AutoSave Encrypt is an innovative new way to protect sensitive data from prying eyes and differs from most other installable software-based solutions by preloading all of the technology required to encrypt, burn and securely delete sensitive data onto a blank CD-R disc.

As such there's no installation procedure and even the tools required to burn files are included, which makes it a versatile solution for use with any Windows 2000/XP/Vista PC regardless of preinstalled software.

When a CDSOFT-R disc is inserted a dialog box should appear automatically that kick-starts a wizard to guide you through the process. A minimum eight-character password is requested, with characters hidden automatically for protection in an environment where other people might see the screen.

There is an option to ‘show password characters' to make it easier to check that you have entered the right text, and virtual keyboard entry for additional security against keyloggers, in which case characters are entered by clicking the appropriate keys with the mouse.

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On the next screen, files can be added to a burn list by drag and drop and an indicator lets you know how much space has been used; there's 680MB free here for data storage.

You can opt to close the session to prevent further contents from being burned, but in most cases - and particularly if you're saving relatively small files such as important documents - you'll get more value from the disc by leaving it open for future additions.

When done, hit the record button to start the burn process and contents will be encrypted using AES-256 and SHA-256 algorithms before being saved to the disc. There's obviously an overhead involved on the burn time here, but we were pleased to note that this only works out at about 20 seconds per 100MB of data. From here you're limited only by the speed of the optical drive, so there's very little additional time involved.

When the disc has been burnt there's an option to verify the recording and wipe all source files from the original location using the secure, permanent-delete ‘Wipe' function.

Once the encrypted disc has been finalised, inserting it into a drive in the future brings up the wizard again and asks for a password to grant access and/or burn further contents. Upon correct entry you're shown a similar burn dialog box with the existing contents on display.

Files can then be opened by double-clicking or by using the ‘Unencrypt and Remember' button to restore the file to a location on a local drive. In both these instances, closing this dialog box allows you to permanently delete the files from any copied locations. If necessary, additional files can also be added at this point to the existing burn.

We were impressed by how quickly and easily files could be securely burnt to disc, and by the software's ability to wipe any additional copies or traces from a system. There's very little delay over a typical burn time and features such as the virtual keyboard do offer additional peace of mind. It would have been nice to see some sort of password creation advice or perhaps a reminder/hint feature, but generally the process is about as solid as you could expect.

AutoSave Encrypt is one of a series of solutions from the company: others include versions to automatically detect and encode emails, office documents and photos.

There's very little to criticise in terms of the operation and efficiency of the AutoSave Encrypt CD-R and the main problem for most will be the price. At £24.95 for four discs these things aren't cheap, though you can request a free sample disc to try before you buy. If security and peace of mind is worth the outlay, though, rest assured that this is an extremely tidy and effective solution.