Securing personal data on a computer

Introduction

We will see in this short tutorial how to secure your work environment in order to secure as much as possible his personal data. For this we will base ourselves on the environment Windows. The examples of this given below, as well as the screenshots were made on Windows 10, however these instructions work very well on Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Namely, the security of our data on this principle can also be done on most of them of the systems operating systems such as Linux and MacOS. However, the procedures may be a little different.

Security when installing an OS

We will start installing our operating system. When starting the the installation you have your computer which displays the screen shown opposite :

After a few moments you must enter your system activation license, then you must accept the conditions of its use. This is the display on the right:
Please note, if you reinstall your operating system, you may need to do not have to enter your activation key.
Then you have a pop-up window that offers you two possible choices, you have the choice between the default installation and custom installation. We will do the custom installation here to take care of disk space. We will opt for a partitioning of disc. This will allow us to preserve and distinguish our data from that of the system of exploitation (bone). In other words, if we have a problem with our operating system we can reinstall it comfortably without fear of loss of data since it will have been stored on a part different and independent of the Windows domain.
Here is the configuration I made with a hard disk (the type of disk HDD or SSD we is important for this) of 100 GB.

Indeed, I created three different partitions, one reserved for the system and another one that will be used for our important files. Once we have finished our organization within the disk we will finish the installation. The next steps are quite simple, it is the configuration of the windows system.

Configuration once the OS is installed

When we go to the computer or this PC we can select the disc of our choice. After selecting it we can manage it from the storage manager. To do this, we will you must click on "manage" in the Computer tab as shown in the screenshot opposite.

After that we notice our different discs of our PC. If we have not followed the installation of the custom OS we can redefine the size volume but also create new ones readers on unused spaces in order to obtain several partitions within the same disc. This is our main disk which is not fully partitioned:

Namely, the main disk is still called disk 0 and we can only create four separate scores in main volume.

Disk 0 contains the parts that are reserved for the system and the OS that we cannot not modify except for the change of their volume of storage. To add spaces or modify their volume, just click on one of the volumes and then click on reduce. For in add one, we just need to right-click on an unallocated part and then click on new simple volume, then to define it as one wishes it.

Here I called my partition D: data. You can choose the one you want.

Personal data management

Once we have finished splitting the main disk as we wish, we can change the location of our documents and the location of the office registration. To do this we must right-click in the accesses quick/library to access properties and change the location.
Here is how to change the location of our office, it works also in the same way with my documents, my images, right-click, location. In the location you must enter the complete path to reach the destination final, here is an example: D:\users\test\documents.
First of all I advise you to create a directory with the user's name, then to within it to create several subdirectories named as follows: Office, Documents (my documents) appointment may differ, but the simplest is to keep the default name. Here's what you need to get :

Afterwards, you can test and create a new document or folder in one of the folders created on your disk: D and you create it will appear on the desktop, for example, if you have put it in the Desktop subdirectory.
You can also automate this task for future users who will be created on this computer. For that it is necessary to go in the start menu and search for the tool regedit in the search bar. Afterwards you must go to the directory ProfileList, here is his address to access it: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
When you arrive at this directory, you must change the default destination of the user directory in ProfilesDirectory. To do this, simply double click on it and enter the new path by Failing this, for example: D:\users.
Now you have to restart the computer. Each time a user is added, you You will notice that his personal directory is located in the partition D: that you have created.

To go further

Software locations

You also have the possibility to do what I have done, for optimal comfort and no change in your OS due to third party software to create another partition on your disk, and you can name it "software" for example, and during installation of the next software to redirect them to this disk drive. Like that if you are infected by a virus, it does not affect any part of your operating system. Knowing that our data are on a separate part it cannot have access to it. This then creates the the first virtual defense barriers of your computer.

Synchronization of our data on various devices

Hubic's proposal

You have the possibility to use a synchronization software such as Hubic proposed by OVH to retrieve its files in real time on any computer either through a browser or by a computer configured with the Hubic application.
This can allow us to modify a document on a PC and find it in the same state on another configured device. Namely, synchronization is done only through an internet connection. However, it does not is possible to modify its directory and its files even offline and they will be synchronized again with the changes brought with you the next time you connect to the Internet.

The benefits:

• This allows us to find our data wherever we are.
• Low chance of losing our data.
• Easy to configure.
• Automatic synchronization.
• French software.

The disadvantages:

• Load of free storage space on the net.
• The reliability of the system.
• The conditions of use.
• We do not know where our data are physically stored except on our equipment (at OVH). Indeed, they are also stored on a server from OVH since Hubic is a service from OVH, and our data for better synchronization are also synchronized at the software operator.

Nas

You also have the possibility to create your own synchronization service by using a NAS storage server at home. This allows you to have full control of your data.

The benefits :

• Easy to use.
• Access to the NAS via the local network even offline.
• Accessible from anywhere via an internet connection.

The disadvantages :

• Purchase price.
• Requires the presence of a network.
• Requires a good internet connection to access it from any location.