Write protection for external hard drives - is there?

In this practical tip, we will explain whether you can also secure external hard drives with write protection.

Write protection on an external hard drive - is that possible?

There is currently no absolutely secure write protection for an external hard drive. You can still protect your data from unauthorized access with a few tricks:

• For example, you can use special software to encrypt your external hard drive. With the freeware DiskCryptor, for example, you can assign a password to your hard disk.
• However, we recommend that you make a backup beforehand. Unfortunately, the tool is also not available in German.

Back up important documents and data on the hard disk

If you have sensitive data on your hard drive that should not fall into the wrong hands, you can also encrypt it individually.

• With the WinRAR program, you can package all files and folders as an archive and protect them with a password. If the password is long and strong enough, your data is very secure.

Windows write protection for hard drives

If you only want to protect your external hard drive against access by your children, Windows write protection is usually sufficient.

• Select all files and folders and then right-click on the selected files.
• Select "Properties" in the context menu and check "Read-only" here.
• Another way to set up write protection: Switch to computer view and right-click on the data carrier. Select "Properties" again and then switch to the "Security" tab.
• Click the "Edit" button. Select the user group "User" here and remove the checkmark next to "Write" if this is set.

Please note: Unfortunately there is no absolutely secure protection for your files, since every encryption could be cracked with great effort.

This practical tip is based on Windows 7 as well as DiskCryptor 1.1.846 and WinRar 5.11. In the next practical tip, we will tell you important criteria when buying USB sticks.