Crunch

Crunch is a clear-cut software application designed to help you encrypt files and entire folders, in order to restrict other users' access to your personal information.

Setup and interface

The setup procedure is speedy and doesn't require special attention, thanks to the fact that it integrates only familiar options.
Although it's not mentioned, Crunch integrates itself into the Windows Explorer shell extension, thus enabling you to swiftly encrypt files by simply opening their right-click menu.
The interface consists of a classical-looking wizard that gives you the possibility to carry out encryption tasks in record time by following some simple steps.

Seamlessly encrypt and compress files or folders

Firstly, you can select the type of package you want to encrypt, between a single file or an entire directory with files. It's possible to apply block cypher encryption (XOR) and select the chaining mode between ECB (Electronic Code Block), CBC (Cypher Block Chaining) and CBC IV (Cypher Block Chaining + IV). After you specify the passphrase, you can continue to the next stage.
Alternatively, you can just skip encryption and go to the following panel, where Crunch offers to compress the file or folder using LZW. Once you indicate the output destination and file name (.crn format), you can apply all settings with one click. The tool automatically exits afterward. There are no other notable options available here.

Evaluation and conclusion

We haven't come across any difficulties throughout our tests, thanks to the fact that the utility consumed low CPU and RAM, so its impact on the machine's performance was barely noticeable. It didn't hang, crash or display error messages either.
Although it's not as feature-rich as other similar tools dedicated to file encryption and compression, Crunch gets the job done and can be handled with ease by anyone.