What is file vault and should i turn it on??

What is file vault and shuld i use it?

It basically is a system that encrypts your hard drive, making it more secure. It basically makes it so if your laptop is stolen and the thief wants to access files, they won't be able to just take out the HD and put it in another computer.
It really is not necessary unless you are working with files that are very confidential.

Similar Messages

  • What are the differences between file vault and legacy file vault?

    what are the differences between file vault and legacy file vault?

    Legacy is an encrypted disk image of your Home folder, FileVault2 is whole disk encryption

  • I am heading to Mexico for a quick business trip, I only want to receive texts and make a call or two. What do I need to turn off to avoid ANY additional charges? Cellular Data/Data Roaming/MMS/visual voicemail? And should I turn wifi on and leave it on?

    I am heading to Mexico for a quick business trip, I only want to receive texts and make a call or two. What do I need to turn off to avoid ANY additional charges? Cellular Data/Data Roaming/MMS/visual voicemail? And should I turn wifi on and leave it on?
    I have a new Iphone 5s.

    wifi is not something you can be charged for

  • File Vault and Firewall?

    I have a new macbook pro. Should I turn on File Vault and Firewall?

    The purpose of FileVault is to protect your files from being read by someone who has physical access to the computer. If you need or want that protection, you should enable it.
    The application firewall blocks incoming network traffic, regardless of origin, on a per-application basis. Typically, it would be configured to allow only applications digitally signed by Apple to listen on the network. It does not block outgoing traffic, nor can it distinguish between different sources of incoming traffic. It is not, as some people seem to believe, a malware filter.
    So for example, suppose you enable file sharing, and allow access by guests to certain folders. You want people on your local network to be able to access those files without having to enter a password. When configured as stated above, the firewall will allow that. Your router will prevent outsiders from accessing the files, whether the application firewall is on or not. But if your computer is portable and you connect it to an untrusted network such as a public hotspot, the firewall will still allow access to anyone, which is not what you want.
    Now suppose you unknowingly install a trojan that steals your data and uploads it to a remote server. The firewall, no matter how it's configured, will not block that outgoing traffic. It does nothing to protect you from that threat.
    Another scenario: Your web browser is compromised by a trojan. The trojan redirects all your web traffic to a bogus server. The firewall does nothing to protect you from this threat.
    A final scenario: You're running a public web server. Your router forwards TCP connection requests on port 80 to your Mac, and the connections are accepted by the built-in web server, which is signed by Apple. The application firewall, still configured as above, allows this to happen. Now you download a different trojan, one that tries to hijack port 80 and replace the built-in web server. The good news here is that the firewall does protect you; it blocks incoming connections to the trojan and alerts you. The bad news is that you've been rooted. The attacker who can do all this can just as easily disable the firewall, in which case it doesn't protect you after all.
    It might make a bit of sense to use the firewall if you're running trusted services on an unprivileged port; that is, a port numbered higher than 1023. Those ports can be bound by a process with no special privileges.
    Here is a more realistic scenario in which you should enable the firewall. Your portable Mac has several sharing services enabled. You want those services to be available to others on a home or office network. When you're on those networks, the firewall should be off. When you move to an untrusted network, you can either turn off all the services, or enable the firewall to block them. Blocking is easier: one configuration change instead of several.

  • Recovery Partition mandatory for File Vault and unencrypted TM Backup?

    I recently had to setup my Macbook Pro from scratch meaning erasing the whole disk and start from there.
    The update to Lion took already place a while ago and I had File Vault active. After making a last backup using
    TM I erased the disk and all partitions including Recovery partition and used the Leopard system DVD to boot
    the machine.
    From there I used the restore function to restore my TM backup to the MacBook. However, as the drive was
    not partioned and not formated, I had to do this manually. Apparently, the recovery process via TM does not include
    that. After system recovery, I booted from the Macbook and all apps and configuration seemed ok.
    I was a little surprised to see that I was able to do this recovery without being asked for ID and password of the user's File Vault access
    or the File Vault recovery key. All I needed was the TM ID and password (which is different from the owners ID and password)
    I am not sure if this is supposed to work like this but I looks rather easy to gain access to application an data of another user if that
    is all it takes?
    Now booting Lion again, I checked File Vault and noticed it was disabled although it was enabled for quite a while and long time
    before I took the latest backup. I could not turn it on, after providing a recovery key and asking me wether I wanted to write it down
    or safe it with Apple which I declined I wanted to reboot the notebook to start encryption but stopped saying my partition or volume
    would not support File Vault. This was GUID and MacOS Extended Journal partition and volume which to my knowledge would
    certainly support File Vault. In fact this is basically what I had before when File Vault was turned on and running.
    I called Apple support a few times. The second agent told me that it does not work because there is not recovery partition on my
    system but there was when I took the latest backup and I do have other means to get the recovery screen. Anyway it seems that
    File Vault required a local Recovery partition and I was wondering if anyone can tell me why this dependency exist. If I write down the
    recovery key, why would I need it to be stored on my disk as well?
    Also, if anyone has an idea if there is a way of creating a local recovery partition without having to go through the lenghty process of installing
    Leopard then upgrade to Lion and install all the apps and configure the OS again, would be great? I assume when I am back on Lion and use the TM
    backup for recovery, I probably end up with having the Recovery partition deleted and start from scratch again.
    I am a little concerned about the fact that it seems so easy to gain access to a protected backup and that the TM restore process does not include
    restoring partition and volumes as well. Who knows how many other dependencies exist and users have to reinstall their system again after recovery.
    I was following the recovery instruction of Apple but perhaps someone knows a better way to do this?

    Just an update, I went ahead and installed Lion again over the existing TM restored installation using the Lion Update file and at least File Vault is working. Interestingly, I still do not have a Recover partition so obviously something new for Apple Support to learn.

  • File vault and wake from sleep

    I had File Vault on ever since I got my Macbook Pro. It has always been slow to sleep and to wake from sleep -- sometimes taking 30 seconds. Then I turned File Vault and encryption of virtual memory off. Now the Macbook Pro wakes from sleep instantly. Can anyone explain what accounts for the difference?

    Hi, Daniel.
    You MacBook Pro employs Safe Sleep. An educated guess would be that using one or both of FileVault or Encrypted VM might incur an additional delay for encryption of the sleepimage file.
    Since it is easy to enable or disable Encrypted VM, try turning that back on and seeing if the delay returns. If so, that was the cause. If not, then it would FileVault.
    Good luck!
    Dr. Smoke
    Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

  • I have an iPhone 5 and when i lightly tap on the back top part of my phone it sounds like something is rattling inside. Only on the top part of the phone, not on the bottom. I am wondering if anyone knows what this may be and should i have it looked at?

    I have an iPhone 5 and when i lightly tap on the back top part of my phone it sounds like something is rattling inside. Only on the top part of the phone, not on the bottom. I am wondering if anyone knows what this may be and should i have it looked at?

    Definitlely have it looked at. That could be a hardware deffect on the maker(apple) so there could be a definite replacement option.

  • File vault and wanted to upgrade to Lion

    I have a client who was using file vault and wanted to upgrade to Lion. I did a Time Machine backup and upgraded to Lion. Ater that I noted that time machine does not backup file vault files. Please help.

    Are you trying to sign into the App Store and can't?

  • What is File Vault?

    HI! when i first got my ibook i saw that file vault protected my files and decided i should use it...Now, im not sure how filevault really operates or how it protects me and my files. Im the only user on my laptop and im a student. So... should i even have filevault enabled at all? Basically i just want to know how filevault works and if i need it on or not. Thanks in Advance!
    -Seth

    Be aware that FileVault, even though it runs transparently, does eat up extra CPU cycles, and does slow down your computer to a degree. It is up to the individual to determine if they require that much security.
    From the Help files:
    Mac OS X includes FileVault, which allows you to encrypt the information in your home folder. FileVault creates a separate volume for your home folder and encrypts the contents of it. The data in your home folder is encoded and your information is secure if your computer is lost or stolen. FileVault uses the latest government-approved encryption standard, the Advanced Encryption Standard with 128-bit keys (AES-128).
    When you turn on FileVault, you also set up a master password for the computer that you or an administrator can use if you forget your regular login password.
    WARNING: If you turn on FileVault and then forget both your login password and your master password, you will not be able to log in to your account and your data will be lost forever.
    If the information on your computer is of a sensitive nature, you should consider using FileVault. For example, if you carry all your company's financial data on your PowerBook, losing your PowerBook could allow someone else access to sensitive data that might hurt your business. If you are logged out of your account when your PowerBook is lost, and FileVault is turned on, your information is safe.
    Since you home folder is encrypted, some tasks that normally access your home folder may be prevented, for example: backup utilities may see your home folder as one folder that's always changing, and this could slow down your backup. Also, if you're not logged in to your computer, other users will not have access to shared folders in your home folder

