14 DAY TRIAL // The safety of your files should not be forgotten when storing them on an USB memory stick. People tend to disregard this aspect when it comes to the little fellow when instead we should think of it as a portable extension of the fix hard drive and take care of it accordingly. In this sense there are clean up tools that take into consideration USB thumbs by treating them with the same respect as a fix drive. Also, antivirus tools can now easily reside on such a device and scan its files in search of a hidden malware.
And, for completely making your sensitive data private, there are file encrypting tools specially designed to work on this piece of technology. They leave no trace on the host computer as all the options and changes are saved in its installation folder. This is also the case of Androsa File Protector that comes in portable version as well as for desktop and can function with the same success on both Vista and XP.
Its purpose is to help you in protecting the most sensitive of the files and keep them away from being perused by prying eyes. Because it also compresses the files, these can be easily sent via email for FTP client. There is no price for its services, only if you want to make a donation to the developer, but it is up to you.
Androsa File Protector features a straightforward interface that is easy to manage and handle and even a newbie can make his/her way with absolutely no difficulty. The support for drag and drop of the files makes working with it a breeze and the user can drop both files and folders.
All the functionality of Androsa File Protector lies in the options for protecting the files and represents the core of the entire application. First of all the software features three very powerful encryption algorithms: AES 256/192/128, Triple DES 192-bit and DES-64 bit. My recommendation goes for AES algorithm as it is one of the most secure ones, but Triple DES and DES are not to be neglected either.
Upon entering the security password (blank password can be enabled from Options menu) you will benefit from a character counter and strength meter measuring the stability of the elected countersign. In Advanced tab of Protection settings one can enable the deletion of the original files once the encryption process has completed, type in a hint for the password or create self-decrypting archives.
Unlike a regular file encryption, when making SDX archives users get to define the location for storing the result. Also, the archive can be inserted into a compressed file (ZIP).
The last tab of the menu is Security, providing options for scrambling the name of the protected files and selecting the number of passes for deleting the original files (up to three passes). However, this option seems to be available even if "delete source files" option has not been ticked.
Configuring the application to your needs is not too much of a problem and everything should go smoothly. This panel comprises general options for making the application start with Windows, automatically look for a newer version, choose one of the two themes available - XP or Vista (although I have not seen too much of a difference between them).
Androsa File Protector comes as a full-fledged encryption software, featuring backup plans before enforcing any type of protection and deleting it only if the process ends in success. Also, the password manager can accept empty passwords or hide them with asterisks. Regarding the compression, Options menu makes available nine levels of compression going from one to nine, which have a great influence on the duration of the process.
The program also allows the user to skip the compression of files larger than 3GB, not because it could not handle them but because it would take a lot of time to complete. However, this option seems to be available even if "delete source files" option has not been ticked.
Androsa File Protector makes for a great file encrypting program with very good options and features, but it has its shortcomings as well. Users can add entire folders, but only their content will be processed so upon decrypting there will be no file structure available. Also, there is no time estimation for completing the job. However, the mischiefs available in the software are almost insignificant and its better part totally takes over and compensates the loss.
The Good
Androsa File Protector is a great file encrypting instrument, easy to handle and configure and very reliable. Not only does it apply a password to the protected file, but it also encrypts the entire file with one of the supported encryption algorithms (AES, DES or Triple DES).
Original files can be automatically deleted from the disk and the user can choose to create a self-decrypting archive (this does not mean you can decrypt it without the help of Androsa File Protector).
For increased protection of the files the application is perfectly able to hide the name of the original data by scrambling its name.
The Bad
No ETA for completing the job comes in handy when dealing with larger files. There is no support for encrypting an entire folder, preserving its file structure.
I wish there was more information on the deleting process. All I could find was that it supports a three-pass method, but no algorithm was named.
Installation folder as well as the installer itself are quite large; the former is about 12MB large while the latter reached about 15MB.
The Truth
The application is absolutely free, runs from a portable device and does a great job with encrypting files. It is disaster-proof, meaning that it'll first create a backup of the files to be encrypted and the originals will be deleted only after the process has completed successfully.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
