When you install Secret Disk, you have to set a password (which you mustn't forget). This will create a 'drive' with a letter like Z. When you open Secret Disk, enter the correct password to open the drive folder. You can store whatever you like in here, as long as you have space on your hard drive! Close and lock the folder, and it will disappear from Windows.

Your secret disk only appears when you open the application and enter the right password. In the program's settings you can choose to have Secret Disk notify you if there are failed attempts at accessing the hidden drive. Secret Disk is a pretty effective application, although the application itself isn't hidden, so other users may notice there is something to find!

Easy to set up and use, Secret Disk is a quick way to set up a private folder on your PC to safely store your sensitive documents.

Download Secret Disk 1.35 in Softonic

While there must be a touch of sales talk in there, it's certainly a very secure program. There seems to be very few recorded cases of the program being cracked and it feels like a very solid and secure package from the start. If you're not convinced, then checkout the opinion of the US government who say that the encryption method used by Flash Crypt "is sufficient to protect classified information up to TOP SECRET level."

Whatever the strength of the encryption, it's certainly very easy to use which is one of the most important things. It's also ideal for those on the move because you can copy encrypted folders to another disk, flash drive, CD-ROM or by email - without having the program installed on any of the these external mediums - and the data will remain protected. And if you're worried about password loss, FlashCrypt has a special option that lets you save the encrypted password along with the protected data. The developers assure that the asymmetric cryptography used means that not even they are able to crack it, once it's applied.

An extremely powerful product that, if lives up to the hype, is suitable for most sensitive kind of data.

Download FlashCrypt 1.0 beta in Softonic

TrueCrypt aims to do this by allowing you to encrypt data "on-the-fly". This means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted immediately before it is loaded or saved without any further action on your part. Nothing can be encrypted or decrypted without using the correct password or encryption keys.

This encryption extends to entire file systems such as file names, folder names, file contents, free disk space etc. The good thing about TrueCrypt is that it doesn't get in the way of you dragging and dropping files. Some encryption programs that work on-the-fly prevent you from doing so easily or add a delay to the transfer but that's not the case with TrueCrypt. The other good thing is that TrueCrypt never saves any decrypted data to a disk – it only stores them temporarily in your RAM which is far more secure because when you restart or turn off your computer, the volume will be dismounted and files stored in it will be inaccessible and still encrypted.

TrueCrypt takes you through the encryption process step-by-step via a handy wizard. Just select the volume that you'd like to encrypt and then click "Create Volume" to encrypt it. This will create a TrueCrypt "container" which acts like normal file or folder but of course, it's totally encrypted. Note that if you select an existing file, TrueCrypt will not encrypt it - rather it will delete and replace it with a container.

For a free application, TrueCrypt is remarkably powerful and will be easy enough even for beginners to encrypt their hard drive.

Download TrueCrypt 7.1a in Softonic

If you're looking for a quick-fix security solution, MEO Free Encryption Software could be what you need. This little app certainly doesn't look anything special, but it's surprisingly quick and effective. As long as the file formats it encrypts to and from are okay by you, it's a pretty good option.

MEO Free Encryption Software is integrated into the Windows context menu, so to process files you can either right-click on them, or hit the Encrypt files button from within the interface itself. The app will then ask you to pick a few options, such as where you want the finished file to end up and how you would like to encrypt it. MEO Free Encryption Software only offers two options - fast, but less strong (Blowfish) or slow but strong (3-des).

The app also allows you to compress the file or folder you're about to encrypt, or to create a self-decrypting file (apparently, a password-protected .exe). In addition to these functions, MEO Free Encryption Software lets you validate hashes (to check that files have not been changed) and decrypt files as long as they are saved in .MEO or .CRY format.

Ultimately, if you do a lot of file encryption, or you're very serious about it, there are better programs than MEO Free Encryption Software - try PGP Desktop, for example. That said, MEO Free Encryption Software is compact, functional and free, and, especially if the recipient of the encrypted documents also has the app installed, it's an all-round good option.

MEO Free Encryption Software isn't fancy, but it does get a basic job done well - and for free!

Download MEO Free Encryption Software 2.12 in Softonic

Download AxCrypt 1.7.2614 in Softonic

You have two choices to protect files. Simply right-click on any file and press "Encrypt with PalCrypt 2.1.1.9" to encrypt it from Windows Explorer. Alternatively you can run the PalCrypt Quick Start program and encrypt/decrypt any file from there. The developers claim that it has been developed to resist even the fiercest attacks. The program has, according to them, been developed with "special techniques" to avoid brute-force attacks and automated attempts to retrieve a password. However, they warn users that the IDEA 128-bit key encryption is so strong that they can't help users that have lost or misplaced passwords. The best thing about this program is it's accessibility - it's completely integrated into Windows shell so it's always on hand whatever you are doing.

An easy and simple to use file encrypter although there's no recovery tool for if you lose your passwords so be careful!

Download PalCrypt 2.1.1.9 in Softonic

The Vault creates a virtual safe for your files in your hard drive. You can have as many vaults as you need, each one of them with their own folder structure – just like Windows Explorer. The program supports four encryption algorithms (Blowfish, AES, Serpent and Twofish) and four types of hash functions (MD5 128, Sha 256, Sha 384 and Sha 512).

The Vault doesn't require installation. When you run it for the first time you'll be asked to set a master password – which you should never forget. Then you're ready to start creating vaults, adding folders to them and dragging and dropping any files you want to protect into the program's interface. You also have the option to check the encryption performance of each algorithm and hash combination with a built-in test.

Generally speaking The Vault is a handy application but it may not be easy to understand for those who are not familiar with computer security. The fact that the program doesn't include any documentation doesn't help either.

The Vault lets you create encrypted virtual safes in your hard drive to store and protect sensitive data, though it may not be very intuitive for beginners.

Download The Vault 0.9.2.1 in Softonic

Download EncryptOnClick 1.4.0.4 in Softonic

The software lets you easily encrypt files you copy to your USB memory by safeguarding them with an algorithm and password. Rohos Mini Drive is simple to use: just plug the USB drive to your system and enter the password you want to use to protect the data. You can also choose the file system to use (FAT, FAT32 and NTFS) and the encryption algorithm (Blowfish and 256-bit AES).

The good thing about Rohos Mini Drive is that it creates a disk partition inside the USB memory device, which means that you can also save space for files that do not need to be protected.

On the downside, we found some errors when trying to access the contents of the encrypted drive from the shortcut created by Rohos Mini Drive on the desktop. It worked perfectly when accessed from the drive created under "My Computer" though.

With Rohos Mini Drive you can protect all the important documents you carry on your USB drive with both encryption and a password.

Download Rohos Mini Drive 1.8 in Softonic

It looks just like the windows calculator in normal mode, and only turns into a safe if you enter a PIN number (default is 123). From safe mode, you can choose the file you want to hide, and Safe Calculator will eat the file, keeping it encrypted and password protected until you choose to restore it. In normal mode, it works just like a normal calculator!

As Safe Calculator looks like a calculator, it's not that easy to use as a safe. However, there is a great help file included, and it soon becomes relatively simple. It can be stored an run from a USB stick, so is fully portable. It does the job of hiding a file very well - it's just a shame it only hides one file at a time, and you can't store folders.

Safe Calculator is a good place to keep a file you really want to keep hidden, although it's not too user friendly, and only stores one file at a time.

Download Safe Calculator 5.10 in Softonic