  • Time Machine, File Vault and External Hard Drive

    I use file vault on my well travelled MBP.  When I get home I connect to my EHD for a regular backup using Time Machine.  I am the only user on the MBP.  My questions are:
    Since the MBP is encrypted is the backup encryted on the EHD?
    Should I ever need to restore from Time Machine using the EHD would I therefore need the password to access the backup?
    If the EHD is NOT encrypted, how do I accomplish this and have File Vault work as seemlessly on the EHD as it does on the MBP
    MacOS X 10.7.5
    Thanks

    1. Only if the external HD is encrypted, which can be done by formatting it as an encrypted volume with Disk Utility before setting it up with Time Machine, or by checking the option to encrypt the drive in the Time Machine system preferences.
    2. No. The password for unlocking the drive is kept on the drive, so if you need to restore from backup all you should need is to supply the password when using the OS X Tools.
    3. See #1.

  • Aperture, File Vault, and Time Machine used together?

    I am interested to know if I could setup a system to run like this:
    1. Create a user account with File Vault turned on
    2. Use Aperture inside the File Vault protected profile, thus the Aperture Library is encrypted
    3. Plug in an external drive and use Time Machine as normal.
    I have heard that in order to use Time Machine and Aperture that one must tell Time Machine to NOT backup the Aperture library. However, if File Vault is used doesn't Time Machine only backup the encrypted volume upon logout?
    Can anyone foresee this causing problems? Thanks!

    Time Machine and File Vault aren't a particularly good combination.
    See #25 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for details and some possible alternatives.

  • File Vault and Shutdown

    I am required to use file vault to encrypt my home directory at work. Often, during shut down, I get a message that says "...recovering disk space..." and I have to wait for several minutes before the system will shut down. This is usually not a problem, but I noticed that it becomes a problem if I do anything with my external hard drive.
    If I work with files on my external hard drive, and then I eject the drive and shut down, the system shut down gets hung up trying to recover disk space, and never shuts down (even after > 8 hours). However, if I leave the external hard drive plugged in during shut down, everything seems to be OK. Then I can disconnect the drive after shut down and carry on with my life.
    It would be great if an apple engineer would read this, and figure out why the system is getting hung up during shut down when the hard drive has been ejected. Maybe before ejecting, the there should be a "recovering disk space on the external hard drive" routine.
    If anyone out there has any other thoughts, they are appreciated.

    These are user to user forums. Apple engineers don't normally reply here.
    If you want to report this issue to Apple's engineering, send a bug report or an enhancement request via its Bug Reporter system. To do this, join the Mac Developer Program—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report or enhancement request. The nice thing with this procedure is that you get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

  • File Vault and Time Machine

    Hi, I am new mac users, and I need to know how to secure my time machine drive so if you plug in to other mac should ask for password, by googling some info, I found some trick to set our mac with file vault, so all user data will be encrypted.
    but after my imac sets file vault, time machine only works for shared folders, and not realtime backup my main data and system, it inly backup when I log out or shut down my mac.
    so I assume my backup data from my time machine will not work for restoring file as normal time machine backup
    any solution for this? thanks

    Time Machine and File Vault aren't a particularly good combination.
    See #25 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for details and some possible alternatives.

  • Lion OSX File Vault and filesharing with unencrypted users/computers

    How does File Vault 2 work in the following Use-Case? 
    User A, has full disk encryption through File Vault enabled on a MacBook Air. 
    User A has an Microsoft Excel file that has been stored in his/her Documents Folder on their encrypted drive. 
    User A wants to share this file with User B so that User B can finish entering data and adding some calculations. 
    User B is a Windows 7 PC with no disk encryption. 
    User A drops this file on a WIndows file server that both User A and User B has access to. 
    This file server is not an encrypted system. 
    Will the act of User A dropping the file on the file server automatically unencrypt the file so the User B can open the Excel file and work with it?

    The files don't get passed as an encrypted object. They get passed as files. The encryption/decryption works at a level that is transparent to just about everything, includingthe file system.
    So, no, the file is not encrypted when you drop it onto a file server.

  • "Missing Sync Listener wants to make changes" what does this mean and should I submit my password?

    What does this message mean Missing Sync Listener wants to make changes" and should I submit my password?

    With the amount of information you've provided it's impossible to offer a solution.  We can't see your computer so we need to know the details of your problem and setup, i.e.:
    what version of iPhoto are you using?
    what system version are you running?
    what are you seeing the exclamation point?  When you double click on a thumbnail?
    what fixes have you tried?
    where is your library located?
    did you apply any updates or upgrades just prior to the problem occurring?
    are you running a "managed" or "referenced" library?
    what type of Mac?
    how much free space on your boot drive?

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