TRUECRYPT
F R E E O P E N - S O U R C E O N - T H E - F L Y E N C R Y P T I O N
USER’S GUIDE
www.truecrypt.org
Version Information
TrueCrypt User’s Guide, version 6.2. Released May 11, 2009.
Licensing Information
By installing, running, using, copying, (re)distributing, and/or modifying TrueCrypt or a portion thereof you
accept all terms, responsibilities and obligations contained in the TrueCrypt License the full text of which is
contained in the file License.txt included in TrueCrypt binary and source code distribution packages.
Copyright Information
This software as a whole:
Copyright © 2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software:
Copyright © 2003-2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998-2000 Paul Le Roux. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998-2008 Brian Gladman, Worcester, UK. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002-2004 Mark Adler. All rights reserved.
For more information, please see the legal notices attached to parts of the source code.
Trademark Information
TrueCrypt and the TrueCrypt logos are trademarks of the TrueCrypt Foundation.
Note: The goal is not to monetize the name or the product, but to protect the reputation of TrueCrypt, and to
prevent support issues and other kinds of issues that might arise from the existence of similar products with
the same or similar name. Even though TrueCrypt is a trademark, TrueCrypt is and will remain open-source
and free software.
Any other trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.
Limitations
The TrueCrypt Foundation does not warrant that the information contained in this document meets your
requirements or that it is free of errors.
TrueCrypt User’s Guide. Copyright © 2003-2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
2
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................6
BEGINNER’S TUTORIAL ..............................................................................................................7
How to Create and Use a TrueCrypt Container.......................................................................7
How to Create and Use a TrueCrypt Partition/Device...........................................................25
PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY.........................................................................................................26
HIDDEN VOLUME............................................................................................................................27
Protection of Hidden Volumes Against Damage...................................................................29
Security Precautions Pertaining to Hidden Volumes.............................................................32
HIDDEN OPERATING SYSTEM..........................................................................................................35
Process of Creation of Hidden Operating System .................................................................36
Plausible Deniability and Data Leak Protection....................................................................38
Possible Explanations for Existence of Two TrueCrypt Partitions on Single Drive.............38
Safety and Security Precautions Pertaining to Hidden Operating Systems...........................40
SYSTEM ENCRYPTION ...............................................................................................................41
Operating Systems Supported for System Encryption...........................................................41
TrueCrypt Rescue Disk..........................................................................................................42
Hidden Operating System......................................................................................................43
TRUECRYPT VOLUME................................................................................................................44
CREATING A NEW TRUECRYPT VOLUME ........................................................................................44
Hash Algorithm......................................................................................................................44
Encryption Algorithm............................................................................................................44
Quick Format.........................................................................................................................45
Dynamic.................................................................................................................................45
Cluster Size............................................................................................................................45
TrueCrypt Volumes on CDs and DVDs ................................................................................45
Hardware/Software RAID, Windows Dynamic Volumes.....................................................46
Additional Notes on Volume Creation ..................................................................................46
MAIN PROGRAM WINDOW.......................................................................................................47
Select File ..............................................................................................................................47
Select Device .........................................................................................................................47
Mount.....................................................................................................................................47
Auto-Mount Devices..............................................................................................................47
Dismount................................................................................................................................48
Dismount All..........................................................................................................................48
Wipe Cache............................................................................................................................48
Never Save History................................................................................................................48
Exit.........................................................................................................................................48
Volume Tools ........................................................................................................................49
PROGRAM MENU.............................................................................................................................50
Volumes -> Auto-Mount All Device-Hosted Volumes.........................................................50
Volumes -> Save Currently Mounted Volumes as Favorite..................................................50
TrueCrypt User’s Guide. Copyright © 2003-2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
3
Volumes -> Mount Favorite Volumes...................................................................................50
Volumes -> Set Header Key Derivation Algorithm ..............................................................50
Volumes -> Change Volume Password.................................................................................51
System -> Change Password..................................................................................................51
System -> Mount Without Pre-Boot Authentication .............................................................51
Tools -> Clear Volume History .............................................................................................52
Tools -> Traveler Disk Setup.................................................................................................52
Tools -> Keyfile Generator....................................................................................................52
Tools -> Backup Volume Header ..........................................................................................52
Tools -> Restore Volume Header ..........................................................................................52
Settings -> Preferences ..........................................................................................................53
MOUNTING TRUECRYPT VOLUMES.................................................................................................55
Cache Password in Driver Memory.......................................................................................55
Mount Options .......................................................................................................................55
HOT KEYS.......................................................................................................................................56
KEYFILES .......................................................................................................................................56
Keyfiles Dialog Window .......................................................................................................57
Security Tokens and Smart Cards..........................................................................................57
Keyfile Search Path................................................................................................................58
Empty Password & Keyfile....................................................................................................58
Quick Selection......................................................................................................................58
