Q: How do I protect my portable hard drive and USB drive using PGP Desktop? Do I use the same PGP key?

PGP is no longer being offered on the software grid. Support is being phased out and will discontinue at the end of 2016.

Answer

You can whole disk encrypt external drives. Each disk is encrypted using a separate key that is generated when starting the encryption process. Each of those symmetric disk keys are protected using a single group key (unique to your installation of PGP). That group key is protected by your passphrase. Therefore, the one group key, unlocked using your passphrase, will be used to unlock all of the keys generated under your copy of PGP.

For instructions on how to encrypt your external drive, see: How do I use MIT's PGP Desktop for Windows to whole disk encrypt external storage drives?

Additional Information If you don't find your answer, contact pgp-help@mit.edu.