Creating a virtual encrypted disk

2.	You can do one of the following in the new disk creation window:

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Click Browse to proceed with the new disk creation and indicate the full name of the file-image for the virtual secret disk in the File image field. A window will appear, as shown in Figure 15. Select an appropriate folder for the file image, indicate the name in the File Name field, and click Save.

Dekart Private Disk can request a network resource access password if the file-image is to be stored on the network disk, as shown in Figure 16.

Enter the username and password into the User name and Password fields and click OK. If the file with the same name already exists in the folder you specified, the confirmation that you wish to overwrite request window will appear, as shown in Figure 17..

Note: By clicking Yes and overwriting the existing file, you can lose the existing virtual encrypted disk associated with this file. Think carefully before doing this!

Upon clicking No, the file-image creation will be terminated. In this case, you will have to indicate a different file-image name in the window shown in Figure 15 to continue disk creation.

3. Select the disk letter that will identify the disk in the system in the Disk letter field of the new disk creation window (Figure 14). Select the desired secret disk volume in megabytes in the Disk size field (depending upon the free disc space where the file-image will be located).

You may immediately set up some options for the newly created secret disk or do it later (look at Changing properties of the virtual encrypted disk). To set up the disk's properties during new disk creation process, check the following checkboxes:

•	Removable Disk – the newly created disk will have the < Removable> status;

•	Hidden File-Image – the disk's file-image will be <hidden>;

•	Save and restore shares automatically - allows to save and restore network access rights to the contents of the encrypted disk;

•	Connect on System Start - this disk will be connected at operating system start. In this case, the "Run automatically on System Start" will be enabled in the Options tab of Private Disk Control panel (Figure 13).

•	Clear the last access time of the File-Image – once the disk is disconnected, its time of last access will be changed to the time of its creation. This means that one will be unable to determine when was the last time the encrypted disk was used.

4.	Click Create. You will be asked to enter the password that protects the encrypted disk. Enter the password in the Password field, then enter the same password in the Confirmation field.

Note: The entered password must be at least 5 symbols long (not longer than 64 symbols) otherwise, an insufficient password length message will appear. The Dekart Private Disk access password can consist of alphanumeric symbols, and it is case-sensitive. Enter the password carefully.

For more information about password choosing please refer to the section Recommendations for ensuring Dekart Private Disk security.

Note 1. If the entered password and password confirmation do not match, Dekart Private Disk will convey this to the user and ask to enter the password again. Please enter the matching values in the Password and Confirm Password fields.

Note 2. The password's strength is analyzed from the cryptographic point of view, and the result of the analysis is shown in the Password quality bar. The estimated quality is represented by a numerical value (between 0 and 100%) and by changing the color of the bar (green corresponds to a strong password, while red corresponds to a weak one).

5.	You can speed up the disk creation process by using the Quick create option. In this case, the file image will not be filled with random data ("junk").

6.	Click OK. File-image creation process will start. Its progress will be indicated in a special window, as shown in Figure 19.

To stop this process, press Cancel. In this case, the window shown in Figure 20 will appear requesting either to confirm (Yes) or to cancel (No) creation process termination.

When the file-image is created, the request will follow to format it, as shown in Figure 21.

7.	To start formatting click OK. A format dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure 22.

8.	Choose the desired format parameters (or leave them by default) and click Start. A Format warning message will appear on the screen notifying you that all virtual disk data will be deleted. .

Click OK and wait until the disk is formatted. When it is formatted, close the Format dialog box to finish the disk creation process. Only at this point, the virtual disk creation is completed. It will be automatically enabled and ready to work. Its icon will appear in the Windows Explorer window, as shown in Figure 24.

Note: If you click Cancel and cancel disk formatting, the virtual disk creation process will be interrupted and cancelled.