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For those who are interested, there are two basic ways to encrypt your hard drive. The fastest, but more expensive, is through hardware encryption. This is most practically done with the purchase of a hard drive. Companies like Hitachi have encrypted hard drives for portable computers, but others make such drives that work in desktop systems, too. Examples of these are:

http://www.datalockerdrive.com/
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/self-encrypting-drives/

However, for most people, two basic options are available for quick, cheap use, but they slow down your system a bit. These hard drive software encryption options are TrueCrypt (an open source, well-respected, free for all package) and Microsoft’s Bitlocker (free with Vista and Windows 7 Ultimate).

Bitlocker would be the most transparent and likely easiest to implement, but only if you already have and Ultimate on your system (you could upgrade, of course, too). However, the vast majority of people think that TrueCrypt has the best, most thorough implementation for users, and it’s completely free.