this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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Privacy
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Veracrypt. Make a file on your disk.
Don't want a storage file?
Make 2 partitions, put veracrypt portable exe on the first normal storage partition. (fat32 is likely ideal here) Second partition formatted with veracrypt.
This, except consider exFAT. It's more modern than FAT32 but also widely compatible.
https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/
I would not just default to exfat because it is "newer," it does have compatibility issues on non-windows systems. The implementations differ wildly.
Back when I used Windows, it worked fine for me out of the box between Win7 and both Ubuntu-based and Arch-based Linux distros 🤷
I have had major issues with exFAT across a variety of platforms. But I also work with a bunch of niche gear. But my point is simply that being widely compatible isn’t the same as being fully compatible. And OP was asking for the best way to reach the widest compatibility. That calls for FAT32, even if it has issues with things like file size.
+1 for veracrypt. Very convenient.
I make 1 single partition for the entire drive and encrypt it with veracrypt. Veracrypt has portable executables for windows and if I lose the flash drive in the worst case people will think it's a corrupted disk (unrecognized partition) and reformat them probably.
This was my immediate thought as well. Portable launchers for the various OS’es on a tiny (just large enough to store the launchers) FAT32 partition, then a large FAT32 partition (the majority of the drive) encrypted by VeraCrypt. As long as it can read FAT32 and run VeraCrypt, it’ll be compatible. And that covers Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi, and Mac ecosystems. It’s not as simple as just plugging it in and getting a password prompt, but it’s going to be the most compatible while still allowing for (nearly) the entire drive to be encrypted.
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