Installing Cryptainer on USB/Removable Drives (Stand Alone, Self Contained Install)

Cryptainer can be installed directly on a USB / removable drive as a "stand alone" install. One can carry this installation of Cryptainer ('Cryptainer Mobile') to different machines without having to install Cryptainer on the host machine.

It is possible to encrypt files directly on any media, including removeable media too (USB Drive/CD-Rom/CDRW). Cryptainer allows users to create standalone instances load directly from the removable media without having to install anything permanent on the host machine. The sensitive data can be stored within an encrypted volume file that can only be accessed through the Cryptainer program and user-password.

You will find the mobile feature of Cryptainer useful. The "Cryptainer Mobile" feature of Cryptainer allows for creation of a 'stand-alone' install of Cryptainer on removable drives so that your Encrypted volumes on the removable drives can be accessed from any PC without needing a full install of Cryptainer on the host. The user still does need to know the correct password.

Cryptainer mobile feature is designed specifically for use with removable media. This feature allows for creation of a stand-alone install of Cryptainer on the removable drive so that your volume files may be accessed from any location without requiring a complete install on the host machine.

To install Cryptainer on a USB/removable drive,

1.   Click on menu items of Cryptainer main window "Tools - Install Cryptainer Mobile"

2.   You will see the following window.

3.   This will install the Cryptainer drive once you select the location.

You will see the following files/folders on the drive

This can now be taken on to any machine running Windows 2000/Win2003 Server/ Windows XP.

Note: Cryptainer Mobile feature is not available in Windows 98/ME because the windows 98/ME environment does not allow for the automatic loading of drivers.

For example, if you want to use a USB drive with Windows 98/ME, you have to install the drivers. This is not necessary in Windows 2000 and Windows XP environments, as Windows recognizes the new component immediately.