The best alternative to Windows 8 BitLocker

BitLocker Disk Encryption is the overall encryption system that Microsoft has provided in the latest version of Windows. Windows 8 BitLocker also supports disaster recovery for cryptographic systems and data. BitLocker also integrates many management tools such as the Active Directory.

What is the best alternative to BitLocker?

There is also a shortage of convenient and powerful BitLocker, and the biggest limitation is that it supports only a subset of Windows versions: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista Enterprise/flagship, Windows 7 Enterprise/flagship, and Windows 8 Professional Edition/Enterprise Edition.

BitLocker also requires a trusted Platform mode (TPM), although this requirement can be changed by editing Group Policy settings, but the biggest limitation is that only specific versions of Windows are supported.

The most commonly used and widely circulated alternative to Windows disk encryption is a free program called TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt is based on an earlier program called E4M (encryption for the masses). TrueCrypt was put into development in 2004 and the latest version is 7.1a. Like BitLocker, it supports the encryption of entire volumes, including system volumes.

Unlike Windows 8 BitLocker, TrueCrypt supports all versions of Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and Windows Server (from 2003 forward). However, Windows RT or any IA-64 version of Windows is not supported.

TrueCrypt also has some features that BitLocker does not have. One is that TrueCrypt allows you to install a file of any size as an encrypted drive. For example, a 20GB file can be used as a 20GB encrypted disk. This file can be placed anywhere-a network share, a USB hard drive, or a local file system.

Another substitute for BitLocker is FREEOTFE--OTFE, which means that the fly encryption--is similar to BitLocker, both conceptually and functionally. It also has features that BitLocker and TrueCrypt do not have, such as allowing users to access encrypted disks without the need for a FREEOTFE drive. However, FREEOTFE has not been updated since 2010, so TrueCrypt is the default alternative.

On the other hand, TrueCrypt and FREEOTFE do not have Windows 8 BitLocker's ability to host or centrally manage the same key. This greatly reduces their appeal to administrators, but end users can make the most of them, especially if they run Windows systems that BitLocker does not support.