encryption vs. password

[philpense]

Have read some conflicting information about the existence of two ways to secure powerpoint files.

• Seeking an informed opinion on if such is the case
• I understand that there is a default AES 128 bit advanced encryption. The suggestion is that there might be settings other than the default.

Guidance sought

[You can type up to 255 characters. By default, this feature uses AES 128-bit advanced encryption.]

[DBlomgren]

Hi, Phil,
I see what you're talking about here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/w...010148333.aspx

I know that when my laptop was stolen, I found out that anyone could just connect to my computer as a secondary hard drive and they would have access to all my files. Sh*t. However, I was told that if I had encrypted my hard drive, it would be safe.

I've Googled "forgot the password to my Word/PowerPoint file" and see lots of pages coming up about password recovery. My conclusion: Go with encryption.