AXANTUM AXCRYPT FILE ENCRYPTION User Manual

AxCrypt File Encryption Software for Windows

Quick Installation Guide

Version 1.6.3

January 2008

Copyright 2005-2008 Svante Seleborg, Axantum Software AB

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This guide describes how to install and quickly get started using AxCrypt to encrypt, decrypt, edit,
store and send documents privately and securely.

The following topics are covered:

1. Additional information

2. Requirements and limitations

3. Installation procedure

4. How to use

5. Information on security

1. Additional information

Where

What

http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net

 Full Documentation
 Privacy Policy
 FAQ
 Command Line Usage

http://www.axantum.com

 Introduction to encryption
 White Paper ‘About AES’
 White Paper ‘Public Key

Based Licensing’

 Information about other

encryption software

 About the maker of AxCrypt

http://sourceforge.net/projects/axcrypt

 Source code
 Beta versions
 Forums
 Mailing list

This quick guide only contains the basic information necessary to get started with AxCrypt.

Please refer to the following resources for further information:

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2. Requirements and Limitations

Resource

Value

Memory (RAM)

About 5 Mega bytes of virtual
memory when active.

Hard disk space

2 Mega byte

Temporary disk space

Up to about 1.5 x the size of a
file being encrypted.

Processor

Pentium

Operating System

Windows 98, ME, NT 4 sp 4,
2000, XP Home, XP
Professional, 2003, Vista

User permissions

Any user can run AxCrypt

Installation permissions

Administrator in NT, 2000, XP,
2003 and Vista.

Maximum file size

About 500 – 700 Mega byte on
Windows 98 and ME.
Only limited by disk space on
NTFS.

Maximum number of encrypted
files

Only limited by disk space.

Development environment

To recompile AxCrypt from
downloaded source code you
need Visual Studio 2005 or later.

AxCrypt requires very little and is compatible with all current versions of Windows.

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Important! You must be able to log on as a
system Administrator to install AxCrypt on
Windows NT 4, 2000, XP, 2003 or Vista.

3. Installation Procedure

This section will explain how to install AxCrypt, step by step.

Get the latest version

 To install AxCrypt you need the installation program, please find and download the most recent
release on http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net before continuing.

When you download, you may chose to either store the file on your computer, and run it later or

you may run it directly from the download site. If you run it directly, skip directly to ‘Verify

Digital Signature’ below.

Run the installer

The installer is typically named AxCrypt-Setup.exe, but it may also be named after the
version, for example AxCrypt-1.6.3.exe.

Double-click the program to run it.

Verify Digital Signature (Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later)

Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later supports automatic verification of digital signatures of
executables downloaded from the Internet such as the AxCrypt installer.

The digital signature gives you some assurance, if properly verified, that the software is not
infected with a virus or contains other hostile code.

AxCrypt is digitally signed by Axantum Software AB so you can ensure its authenticity.

You should see a dialog similar to the following:

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 If you do not see a dialog at all this is not a problem – only if you see a dialog like above, but
which cannot be verified or contains unexpected names should you be wary.

Chose Language

AxCrypt supports a number of languages for its dialogs and commands. Please select a language
when prompted:

 Click ‘OK’ when you have selected a language. The rest of the installation will proceed using
that language, as will AxCrypt menus and dialogs.