File Vault

I have 13.3 MBP 09' running osx 10.6.5, after setting my master password on the mac I cannot turn on File Vault. It says I have'nt got enough space left on the disc and i need 30GB. I have over 200Gb free.

Can anyone help?

Cheers

I'm no expert but have read some very scary things about File Vault. On the other hand, it's possible to create a disk image file with a strong password for sensitive files.

M

Personally, would encourage you not use File Vault unless you just have absolutely top secret data on your machine. If you have never used it before, I'd suggest you spend some time reading about some of the issues with it.

If you just must have it, am guessing that the issue is one of not enough contiguos free space. Try re-booting first, see if that may possibly auto delete the cache files which could be stored toward the end of the drive. After that, you might try using iDefrag or cloning your drive to an external and cloning it back with SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner.

Welcome to the forums ...

If you have Secret Squirrel type stuff to hide then by all means run FV ... If not DONT

I had a problem with FV when i 1st started out. I had a problem with no Disk Space as i wantd to turn it off. Couldnt. In short no one could come up with a answer for me so after 100+hrs trying to figure it all out.

Now have a read of the Peoples Take on File Vault thread, and you will read my problem and the solution i came up with ...
If not for anything it is a warning to those wanting to use FV

Cheers

I use File Vault as I do have sensitive data stored on it. It gives you the out of space issue because rather than encrypting your existing home directory it creates a new encrypted sparse image and copies the existing home directory into it. If you don't have 1.5 times the size of your home directory free on your HD it will usually give you the not enough free space issue.

The big pain for me is the fact that I cannot use Time Machine while logged into a File Vault protected user account.

I used to use an encrypted sparse image for sensitive data but I wanted to keep my email encrypted as well as the rest of my temp and cache locations. File Vault is completely useful in that regard. TrueCrypt is another whole disk encryption option which behaves differently than File Vault that you may also want to investigate.

The newest iSeries intel processors have on chip decryption features that supposedly can decrypt the encrypted disks or home folders in real time.

Using encryption can prove to be critical in certain cases, but you also need to couple it with other computer best practices like strong passwords, screen locking and the like.

thanks for all the help guys. i will certainly read about people's views on FV, it seems like alot of user's dont like it. i would just like to stay away from a 3rd party encryption, as they are normally more problematic than in-built software.

cheers all