User Documentation

Getting Started with SecureDrive

Complete walkthrough on initializing, mounting, managing, and securing removable encrypted storage devices on Windows.

Step 01

Initialize a New Secure Vault

Format a container partition on any removable USB flash drive with authenticated AES-256-GCM encryption.

  • Launch PRISALYA SecureDrive from the Windows Start menu or Desktop.
  • Insert your USB flash drive. The app will immediately recognize the device and display its path (e.g., E:\).
  • Click "Initialize Secure Drive" from the Dashboard.
  • Enter a robust master password. Key derivation utilizes Argon2id with 256 MiB RAM cost to resist dictionary attacks.
  • Confirm the initialization. The encrypted container and metadata headers are written to the drive.
Step 02

Unlock & Mount as a Real Drive Letter

Mount your encrypted container directly into Windows Explorer with real-time on-the-fly streaming encryption.

  • Select the detected secure drive from the Dashboard or Removable Drives tab.
  • Click "Unlock Vault" and enter your master password.
  • Choose your preferred mount mode: Read-Write (standard) or Read-Only (recommended when connecting to untrusted third-party computers).
  • Click "Mount". WinFsp mounts the filesystem transparently as a Windows drive letter (e.g. P:\).
Step 03

Transparent File Operations

Interact with your encrypted vault using standard Windows Explorer commands and any desktop application.

  • Open This PC and navigate to your mounted P:\ drive.
  • Drag, drop, edit, and organize folders and documents natively.
  • Reads and writes stream through authenticated encryption in memory. No unencrypted temporary files are written to the host system disk.
  • When importing external sensitive files, you can enable DoD / NIST Multi-Pass Shredding in Settings to wipe source files automatically.
Step 04

Lock, Dismount & Rotate Password

Safely close your vault and manage cryptographic credentials anytime.

  • To lock the vault manually, click "Lock Vault" from the Dashboard or System Tray icon.
  • The virtual drive letter unmounts immediately, and cryptographic master keys are zeroized from memory.
  • To change your master password, navigate to the Vault tab and click "Change Master Password". The envelope re-encrypts the master data key instantly without touching individual stored files.