In the bad old days of DOS, everyone dreaded the dongle (the hardware lock). Each dongle installed on either the parallel or serial port and was required for running a specific program or device. They were so annoying and hated-and so easily bypassed-that most manufacturers abandoned them.

Now mobile-solutions company Portable has resurrected the dongle lock to protect your data (without preventing physical theft) in the form of the Portable KeyDrive. A tiny device that works in conjunction with software, the KeyDrive attaches to a key chain and plugs into your laptop's USB port.

Once the software is installed and you're through the setup-a tedious task-the hard drive is not accessible unless the KeyDrive is plugged in and the password is entered. The KeyDrive's industrial-strength encryption makes hacking into a computer extremely difficult even for an expert. But should you lose your dongle, you'll need a new one overnighted before you regain access.