From: Leonard Grey on
What makes you think that somebody who posts to a newsgroup is better
qualified than Google to provide a recommendation?

When I needed a plumber I also consulted friends and neighbors...but I
only asked people whom I felt were qualified to give me good advice. And
I described in detail the work I needed done, to better find a plumber
who was experienced in doing that kind of work. I didn't ask "know any
good plumbers?"
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

John Wunderlich wrote:
> Leonard Grey <l.grey(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in
> news:e1Dr2tN$KHA.1448(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:
>
> There's nothing wrong with asking for an opinion or recommendation. If
> I needed a plumber, I'd probably go with what my neighbor recommends
> rather than what pops up in Google...
>
> -- John
>
>> There must be hundreds of strong encryption utilities. How would
>> you like us to decide which one to suggest to you?
>>
>> Or were you thinking: If someone in a newsgroup recommends
>> something, I guess it's worth a try.
>> ---
>> Leonard Grey
>> Errare humanum est
>>
>> Michael D. Berger wrote:
>>> I recently obtained a 2T external drive for my
>>> XP laptop, and I would like to copy directories
>>> (folders) to it with strong encryption. What
>>> software should I use?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mike.
>
From: John Wunderlich on
Leonard Grey <l.grey(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in
news:#uGUNrR$KHA.1068(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:

> What makes you think that somebody who posts to a newsgroup is
> better qualified than Google to provide a recommendation?

IMHO, Any input based on human personal experience beats a machine that
spits out links to web pages matching a word or two.

The decision would still mine to make.
From: Shenan Stanley on
Michael D. Berger wrote:
> I recently obtained a 2T external drive for my
> XP laptop, and I would like to copy directories
> (folders) to it with strong encryption. What
> software should I use?

Leonard Grey wrote:
> There must be hundreds of strong encryption utilities. How would you
> like us to decide which one to suggest to you?
>
> Or were you thinking: If someone in a newsgroup recommends
> something, I guess it's worth a try.

John Wunderlich wrote:
> There's nothing wrong with asking for an opinion or recommendation.
> If I needed a plumber, I'd probably go with what my neighbor
> recommends rather than what pops up in Google...

Leonard Grey wrote:
> What makes you think that somebody who posts to a newsgroup is
> better qualified than Google to provide a recommendation?
>
> When I needed a plumber I also consulted friends and
> neighbors...but I only asked people whom I felt were qualified to
> give me good advice. And I described in detail the work I needed
> done, to better find a plumber who was experienced in doing that
> kind of work. I didn't ask "know any good plumbers?"

John Wunderlich wrote:
> IMHO, Any input based on human personal experience beats a machine
> that spits out links to web pages matching a word or two.
>
> The decision would still mine to make.

Suggestions - of any sort - should be all the OP could expect from their
request. No one suggested Google until "John Wunderlich" brought it into
the conversation.

Perhaps after finding the name of a few utilities, continue the search and
maybe do searches like...

TrueCrypt opinions
or
TrueCrypt reviews

(Based of responses so far.)

Then you get people's opinions en-masse on said subject.

Here - you might get one or two opinions/names - maybe a few more. And you
might even get some from some people who know little or nothing beyond what
they have tried or just Googled for and started using without doing the
secondary research.

I'm not saying that asking here is a horrible route - but it should not, by
any means, be the only thing done. Further research should be suggested and
done.

As for your neighbor analogy - really? Here you don't know anyone, they
don't live right next to you and you don't have the access to them like you
do your neighbor. No face-to-face, sorry I suggested that plumber
possibility later. No where near the same. Too many times I have seen
people posting here under other peoples names and unless one looks closely -
it can fool most people. Not so much with your neighbor - in most cases.

I would suggest researching based off the responses here, any information
(names of software) you find on an Internet Search Engine of your choice,
any you find on the software download pages (where often things get rated
and ranked by many many users who were specifically looking ofr and trying a
certain type of software for their own use) etc.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


From: Leonard Grey on
Not that familiar with Google, are you. Did you know that you can search
for reviews of products?
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

John Wunderlich wrote:
> Leonard Grey <l.grey(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in
> news:#uGUNrR$KHA.1068(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:
>
>> What makes you think that somebody who posts to a newsgroup is
>> better qualified than Google to provide a recommendation?
>
> IMHO, Any input based on human personal experience beats a machine that
> spits out links to web pages matching a word or two.
>
> The decision would still mine to make.
From: Twayne on
In news:ys%Kn.5099$VU1.3002(a)news.usenetserver.com,
Michael D. Berger <m_d_berger_1900(a)yahoo.com> typed:
> I recently obtained a 2T external drive for my
> XP laptop, and I would like to copy directories
> (folders) to it with strong encryption. What
> software should I use?
>
> Thanks,
> Mike.

Only you can determine that. You'll find XP's encryption superior to most,
especially things like truecrypt. The reason people like trucrypt is because
it's NOT as unforgiving as MS with its encryption; easier to steal, take to
another machine, etc.. Just be sure to read the details on exporting certs
& keys, that's all.

HTH,

Twayne`