Does encrypting my ext. OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro HDD mean that each time I turn it on, a password will be required to access the files?
Also, are there any known issues with this method of encryption? It seems I do not need to erase the contents of this drive to enable encryption.
My experience with external drive passwords is that they require the password when you mount them to your desktop. You don't have to enter password every time you access a file, just when you mount the drive. You will have to re-enter the password every time you either restart your computer or remove/reinstall the HDD.
A password will be required if you don’t save the password in your keychain.
Im not sure what issues you are looking for. It would be a big issue if you forget the password.
I’ve encrypted the external drive, but when I eject it and turn it off, the next time I turn it on, it doesn’t seem to be password protected, because no password is being asked for?
I was under the impression that I would be required to enter a password each time I mounted the drive?
Thanks for replying and for your answer. Is there a way to save the password to my keychain? I got the impression that FileVault does not put the password in your Keychain?
Sounds like it saved the password in your keychain. Open Keychain Access, select your login keychain, then find and delete the password entry for the drive.
On an external drive, you are not using FileVault. FileVault includes the magic that lets you decrypt and login with the same credentials. The encryption is the same whether it is on a startup drive with FileVault, or with using Finder, or using Disk Utility.
You can save the password in your keychain. I believe it defaults to saving it.
RE: Does encrypting an ext. HDD include a password login?
