How to safely use a drive-connector kit

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	LANGALIST PLUS How to safely use a drive-connector kit
	By Fred Langa Here’s the right way to handle hard drives (and their data) when using an external drive-connector kit. Plus: An industrial-strength data-recovery tool; malware warnings triggered by Reaver/Backtrack5; and a reader-recommended password keeper.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/langalist-plus/how-to-safely-use-a-drive-connector-kit/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Fred,

I am continually surprised that Password Safe is not on the list of recommended password storage utilities whenever I see articles (anywhere) discussing this topic. I and many of my security co-workers have used this little tool on multiple platforms for many years. Easy to use, setup, and is light weight. I personally store the safe in my SkyDrive (used to use Dropbox) and point Password Safe to it, making it available where ever I am. There is a version ported to Android and iOS, a beta version under development for Linux, and even a disk-on-key version. It is open source and costs nothing. Donations welcomed of course

FYI, I am not one of the developers or affiliated with them in any way. I am just a very satisfied user for many years.

I would like your opinion on this tool and how it stacks up against those two tools you mention in the article. Their site is http://pwsafe.org.

Keep up the great work!

~David C. CISSP/CISM

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I have an app on the Windows Store for Windows 8 called Password Crypt. You only need to remember your Master Password to use it. Very simple and it uses AES-256 encryption.

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This post relates to File & Partition recovery and a neat (but not cheap) product that I found to solve my problem

This problem originated from a brief foray into Apple OS X land and virtual (then) and subsequent (now) dual booting WIN 7. As a sports photographer I should have known better but I had lost almost 2000 images and was frantic to recover. Machine wouldn’t boot either OS and the files were gone. Seems like a common Apple issue and Apple users seem to accept….”the files are gone, oh well, time for a cappuccino…”

Sitting in a pile of hair (my own), and after a lot of web searching I uncovered a company called Lsoft (in Toronto I think) I downloaded the demo and I was able to boot see my partitions and see my files. I paid the money and got my files back.

THe company link is http://www.file-recovery.net/ ….I think you guys are the real experts but this product worth its weight/wait in gold.

Comes with two pieces Partition recovery and File recovery.

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“Password Safe” is still the best free product on the market and has stood the test of time in my personal experience.

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I have used Acebit’s Password Depot (PD) for about 8-10 years since v2 and am now on v6. Really a fantastic program and worth the price (about $38 USD for new user and cheaper, $13 for upgrades from previous version). Password Depot uses AES and Rijndael 256 bit encryption. This German company has been fantastic to work with and is very responsive to comments, suggestions, and support questions. They seem like a small company and yet are very professional. They continuously improve their products (besides Password Depot they have several very interesting types of software). The latest PD version is v7. They also make a server version of PD. PD has keylogger protections, can save encrypted attachments, can provide external document encryption, secure deletion tools, synchronizing tools and more. They have an android version but it is a pretty rough draft, honestly. I’m confident they will continue to work on it also.

I know this note sounds like a commercial message but I am just that great a fan. It would be very cool if Windows Secrets and Techrepublic, among others, would get on board with Acebit and Password Depot. See it at Acebit dot com

Webweweave (Steve)

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This post relates to File & Partition recovery and a neat (but not cheap) product that I found to solve my problem

This problem originated from a brief foray into Apple OS X land and virtual (then) and subsequent (now) dual booting WIN 7. As a sports photographer I should have known better but I had lost almost 2000 images and was frantic to recover. Machine wouldn’t boot either OS and the files were gone. Seems like a common Apple issue and Apple users seem to accept….”the files are gone, oh well, time for a cappuccino…”

Sitting in a pile of hair (my own), and after a lot of web searching I uncovered a company called Lsoft (in Toronto I think) I downloaded the demo and I was able to boot see my partitions and see my files. I paid the money and got my files back.

THe company link is http://www.file-recovery.net/ ….I think you guys are the real experts but this product worth its weight/wait in gold.

Comes with two pieces Partition recovery and File recovery.

Actually, Apple has Time Machine, which can deal with a lot of these issues. A full System Image and data backup regimen for each installed OS and its data would do wonders for folks on both sides of the Windows/Apple divide. Back up important photos to multiple media in multiple physical locations for best results, especially if you’re a Pro.

-- rc primak

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Regarding the warning of drive damage from connector kits.

I have a generic one, like Fred’s and it came with extensive warnings–but not for mishandling the drive to be attached. The warnings were for the power supply for the connector kit. With the the one I have, there is an external power supply that connects to the adapter via a 4-pin MOLEX connector, the same connector that’s used as the power connecter in PC’s for floppy drives and older IDE/PATA hard drives. The warnings were to ensure the power connector is connected with the proper orientation. Evidently, the female MOLEX socket used on the adapter was loose enough or soft enough that the plug could be forced in 180 degrees out, even though the plug has two beveled corners to prevent this. Since the plug provides both 5V and 12V, inserting it reversed would end up putting 12V to circuitry not designed for it, and would likely damage the adapter and the electronics on any drive attached to it.

Like Fred, I’ve never had any difficulty with using my drive connection kit, and have found that the warnings that came with it were seriously overblown.

Robert Weimer

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the female MOLEX socket used on the adapter was loose enough or soft enough that the plug could be forced in 180 degrees out, even though the plug has two beveled corners to prevent this

Working in low-light conditions I once fried a DVD re-writer in exactly this manner (at least I have the excuse that I had never encountered a warning about this). I’ve been a lot more careful since.

Another potential issue that I’ve heard about with the 4-pin Molex connector is that, unlike SATA power connectors, it does not ensure that the ground pins ‘make’ before the power pins do, and that a drive can be harmed if the connector insertion goes even slightly wrong. I suspect that plugging the drive in first and only then plugging the power supply into the wall outlet may be prudent to avoid such issues, though before I heard about them I plugged in the Molex connector last many times without any obvious problem.

And given how inexpensive these kits are I worry a bit about the possibility that their power supply might fry a disk, so I always check the voltage levels when I acquire one and then use an old, relatively disposable disk for a first test.

I’ve always found that being careful to make frequent flesh contact with the exposed metal on a plugged-in computer case (and still at least attempting to avoid any contact with any exposed traces on the underside of a drive or on any other internal component) has sufficed to avoid static damage. Unless I were barefoot I’m not sure that I’d trust an anti-static mat as much.

On the subject of data recovery:

Two free tools I’ve found useful are ddrescue (http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Ddrescue) and Unstoppable Copier (http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29) which both concentrate on extracting as much data as possible from the damaged drive before doing ANYTHING else (like trying to reconstruct file contents or even just retrying accesses in case they may eventually work). Making a first pass with ddrescue to copy all easily-readable data to a healthy drive and then having it retry the more challenging sections to try to fill them in maximizes the probability of getting off all the good data you can even if the damaged drive is killed by the retrying process; using Unstoppable Copier on the result helps piece together sections of still-damaged files.

Edit: Ah – more is coming back to me now. If the basic file system structure is usable and much of the disk is empty it may make sense to use Unstoppable Copier first to extract the easily-readable data while minimizing total disk access activity before telling it to be more aggressive with its retries to try to fill in the more challenging data (both of which will skip portions of the disk that are unused so that damage there will not increase the access load even more). IIRC ddrescue has its own controls to minimize the load on the failing disk as well.

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“… an entirely different “Password Pal” product that costs $10. Astonishingly, it’s an actual ink-on-paper booklet …”

How dumb! Post-It notes stuck to the display are much cheaper! :rolleyes:

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