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"so that even if someone gets in, they have to have basic skills to get to your data"

if they want your data, they'll just plug the HDD in to a different machine and bypass windows security that way, OS passwords only dissuade the most casual criminal

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Unless I'm mistaken, none of his suggestions use OS passwords. All of his suggestions protect against plugging the hard drive into another machine (except hidden folders, which only work against non-tech-savvy thieves, anyway).

jcl - Passwords are great, the more complicated, the better. However when your laptop is stolen, why would they put their time in it cracking your OS password. If plugging the HDD in another computer bypasses it completely.

yeah, unless the drive content is encrypted you can just mount it on another system and take whatever you want. You can even boot to linux off a usb and do this.

But once you have truecrypt, it doesn't matter if they plug your HDD into a new computer. That was my main concern I was trying to solve here.

Yes indeed, encryption is the only real solution. Of course, if you're really trying to hide something then you need to make sure the unencrypted ones aren't leaking somewhere.

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