Thank you for the kind words!
To answer your first question, yes it should be possible. We've had customers encrypting hundreds of gigabytes of data with Espionage without problems, and this shouldn't be surprising because Espionage uses the same system tools that Apple's Disk Utility uses to create encrypted disk images.
There are just two things to check before proceeding with this:
- Close all applications and documents that are accessing files in that folder before encrypting it.
- If the folder is 800GB, then check to make sure that you have *at least* another 800GB to spare on that drive.
The reason for #2 is because Espionage has a "no deletion policy", meaning it contains no code that will cause it to directly delete any of your files. Instead, after encrypting a folder it will move the original to the trash to let you decide what should be done with it (e.g. back it up, secure delete it, etc.).
If that's a problem then here's what you can do:
- Move the files that you want encrypted to some other location (e.g. another drive).
- In Espionage's advanced preferences, set the Minimum Image Capacity to the capacity that you want the folder to have (e.g. 900GB => 921600MB).
- Create an empty folder at the location that you want the resulting encrypted folder to be.
- Encrypt this folder with Espionage, making sure to set its encryption to sparsebundle before proceeding.
- After the folder encrypts, unlock it and transfer all of the files into it from the location where you moved them.
Quote from: "Jaguar"2.) On external drives that do not stay connected to the computer at all times is it possible to lock the folders using Espionage?
Yes.
Quote from: "Jaguar"3.) I sync with MobileMe, does Espionage have any problems syncing with MobileMe?
We have received reports of previous versions having issues with MobileMe's sync. The latest version of Espionage is supposed to address them, and although we've tested it with MobileMe Sync and everything
seems fine, it's still possible that something could go wrong. Therefore if you expect to use MobileMe Sync with Espionage'd folders (e.g. Address Book), it's
strongly recommend that you make sure to use Espionage's built-in backups. Actually, it's
always strongly recommend to use Espionage's built-in backups, regardless of the situation. ;-)
Thanks a lot Greg.
I think I will have a work around so that I do not need the full 800+ gigz all at once, by breaking up the folders and encrypting them with disk utility and then espionage for security and then others just using espionage. I was doing more reading of your help file and found more information on encryption etc. :D
Very cool for number 2. That way if the hard drives end up in the wrong hands they cannot get to them.
I do use the backup available on any application and I have always used it just in case a needed restore is in order. I have had to restore from when I was on a PC so backup is second nature. :)
Thanks for all your help and again an excellent application.
Jaguar