Operation Manual

73
Portable Mode
VeraCrypt can run in so-called portable mode, which means that it does not have to be installed on
the operating system under which it is run. However, there are two things to keep in mind:
1) You need administrator privileges in order to be able to run VeraCrypt in portable mode (for
the reasons, see the chapter Using VeraCrypt Without Administrator Privileges).
2) After examining the registry file, it may be possible to tell that VeraCrypt was run (and that a
VeraCrypt volume was mounted) on a Windows system even if it had been run in portable
mode.
Note: If that is a problem, see this question in the FAQ for a possible solution.
There are two ways to run VeraCrypt in portable mode:
1) After you extract files from the VeraCrypt self-extracting package, you can directly run
VeraCrypt.exe.
Note: To extract files from the VeraCrypt self-extracting package, run it, and then select Extract
(instead of Install) on the second page of the VeraCrypt Setup wizard.
2) You can use the Traveler Disk Setup facility to prepare a special traveler disk and launch
VeraCrypt from there.
The second option has several advantages, which are described in the following sections in this
chapter.
Note: When running in ‘portable’ mode, the VeraCrypt driver is unloaded when it is no longer needed (e.g.,
when all instances of the main application and/or of the Volume Creation Wizard are closed and no
VeraCrypt volumes are mounted). However, if you force dismount on a VeraCrypt volume when VeraCrypt
runs in portable mode, or mount a writable NTFS-formatted volume on Windows Vista or later, the VeraCrypt
driver may not be unloaded when you exit VeraCrypt (it will be unloaded only when you shut down or restart
the system). This prevents various problems caused by a bug in Windows (for instance, it would be
impossible to start VeraCrypt again as long as there are applications using the dismounted volume).
Tools -> Traveler Disk Setup
You can use this facility to prepare a special traveler disk and launch VeraCrypt from there. Note
that VeraCrypt ‘traveler disk’ is not a VeraCrypt volume but an unencrypted volume. A ‘traveler disk’
contains VeraCrypt executable files and optionally the ‘autorun.inf’ script (see the section
AutoRun Configuration below). After you select Tools -> Traveler Disk Setup, the Traveler Disk
Setup dialog box should appear. Some of the parameters that can be set within the dialog deserve
further explanation:
Note: No matter what kind of software you use, as regards personal privacy in most
cases, it is not safe to work with sensitive data under systems where you do not have
administrator privileges, as the administrator can easily capture and copy your
sensitive data, including passwords and keys.