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Many people willing to pay for file encryption programs but did you know Windows XP, Vista, and Seven have built in file encryption capabilities? File encryption is more and more important as our data is the coming more mobile by the day. If you were to lose your laptop, a password may protect your information but if the person who finds your laptop takes out your hard drive and put it into a now the computer all install is a different operating system on your hard drive, they may still have access to your files. In this guide, you will learn how to encrypt your files in Windows Vista. See this guide for XP.

Encrypt Your Files

To encrypt your files, do the following:

1. Right-click the file folder you wish to encrypt and select Properties
2. On the Properties dialog, click Advanced…
3. Check Encrypt contents to secure data and click OK
4. If you are encrypting a folder, you will be asked if you want to apply the encryption to subfolders. This is useful if you want to protect the whole tree under the folder you are encrypting.
5. Your files will now be encrypted
6. Notice the file or folder writing is now green– this provides an easy way to show the data is encrypted

Decrypt Your Files

If you want to decrypt your files or folders so they can be accessed on a different computer, simply follow the steps above and uncheck Encrypt contents to secure data.

Back Up Your Private Encryption Key

If you move your files to a new computer, operating system, or user account, you will need the private key to access your files. To backup the key after encrypting your files, do the following:

1. After encrypting your files for the first time, and icon should appear in the system tray. Double click on it
2. Click Back up now (recommended)
3. On the Certificate Export Wizard, click Next
4. Choose Personal Information Exchange and click Next
5. Type a password and click Next
6. Save your encryption key
7. Click Finish
8. You will be notified that the certificate export is successful
9. Back up the certificate for later use

Your files and certificate are now protected.

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