Review: WinMagic SecureDoc

For: Easy install, fast drive encryption.
Against: Performance degradation after software install.
Verdict: This product is an acceptable product in all categories, including both standalone and enterprise installations. The set-up is a snap.

The software to read the provided token was not readily available on the software CD, so we decided to use password authentication which was much easier to configure.

At two hours, WinMagic Data Security SecureDoc Hard Disk Encryption was in the middle of the pack in terms of the time it took the products that we tested to encrypt the entire 60 GB drive. However, once the drive was encrypted, the Performance Test software reported the greatest hard drive speed degradation at 26.5 percent slower after the install of the WinMagic Data Security SecureDoc Hard Disk Encryption software. This was the only product tested that provided logging that used a proprietary interface for logging even in standalone mode.

WinMagic Data Security SecureDoc Hard Disk Encryption was very easy to install with the small exception of the USB token. The quick start guide that was provided was all that was needed in order to install and configure the software. The product uses pre-boot authentication.

Documentation for this product is in the form of PDF files, which are indexed, searchable and easy to navigate. The product is easy to configure and the quick start guide is more than sufficient for most installation types.

WinMagic offers phone and email support, and also online support in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions, as well as a support download file section.

Generally speaking, while we were impressed with WinMagic Data Security SecureDoc Hard Disk Encryption’s ease of use and feature set, we were disappointed with its generally slow performance with encryption installed and its pricing.

Priced at the higher end of the products that we tested, WinMagic Data Security SecureDoc Hard Disk Encryption provided a quality whole disk encryption product that would adequately perform whole disk encryption.

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