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  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Surely relying on hardware encryption is best for sensitive data?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Mar 27, 2015
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  7. Nemuren

    Nemuren Notebook Guru

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    Not really. I also do it for my personal data as well. For instance if I get stolen, if I lose my laptop while I'm out somewhere, or if I have to bring my laptop in for repair, I am guaranteed that no one is going to snoop on my bank credentials or browsing history. I think everyone should be doing this. It is perfectly legitimate.

    The only thing is that you have to select a very strong password because otherwise it could theoretically be cracked. I say at least 12 completely random characters including symbols, or more.
     
    Nemuren, Apr 2, 2015
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  8. Nemuren

    Nemuren Notebook Guru

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    I bought an SSD that supported it, but trouble is the BIOS has to support some sort of special authentication for it to work, and the Alienware 15's doesn't.

    I think actually a software open source solution like Diskcryptor is the best. If someone has very sensitive data, as we have seen with the NSA scandal, the manufacturers of the SSD drive have probably put a backdoor in.
     
    Nemuren, Apr 2, 2015
    #8