Question How to Encrypt a Quadruple Boot - Windows 10, 3 Linux Distros

[HD7970GHZ]

Hi Everyone,

I have managed to get a triple boot setup on a Lenovo Laptop. It consists of Windows 10, Linux Mint and two other Linux distro's.

Is it possible to Encrypt the ENTIRE drive, so that a password will have to be entered prior to the boot selection screens? I have been told that trying to encrypt the entire drive via windows will wind up screwing up the EFI boot logs and therefore leave the Linux distros unbootable.

I cannot encrypt the entire linux OS's individually either.

Anyone have suggestions?

HD.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, use ATA Security, which is colloquially known as "HDD Password" (Master, and User), in the BIOS. If your laptop doesn't have that feature, then look for a business laptop that does.

When set, that requires the password to be entered, pre-boot, to even access the drive at all.

Note that this only protects the drive when powered off, once the password is entered, and the OS booted, the contents are fully visible (and over the network, if sharing is enabled, etc.)

 

[killster1]

Yes, use ATA Security, which is colloquially known as "HDD Password" (Master, and User), in the BIOS. If your laptop doesn't have that feature, then look for a business laptop that does.

When set, that requires the password to be entered, pre-boot, to even access the drive at all.

Note that this only protects the drive when powered off, once the password is entered, and the OS booted, the contents are fully visible (and over the network, if sharing is enabled, etc.)

looks to be super easy to defeat that ata security..

Breaking ATA Password Security | UT Austin Information Security Office

A number of departments on campus have started to use ATA password security in combination with Full Disk Encryption (FDE) drives, or Self-Encrypting Drives (SED), to comply with the mandatory encryption policy for portable devices without having to install encryption applications such as...

security.utexas.edu