Keyfiles -> Add/Remove Keyfiles to/from Volume..............................................................59
Keyfiles -> Remove All Keyfiles from Volume....................................................................59
Keyfiles -> Generate Random Keyfile ..................................................................................59
Keyfiles -> Set Default Keyfile/Paths....................................................................................59
SECURITY TOKENS & SMART CARDS...................................................................................61
TRAVELER MODE........................................................................................................................62
Tools -> Traveler Disk Setup.................................................................................................62
USING TRUECRYPT WITHOUT ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILEGES ..................................64
TRUECRYPT BACKGROUND TASK ........................................................................................65
LANGUAGE PACKS......................................................................................................................66
Installation .............................................................................................................................66
ENCRYPTION ALGORITHMS....................................................................................................67
AES........................................................................................................................................67
Serpent ...................................................................................................................................68
Twofish..................................................................................................................................68
AES-Twofish .........................................................................................................................68
AES-Twofish-Serpent............................................................................................................69
Serpent-AES ..........................................................................................................................69
Serpent-Twofish-AES............................................................................................................69
Twofish-Serpent.....................................................................................................................69
HASH ALGORITHMS ...................................................................................................................70
RIPEMD-160.........................................................................................................................70
TrueCrypt User’s Guide. Copyright © 2003-2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
4
SHA-512................................................................................................................................70
Whirlpool...............................................................................................................................70
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS.......................................................................................71
COMMAND LINE USAGE............................................................................................................72
Syntax ....................................................................................................................................74
Examples................................................................................................................................74
SHARING OVER NETWORK......................................................................................................75
SECURITY PRECAUTIONS.........................................................................................................76
Paging File.............................................................................................................................76
Hibernation File.....................................................................................................................77
Memory Dump Files..............................................................................................................77
Multi-User Environment........................................................................................................78
Unencrypted Data in RAM....................................................................................................78
Physical Security....................................................................................................................79
Malware .................................................................................................................................79
Changing Passwords and Keyfiles.........................................................................................80
Data Leaks .............................................................................................................................80
Windows Registry..................................................................................................................81
Wear-Leveling .......................................................................................................................81
Reallocated Sectors................................................................................................................82
Defragmenting .......................................................................................................................82
Journaling File Systems.........................................................................................................82
HOW TO BACK UP SECURELY.................................................................................................84
Non-System Volumes............................................................................................................84
System Partitions ...................................................................................................................85
General Notes.........................................................................................................................86
TROUBLESHOOTING ..................................................................................................................87
INCOMPATIBILITIES ..................................................................................................................90
KNOWN ISSUES & LIMITATIONS............................................................................................91
Known Issues.........................................................................................................................91
Limitations.............................................................................................................................91
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.........................................................................................93
HOW TO REMOVE ENCRYPTION..........................................................................................103
UNINSTALLING TRUECRYPT.................................................................................................104
TRUECRYPT SYSTEM FILES & APPLICATION DATA.....................................................105
TECHNICAL DETAILS...............................................................................................................106
NOTATION.....................................................................................................................................106
ENCRYPTION SCHEME...................................................................................................................107
MODES OF OPERATION..................................................................................................................109
HEADER KEY DERIVATION, SALT, AND ITERATION COUNT..........................................................110
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR ...................................................................................................111
TrueCrypt User’s Guide. Copyright © 2003-2009 TrueCrypt Foundation. All rights reserved.
5
KEYFILES ......................................................................................................................................113
TRUECRYPT VOLUME FORMAT SPECIFICATION ............................................................................115
COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................117
SOURCE CODE...............................................................................................................................117
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.........................................................................................................118
LICENSE........................................................................................................................................118
CONTACT......................................................................................................................................118
VERSION HISTORY....................................................................................................................119
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................120
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................121
