News

Q: Is it possible to password-protect a USB drive?

A: If you already have the drive, an encryption utility program will let you lock it up. Many of these programs are aimed at business users who need to protect confidential corporate information; check out pgp.com to get an idea of the software offered for sale. Companies that make anti-virus and security software may have drive-encryption options for sale as well.

If the price is too high, consider shareware from a reputable site or a free open-source solution like TrueCrypt (truecrypt.org). TrueCrypt, with versions available to download for Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X and Linux, can encrypt the entire USB drive. Although some open-source software projects tend to get a little technical for new users, the TrueCrypt site has an illustrated beginners' tutorial and a lengthy section devoted to frequently asked questions.

If you are shopping for a new USB drive, several companies make models that have security measures built in. Kingston, Verbatim and SanDisk all have their own variations on the secure USB drive; prices will probably be higher than those for regular USB drives. For the deeply security-minded, IronKey (ironkey.com) makes waterproof, tamperproof USB drives with military-grade encryption software; the 1-gigabyte “personal” model costs $79.

The ComputerWorld site reviewed seven brands of secure USB drives last year and has a head-to-head assessment if you want some in-depth opinions.

MINIMOVIES BY E-MAIL

Q: My digital camera can take short video clips, but the files are huge. Is there a way to slim these movies down so I can send them around to friends and family by e-mail?

A: Try importing the video clips into a movie-editing program first. Even if you don't have a fancy third-party video editing program on your computer, odds are the machine came with one, like Windows MovieMaker on the PC or iMovie on the Macintosh. Windows users can also try out Pinnacle VideoSpin (videospin.com), which has tutorials; it's free to use, but you may need to buy additional software from the site to save finished movies in certain formats.

If the camera uses a video format that your program doesn't import, you can find video-format converter programs at most shareware sites, like download.com, that can translate the clip into a form your video editing program can accept.

Once a video clip is imported into a movie program, it can be edited and polished if needed. When the clip is ready, check the program's menu for output or export options. Many programs have “e-mail” as an option; choosing it converts the clip to a size that is acceptable to most e-mail systems.

If you find the video quality suffers too much from the conversion process, consider saving the clip as a “Web quality” file and uploading it to a video-sharing site that offers password-protection for better privacy, like Vimeo (vimeo.com). Once the video is uploaded to such a sharing site, you just need to send a link by e-mail to your friends and family, so they can go see it at any time.

TIP OF THE WEEK

While the iPhone's Safari Web browser can bring the full versions of most sites right to the palm of your hand, it can be a pain to pinch and spread your fingers all over the screen to make the tiny text legible. There is a way to zoom in more efficiently, however: Just tap twice on a column or section of text to zoom in and tap twice again to zoom back out.