WinAES0.2.4

WinAES is a tiny and portable software program that enables you to encrypt and decrypt your personal files using the AES256 or Camellia256 security algorithm. It also contains checksum calculators for MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA512 and SHA3, and sports several advanced security tools.

Portable app with a simple interface

Since installation is not necessary, you can drop the app files anywhere on the hard drive and just click the .exe to launch WinAES. There is also the possibility to make a copy to store it on a pen drive and directly run it on any PC effortlessly. Unlike most installers, it doesn't add new entries to the Windows registry.

Select the security algorithm to encrypt files

The interface doesn't contain visually attractive elements, yet it's simple to navigate. You can begin by selecting the encryption method, after which you can add as many files as you want to protect.After choosing one of the two previously mentioned security algorithms, you can indicate a password and optionally set the app to secure erase the original files, in order to prevent third parties from recovering data using specialized software. Decryption is easily performed, by just entering the correct key when attempting to access the encrypted file.

Calculate checksums, generate random keys, and shred files

When it comes to calculating checksums, you can select one or more hash types from the list, along with a file, and immediately get its corresponding signatures in the dedicated box.What's more, you can resort to a random password generator by defining the key length (number of characters) and complexity (include or exclude uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols). You can input plain data or encoded text (ANSI or Unicode), as well as securely erase files after specifying the number of passes (1, 7, or 35).

Evaluation and conclusion

No error dialogs were shown in our tests, and the app didn't hang or crash. It had minimal impact on computer performance, using low CPU and RAM. Taking into account its rich and approachable options, WinAES should meet the requirements of most users.