ZoneAlarm DataLock review

Other than a potential hiccup when installing the software on a laptop that lacks a battery, the installation process is straightforward. You need an active internet connection because your security questions and answers, and the encryption key, need to be sent to Check Point's servers. The PC must be rebooted after installation and then, once logged back on, DataLock will start encrypting the hard disk.

Windows remains useable during this time and you can even log off or reboot without causing problems to the encryption process. This process can take a long time if you have a large and full hard disk, but this is a one-off process and all future encryption occurs in real-time and transparently.

The fact that encryption happens automatically means that there's nothing to learn, so using DataLock is about as simple as it comes. There are some added extras, including the option to download and install a program that provides access to 2GB of online backup. This capacity can be increased to 150GB for a fee of $4.95 per month (around £3.20). Carbonite provides an unlimited online backup service for around £33 per year, which is fractionally cheaper and provides as much storage as you'll need.

There are other hard disk encryption systems available and a popular choice is the free TruCrypt program. This can encrypt entire disks or just selected partitions. It can also encrypt USB drives and create encrypted virtual hard disks. TruCrypt is more flexible that DataLock in many ways but as a result it is by no means as easy to use.

If you want to take an active role in encrypting your data in different ways (and won't forget your passwords) then TruCrypt is the best option. If you want to protect your laptop's hard disk as simply as possible then DataLock is much more appropriate.