Software Update: TrueCrypt 6.2

On Monday, version 6.2 of TrueCrypt was released. TrueCrypt is an open source encryption program that can encrypt physical volumes (a hard disk or a partition) and virtual volumes (a file accessed as a partition). In addition, it is also possible to create a hidden volume in the encrypted disk. This second volume is only visible if the correct password is entered. So if you are forced to give the password, then you can only give the password that gives access to the entire encrypted disk. The second hidden volume is then completely invisible. More information about this can be found at this page to be found.

In version 6.2, the read speed has been improved, especially when used on an SSD, and the bootloader can now also handle motherboards equipped with an on-board raid controller. The full changelog of this release looks like this:

New features:

• The I/O pipeline now uses read-ahead buffering, which improves read performance especially on solid-state drives, typically by 30-50%. (Windows)

Improvements, bug fixes, and security enhancements:

• The boot loader now supports motherboards with BIOSes that reserve large amounts of base memory (typically for onboard RAID controllers). Note: In order to be able to take advantage of this improvement under Windows Vista, you will have to install Service Pack 1 or higher first. Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista resolved an issue causing a shortage of free base memory during system boot. (Windows Vista/XP/2008/2003)
• Mounting using the ‘Auto-Mount Devices’ feature may take significantly less time as partitions containing unencrypted filesystems are now skipped. (Windows)
• When volumes that are mounted as read-only or removable are saved as favorite volumes, they are mounted as read-only and/or removable when ‘Mount Favorite Volumes’ is used.
• When a multiple-pass wipe algorithm is selected when performing in-place encryption of a non-system volume, the header areas will be wiped before the encrypted headers are written to the disk. Note: On an existing volume, you can perform such an operation by changing its password and/or keyfiles. (Windows)
• Many other minor improvements, bug fixes and security enhancements. (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux)