Before a virtual secret disk can be used, it must be connected first. Connecting the virtual disk can be done in two ways — manually, via the Control Panel, or automatically.
| 1. | Connecting a disk via the Control Panel. In this case, click Disk > Connect in the Control Panel. The electronic Key must be activated. Otherwise, Dekart Private Disk MultiFactor will remind you to do it . |
When the Key is attached, the disk becomes visible to the system and it can be used like any other drive on your computer.
Connecting the virtual disk
If the file-image of the virtual encrypted disk is password protected, the software will ask you to enter the access password. After entering the password, the disk becomes visible to the system and it can be used like any other drive on your computer.
Note: If the image file is located on a network drive, the network resource access password request may follow. Enter the password into the Password field and click OK.
Note: If the "Associate with <.dpd> file extension" option was set, you can connect the encrypted virtual disk by double clicking the file-image in Windows Explorer.
In this mode you can use the virtual secret disk without an electronic Key. To finish working with the virtual secret disk (i.e, disconnect it), click Disk > Disconnect.
You can also connect/disconnect a virtual encrypted disk using a popup menu. To access this menu, please right click the Private Disk MultiFactor systray icon. Select the desired action from the menu items list. In case there are several connected disks, please select the desired disk letter in the Disconnect Disk menu to disconnect that disk. To disconnect all the currently connected disks at once, click Disconnect all disks.
Another way to disconnect the virtual drives is to automate the process, by enabling the Disconnect all disks at time-out and/or the Disconnect all disks at standby options in Private Disk's settings. In this case, the drives will be dismounted either when the system is inactive for a defined period of time, or when the computer hibernates.
Note: To prevent possible data loss, close all the applications that access files on the disk before disconnecting it.
| 2. | Connecting a disk automatically. In this case, it is necessary to activate the mode of automatic virtual secret disk connection upon inserting the electronic Key and disconnection upon Key removal. Do one of the following to close Dekart Private Disk MultiFactor’s Control Panel: |
| o | Press Esc. |
| o | Click the minimize button in the top right corner of the Control Panel. |
From this point on, using the private disk will only be possible with the electronic Key attached. The disk is disconnected immediately if the Key is removed. Upon attaching the Key, the virtual disk is automatically connected or the PIN is requested by Dekart Private Disk MultiFactor if the disk access is PIN-protected (See the Setting and Changing Virtual Disk Access PIN section of this chapter)
Note: To prevent possible data loss, close all the applications that access files on the disk before disconnecting it.