Does anyone know if it's possible to sync with Sandisk Secure Access?
I can't find a way to access the folders in the Vault via FreeFileSync.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Sandisk Secure Access...
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Unfortunately I don't think it's possible - the SanDisk SecureAccess 'vaults' are only accessible via very limited interfaces, through their software application. The only automated copying it supports is making a backup, from the USB drive to your PC.
So I think that the SanDisk SecureAccess is only suitable for files/folders that you're happy to copy manually - it's no use when you have huge folders that you want to synchronise daily, using FreeFileSync or rsync or anything else.
I had a Toshiba USB stick that was much better - it had a Public partition, which was visible when you inserted the drive, and a Private partition that became visible (and accessible as a normal drive) when you unlocked it. Unfortunately I lost it (luckily my data was secure!), and now I'm trying to find a new one with the same software, as I don't know of any other thumb-drive manufacturer that does what I (and you) need, built-in, in such a simple and secure way, without paying a high price.
Now I am using VeraCrypt (free and open-source) to manage a secure volume (like a 'vault') within my thumb-drive, and FreeFileSync works perfectly with it.
The only downside of that solution is that you need to have the VeraCrypt software installed on any computer that you want to use to access your encrypted volume, but if you're always using FFS too then that shouldn't be a big issue for you.
The upside is that you can use it on any drive, unlike the proprietary solutions like SanDisk and Toshiba put on their drives.
So I think that the SanDisk SecureAccess is only suitable for files/folders that you're happy to copy manually - it's no use when you have huge folders that you want to synchronise daily, using FreeFileSync or rsync or anything else.
I had a Toshiba USB stick that was much better - it had a Public partition, which was visible when you inserted the drive, and a Private partition that became visible (and accessible as a normal drive) when you unlocked it. Unfortunately I lost it (luckily my data was secure!), and now I'm trying to find a new one with the same software, as I don't know of any other thumb-drive manufacturer that does what I (and you) need, built-in, in such a simple and secure way, without paying a high price.
Now I am using VeraCrypt (free and open-source) to manage a secure volume (like a 'vault') within my thumb-drive, and FreeFileSync works perfectly with it.
The only downside of that solution is that you need to have the VeraCrypt software installed on any computer that you want to use to access your encrypted volume, but if you're always using FFS too then that shouldn't be a big issue for you.
The upside is that you can use it on any drive, unlike the proprietary solutions like SanDisk and Toshiba put on their drives.
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Thanks, Irene. I appreciate your response.
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So... I was just wondering if this is still the case....
Is there, at this time, any way to sync with Sandisk Secure Access (Syncing folders in the Vault) using FreeFileSync?
Thanks!
Is there, at this time, any way to sync with Sandisk Secure Access (Syncing folders in the Vault) using FreeFileSync?
Thanks!
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- Joined: 8 Mar 2017
There is a portable version of VeraCrypt. Just look on the download page and get it from there. https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Downloads.htmlThe only downside of that solution is that you need to have the VeraCrypt software installed on any computer that you want to use to access your encrypted volume, but if you're always using FFS too then that shouldn't be a big issue for you.lrenshaw, 06 Jul 2017, 02:50
The downloaded file just extracts the contents of the file to a folder of your choice and you can use it from there. Should work on a flash drive too but you need Administrator privileges to run it successfully. You can get details of this here: Portable Mode (I think that some of that documentation is a bit out of date but the basic information given should be fine.)
I do run VeraCrypt on my own system from time to time and I've only ever used the portable version. At no time have I ever fully installed VeraCrypt to my system. Seems to work fine for me. Never tried it on a flash drive inserted into a system to which I don't have admin privileges.
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Thank you.
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If you are going to try using Veracrypt then it is worth mentioning the following.
I will refer to the file that Veracrypt creates (to hold your data inside it) as the Veracrypt file. I will refer to the mounting of that file as a drive letter as the Veracrypt volume -- you would actually copy/delete files, or other file manipulations, in the volume while it was mounted.
If you intend to use FFS to copy the Veracrypt file from your flash drive to another location then you have a problem in that Veracrypt (and by default, I think does) timestamps that file at the time the file was created by Veracrypt and then never changes the timestamp on the file in subsequent uses of the file to mount it as a volume. This leads to a situation in which FFS will never sync the Veracrypt file because the size and the timestamp never change (even though you may have added files into the volume while it was mounted).
To get around this issue, in Veracypt go (menu) Settings > Preferences... In the Preferences GUI that opens up look at the entries under the section titled Windows. There you will find a setting titled Preserve modification timestamp of file containers. If that setting has a tick in the box then Veracrypt will not change the timestamp of the file -- so the timestamp remains fixed, and FFS has no way of knowing if the file has changed in any way. However, if you untick that setting then Veracrypt will change the timestamp of the file if you mount the file as a volume and make any changes within the volume. This is useful because now FFS has a way of telling if the file has changed -- it has a new timestamp so FFS would consider the file to have changed and hence will sync the file during a sync operation.
So, think about that setting, set up a test Veracrypt file, experiment with it and Veracrypt and FFS and you'll see how the setting works (if I haven't explained it very well).
If you don't intend to use FFS to sync your Veracrypt file then you don't need to do anything and leaving Veracrypt to never change the timestamp of the Veracrypt file is probably the best setting to use.
I will refer to the file that Veracrypt creates (to hold your data inside it) as the Veracrypt file. I will refer to the mounting of that file as a drive letter as the Veracrypt volume -- you would actually copy/delete files, or other file manipulations, in the volume while it was mounted.
If you intend to use FFS to copy the Veracrypt file from your flash drive to another location then you have a problem in that Veracrypt (and by default, I think does) timestamps that file at the time the file was created by Veracrypt and then never changes the timestamp on the file in subsequent uses of the file to mount it as a volume. This leads to a situation in which FFS will never sync the Veracrypt file because the size and the timestamp never change (even though you may have added files into the volume while it was mounted).
To get around this issue, in Veracypt go (menu) Settings > Preferences... In the Preferences GUI that opens up look at the entries under the section titled Windows. There you will find a setting titled Preserve modification timestamp of file containers. If that setting has a tick in the box then Veracrypt will not change the timestamp of the file -- so the timestamp remains fixed, and FFS has no way of knowing if the file has changed in any way. However, if you untick that setting then Veracrypt will change the timestamp of the file if you mount the file as a volume and make any changes within the volume. This is useful because now FFS has a way of telling if the file has changed -- it has a new timestamp so FFS would consider the file to have changed and hence will sync the file during a sync operation.
So, think about that setting, set up a test Veracrypt file, experiment with it and Veracrypt and FFS and you'll see how the setting works (if I haven't explained it very well).
If you don't intend to use FFS to sync your Veracrypt file then you don't need to do anything and leaving Veracrypt to never change the timestamp of the Veracrypt file is probably the best setting to use.
