What is the safest way to protect data on a HDD ?

Hi,
I want to send my hard disk overseas in mail ( Courier ) which has important data.
The HDD has 5 Partitions, 4 of which are data partitions.
How do I protect my data in case if the HDD ends up in wrong hands ?
The only way I thought of was BitLocker or TrueCrypt but do I need to encrypt the system partition OR do I need a system partition at all, because the HDD would be used on a different machine & Windows won’t boot on that machine anyway. So why not just format or delete the system partition after I have encrypted the data partitions ? Would that be good solution ?
Also can I encrypt few folders in one partitions with ” Folder Lock software “ with a different password so I have more protection ?
The reason being a software called “ Forensic Disk Decrypter “ by Elcom soft which claims to decrypt major 3 encryption software namely BitLocker, TryeCrypt & PGP.
So where does that leave us ?
Thanks

 

This software has certain narrow requirements to be effective and isn't really new. The comments at:

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/20/this-299-tool-is-reportedly-capable-of-cracking-bitlocker-pgp-and-truecrypt-disks-in-real-time/

explain this in some detail. It requires a memory dump from a machine logged into an admin account with the drives mounted.

Also see:

https://windowssecrets.com/newsletter/legitimate-app-breaks-popular-encryption-systems/


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When you open the disk with Full encryption OR a Partition that is encrypted, is data now decrypted and act just like regular non encrypted data ?

Also if I copy some data from encrypted partion to another HDD or removable media, is that data in decrypted form & act like regular data ?

 

With TrueCrypt:

If you can read the data, i.e. you have mounted the encrypted drive and entered the correct password, then the data can be copied and moved unencrypted.

To move the volume to another disk, best practice to decrypt it > copy data to new drive > create new TrueCrypt voume there > encrypt the data.

Hope this helps and be sure to read the documentation at;

http://www.truecrypt.org/

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Consensus is to decrypt and move those files to the new drive and then redo the TrueCrypt work there.

That said, you could always make a small test volume, put a few files in it and test your plan. Post back your results...