The Bitdefender File Vault enables you to create encrypted, password-protected logical drives (or vaults) on your computer where you can securely store your confidential and sensitive documents. Physically, the vault is a file stored on the local hard drive having the .bvd extension. When you create a file vault, two aspects are important: the size and the password.
The default 100 MB size should be enough for your private documents, Excel files and other similar data. However, for videos or other large files you may need more space. To securely store your confidential or sensitive files or folders in Bitdefender file vaults.
Creating a Bitdefender File Vault and setting a password for it
To create a new file vault:
1. Open the main Bitdefender interface.
2. Go to the Privacy window.
3. In the FILE ENCRYPTION module, select Create File Vault.
4. In the newly-opened window, click Browse to select the location of the vault
5. Type a name for the vault in the corresponding field.
6. Choose a drive letter from the menu.
When you open the vault, a virtual disk drive labeled with the selected letter appears in My Computer.
7. Type the vault password, then confirm it in the field below.
8. If you want to change the default size of the vault (100MB), use the up and down arrow keys from the Vault size spinbox, or type a new one manually.
NOTE: The size is measured in MB.
9. Click the Create button.
NOTE: When you open the vault, a virtual disk drive appears in My Computer. The drive is labeled with the drive letter assigned to the vault.
Adding files or folders you want to keep safe to the vault
In order to add a file to a vault, you must follow these steps:
1. Browse to the location of the vault and locate the .bvd vault file.
2. Right-click the vault file, point to Bitdefender File Vault and select Open.
3. In the new window, enter the password and the drive letter used for the vault.
You can now perform operations on the drive that corresponds to the desired file vault using Windows Explorer, just as you would with a regular drive.
To add a file to an open vault, you can also right-click the file, point to Bitdefender File Vault and select Add to file vault.
NOTE: For this operation to function, the vault must be open.
Keeping the vault safe
Only open vaults when you need to access them or manage their content. To lock a vault, right-click the corresponding virtual disk drive from My Computer, point to Bitdefender File Vault and select Lock.
Make sure not to delete the .bvd vault file. Deleting the file also deletes the vault contents.