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I need some kind of free file encryption program for windows 7

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hunterjwizzard

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Mar 21, 2020
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Hi folks,

I am currently evacuated from my house due to a wild fire. I can go into detail if anyone is bored, but here is the situation: I am working off of an old laptop i found in my parents house, it is running windows 7 and that is the only computer I have access to. I have a 500ish meg file I need to encrpyt. Every single tool I have tried so far only works on windows 10.

Can someone kindly help me find a tool to encrypt my file that works on windows 7?

Much appreciated.
 
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I found one called AxCrypt that I could launch, but it appears not to work without an online component. I do not have access to my email from this laptop, so I cannot use any service that requires an account.
 
found another one called Crpytomator, it also launches but does not appear to do anything. Or at least it can't seem to work on a single zip file. I am having so many problems here.

basically I have a zip file containing all of my writing. I want to upload it to a friend for safe keeping during this disaster. but i want the file to be encrpyted since its got personal stuff. So I am scrwed if I cant find a way to encrypt it.
 
How rigorous does the encryption need to be? If you don't need a cloud interface and only want something challenging to normal users, you could try 7zip's encryption. Would suffice if you don't plan on frequently modifying the file.
 
Try looking at VeraCrypt. It's open-source and is an on-the-fly-encryptor. You can create a virtual encrypted disk to store your files or you can encrypt an entire removable disk if you so desired. No online component required.
 
krebizfan said:
How rigorous does the encryption need to be? If you don't need a cloud interface and only want something challenging to normal users, you could try 7zip's encryption. Would suffice if you don't plan on frequently modifying the file.
Click to expand...
Not very sophisticated. Im asking a friend of a friend to store it for a few days until the fires are over, and delete it afterwards. I don't trust this person enoough to send a fully unencrypted file but enough that it needs to stop the NSA.
 
MausolfB said:
Try looking at VeraCrypt. It's open-source and is an on-the-fly-encryptor. You can create a virtual encrypted disk to store your files or you can encrypt an entire removable disk if you so desired. No online component required.
Click to expand...
I did find a working portable copy of veracrypt but was confused by it. I just wanted a simple interface that I could put my file in one end and have it spit an encrypted file out the other.

I ended up with this: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/encryptonclick.html it worked ok.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
I didn't know it had encryption and couldn't figure out how to do it when someone told me?

Look I've had a rough several days. Cut me some slack.
Click to expand...
Open 7zip, click help, click search, type "encrypt" into the search topic, open first topic "add to archive" , explains how to at top, scroll down for an explanation of encryption options...
... to do right click on file in explorer window, select 7-zip from the drop down, add to archive, set a password and select encryption type...
 
One of the PGP programs is the obvious one to use. (You can probably find versions going all the way back to Windows 3.1, if needs be.) From a quick web search, I'd start by trying Gpg4Win, but OpenPGP might be another option.
 
eeproks said:
How do you know?
Click to expand...

He doesn't. Truecrypt is the only public domain encryption software that's been fully audited ever, AFAIK, and the canary stopped singing. Probably because it doesn't have any backdoors.

Veracrypt is the next best bet and is based on Truecrypt, though Truecrypt is still available.
 
eeproks said:
How do you know?
Click to expand...


I guess it worked OK in in the sense that the program launched, it had an intuitive UI, and when I hit "encrypt" it spat out a file I couldn't easily open. After two very frustrating hours that was enough of a win.

I'm back in my house now and will have my PCs back up tomorrow. I never did find anyone to upload the file too so the whole discussion is somewhat moot. Now I can start over and work out a better strategy incase this bizarrely specific scenario ever happens again.
 
Truecrypt works for me. I figure if I use the binary I had while the canary was still alive, I'm probably OK.

NSA will just use the lead pipe backdoor :-/
 
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