How to encrypt USB storage sticks and drives

If you wish to save files from your company-issued laptop to a USB storage device you will now need to
encrypt the USB device first. This is to protect company data in the event of loss or theft.

Step 1

When you plug in a USB stick or drive to your company-issued laptop this prompt will appear:

If you simply wish to read files, select the ‘Don’t encrypt this drive’ option and continue as normal.

Remember, this control only applies if you want to save files from your company-issued laptop to a USB
storage device.

If, however, you want to save files to the USB storage device, select the top option ‘Encrypt this drive
using BitLocker Drive Encryption’

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Step 2

This screen will appear:

Select the option ‘Use a password to unlock the drive’ and enter a password of your choosing. Ensure
you use a password you can remember. If you forget it you could lock yourself out from accessing the
files on your USB storage device.

Remember company policy is to use passwords of 8 characters or more.

When you have filled in the two password boxes, click Next.

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Step 3

This step is just in case you ever forget your password!

Select the bottom option, ‘Print the recovery key’. Don’t worry if you don’t have a printer, it is OK, as
you will see next.

N.B. If you click the ‘Save to a file’ option and try to save to your company-issued laptop, you will see an
error message as the encryption process doesn’t allow you to save to an already encrypted device (your
company laptop is encrypted). So choose to print it instead.

Now we will print your recovery details to a file if you don’t have a printer…

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Step 4

Select the ‘Microsoft Print to PDF’ option as above and click Print. A PDF file will be created wherever
you choose to save it and it will contain your backup recovery details. You might want to open the file
up just to reassure yourself.

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Step 5

Important – before proceeding with the next step, which is commencing the encryption, ensure (double
check!) your laptop is plugged in and charging. If power is lost during the encryption process your data
may become corrupted. You do not want your laptop battery to run flat during the encryption.

Select the first option as this is much quicker. So select ‘Encrypt used disk space only’.

Encryption is a very computationally intensive process and takes a long time if you select the bottom
option. If you choose to encrypt the entire drive it will take many hours.

** Have you remembered to double check power is going to your laptop? It is essential your laptop
battery doesn’t drain during this process, resulting in your laptop shutting down and your data
becoming corrupted. Plug in your power now if you haven’t already. **

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Step 6 (the last step!)

Click the ’Start encrypting’ button. That’s it, you are done!

The encryption process is slow and there is nothing we can do to speed that up. However, you can
continue to do your work as normal. You will notice down in your system tray with all the other icons a
new key icon appear. You can check on the progress by clicking it.

All that’s left is for you to remember your password when you next need to use your USB storage.

Thank you for helping the company protects its data.

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