Encryption questions

[chippies]

Hi guys,

I've been reading up on encrypting files. I've got a 320gb USB HDD that I store all my music, movies, and documents on. I use the HDD to play music/video files on my xbox 360, and to share files with friends.

I want to create a protected folder on this external USB HDD to keep my sensitive data in, like my school work, resumes, financial stuff, photo's, basically everything BUT my music and videos. That way I'll have a backup in case my laptop HDD bites it. I want certain directories to be unprotected(for use on xbox, etc) and then other stuff protected.

From what I've been reading, TrueCrypt seems to be along the lines of what I need. (http://maketecheasier.com/truecrypt-encrypt-your-data-the-easy-way/2008/04/17) My question is, if I store my files on this external HDD and my laptop HDD is lost for whatever reason, would the encryption key also be lost? Or will any machine that has TrueCrypt installed and has the valid user-set password be able to access these files?

My concern is that I'll encrypt the files on the external HDD, my laptop HDD with die, and then I'll try to access those files with another machine and/or new HDD, and I won't be able to access my encrypted backup.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
Thanks in advance!

[Bachstelze]

TrueCrypt can encrypt you data with either a key, a passphrase, or both. So if you choose "both" and lost your key, you can still use your passphrase to recover it (and vice versa). Of course, don't forget your passphrase and lose your key at the same time. ;)

[chippies]

Excellent, thanks for the quick reply! I'll definitely give TrueCrypt a shot tonight after work on a test directory to make sure I don't muck things up!