Can you safely upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 when using Truecrypt 7.1a without risk of corrupting the bootloader and without first decrypting the drive?
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1TrueCrypt has at least two limitations relevant to modern computers: 1) For full-disk-encrytion you need an MBR and not a GPT formated disk and 2) AFAIK it's not compatible with UEFI, so you need to switch to BIOS mode– CodesInChaosCommented Sep 6, 2015 at 16:44
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@CodesInChaos It's because Im lazy– Lucas KauffmanCommented Sep 6, 2015 at 19:19
6 Answers
Can you safely upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 when using TrueCrypt 7.1a
TrueCrypt is no longer supported.
You should decrypt your hard disk and any other data before upgrading as otherwise you cannot be sure you will be able to retrieve your data.
If you wish to still use unsupported software
Some people have stated that TrueCrypt still works with Windows 10.
- Decrypt the disk, do the upgrade, then make sure TrueCrypt still functions after the upgrade.
- Make backups should be made before and after you encrypt the HDD and perform that first reboot.
The development of TrueCrypt was ended in 5/2014 after Microsoft terminated support of Windows XP. Windows 8/7/Vista and later offer integrated support for encrypted disks and virtual disk images. Such integrated support is also available on other platforms (click here for more information). You should migrate any data encrypted by TrueCrypt to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported on your platform.
Source http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net
It is likely to be incompatible. It is always recommended you decrypt your hard disk and any other data before upgrading an operating system or else it will not be accessible after upgrading.
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5@FrankThornton "works great" and "not supported" are not mutually exclusive. However it's likely Win10 and TrueCrypt could have compatibility problems we don't know about Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 3:25
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1Any compatibility problems can be avoided by decrypting the disk, doing the upgrade, then making sure TrueCrypt still functions after the upgrade. Of course proper backups should be made before and after you encrypt the hdd and perform that first reboot.– RamhoundCommented Aug 7, 2015 at 16:33
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6Somehow using Microsoft-provided encryption tools feels to me like asking the fox to guard the henhouse...– SF.Commented Nov 24, 2015 at 17:46
Do NOT upgrade on a System-encrypted-TrueCrypt drive!
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Indeed. Otherwise, the “not-in-Windows” portion of the upgrade process will most likely fail. It will most likely not have the TrueCrypt driver.– Daniel BCommented Aug 2, 2015 at 20:09
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While it would be nice to have something from the link, that says that, the simply fact is this is the proper procedure so there isn't that much that should be added.– RamhoundCommented Aug 7, 2015 at 16:36
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I have practically tested 7.1a on Windows 10 on a VMWare environment.
YES, it does work. You can use TrueCrypt 7.1a system drive encryption with Windows 10, but in order to do that, you must:
Un-encrypt the drive
Update to Windows 10
Make sure you do not use UEFI Secureboot.
After Windows 10 is updated, re-encrypt the system drive.
So I confirm it is compatible with Windows 10 boot system, but make sure you follow the rules above when updating.
I am running the last stable version of Trucrypt. I recently upgraded to Windows 10. So far Trucrypt appears to be working fine. The upgrade does mess with the security settings on all drives and folders. You may have to give yourself admin on all drives and folders to access Trucrypt container files properly. So far so good
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This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post.– RamhoundCommented Sep 29, 2015 at 12:24
The above answers are wrong. You do NOT have to disable your full-disk system encryption for an upgrade.
For that you need to integrate the Truecrypt or Veracrypt drivers into your W10 installation media. You can do that with this tool: https://github.com/th-wilde/veracrypt-w10-patcher
The upgrade process will not replace your Truecrypt/Veracrypt bootloader. I tested this myself just now.
Truecrypt is no longer developed and has a few known security holes. Use Veracrypt as a drop-in replacement. It is fully compatible with Truecrypt as it started development from the last Truecrypt version of the source code. And as already said it has fixed some security holes that exist in the last available Truecrypt.
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1It may not, but it lets you know that because of the known security holes in Truecrypt that you actually aren't safe with it.– headkaseCommented Aug 2, 2015 at 20:07
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1Follow the other advice: decrypt the drive, upgrade, and then re-encrypt with Veracrypt.– headkaseCommented Aug 2, 2015 at 20:08
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5Actually the "security" holes in Truecrypt are quite ok and are only benign in general for the security of Truecrypt itself. Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 20:48
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5This would be more appropriate as a comment. It's useful, tangential information but doesn't answer what was asked in the question. Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 5:51