When you open File Explorer or This PC, you will notice that the drive icon has changed - the padlock indicates that the drive is now encrypted with BitLocker, and when coloured grey, this means that the drive is unlocked.

When encryption is complete you will see Encryption of drive complete and can close the window.

When asked if you are ready to encrypt the drive, click Start encrypting.

Select how much of the drive you want to encrypt - used space only (best for a new drive) or the entire drive (best for a drive already in use).

In the Save BitLocker Recovery Key window, browse to and select a suitable location on your H: drive - click Save then Next.

Instead, store it on your University H: drive. Don't save the recovery key on the drive you are encrypting.

You will then be prompted to back up your recovery key - you may need to use this if you ever forget the password to your drive.

Check Use a password to unlock the drive, enter and re-enter your preferred password (tip: string three random but memorable words together to use as a strong password), then click Next.

Choose how you want to unlock the drive - if you want to edit and save files to the drive, select Encrypt this drive using BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Wait for the BitLocker Drive Encryption (D:) window to appear.

Insert your USB or external hard drive into the computer.

BitLocker Drive Encryption (D:) is enabled on all Windows 10 One Dundee Desktops, so you can't edit or save files to your drive when using one of these computers unless it is BitLocker encrypted. This means that if your drive is lost or stolen, unauthorised users can't access the information contained on it.

It encodes data, ensuring it can only be read by someone who has the right encryption key (password) to decode it.

Encryption is an effective method of protecting data stored on portable USB and external hard drives.

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