Creating A TrueCrypt Volume

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Once you have completed the basic installation of geek.menu, you can easily secure your applications and documents using TrueCrypt.  Please be aware that the instructions included in this document are intended to be a basic guide.  TrueCrypt is a very rich product with a wide variety of options, and the intention of this help guide is to get a reasonably secure environment set up for geek.menu.  If you are interested in advanced security, please investigate the TrueCrypt documentation.

That being said, here are the basic steps to configuring TrueCrypt in geek.menu

·      Open up geek.menu by clicking on the trayIcon

·      Click on the options button on the right of geek.menu

·      Choose the option "Create a TrueCryptVolume"

·      The "TrueCrypt Volume Crreation Wizard" will appear.

·      Choose the option "Create a file container" and click "Next"

·      Choose "Standard TrueCrypt Volume" and click "Next"

·      On the "Volume Location" screen, click the "Select File" button, and navigate to your Portable Drive and create a file.  You could, for example, create a file called "H:\geekmenu.vol" where H:\ is the drive letter of your USB drive.  However, it may be better to make the filename a little less obvious, perhaps in a directory off of the root of your USB drive
When you have selected and appropriate location and name, click Next.

·      If you'd like to change the encryption or hash algorithms on this page, feel free.  The defaults should provide a reasonable level of performance and encryption.  When done, click next.

·      Select the size of the encrypted container you want to make.  You'll probably want to leave some available space on the unencrypted Host Drive, but the ideal amount varies widely according to your needs.  If you have a flash drive larger than 1GB, a reasonable guideline is to select half of the available space.  Be aware that on most USB drives, you will not be able to create a volume larger than 4096 MB.  Click next when done.

·      Type the password you want to secure the drive with.  Be aware that this is the seed for your encryption and a longer password is better than a shorter one.  Click next when done.

·      At the Volume Format screen, accept the defaults and click "Format" to continue.

·      Click Exit