AES Protect is a portable tool for encrypting single files using a passphrase and AES.

The program is written in x86 assembly language, which means there are no annoying dependencies, and the download is tiny: it’s a 32KB ZIP, but still manages to squeeze in three programs.

AES Protect is the general purpose tool, an easy way to encrypt single files using AS.

AES Metal is the expert-level edition, which enables managing features like the initialization vector and key.

AES Command is a console-based tool which combines AES Protect and AES Metal functionality. You could use this to encrypt multiple files from your own scripts.

A tiny portable file protector you can run almost anywhere

The AES Protect interface is simple. Select the file to encrypt, the destination folder and file, and the passphrase (twice, for confirmation). Click Start and the file is encrypted within a few seconds.

To decrypt something, choose the protected file and enter the passphrase again. Click the Encrypt button to toggle to a Decrypt operation, and click Start to retrieve it.

Beware: there’s no back door here, no way to recover a file if there are problems. Test AES Protect carefully to make sure you understand how it works, and don’t encrypt anything unless you’ve a backup somewhere.

AES Protect is available now for Windows.