Flash drive security

W10, Office 2013.
I want to keep a dozen or two private files on a flash drive, protected by a password or encryption, accessing and changing them regularly.
I already have a simple 16 GB drive so I don't want to have to buy a more expensive one with a ready-installed system, but I will do that if it is the easiest for me.
I would like to be able to 'replay' this on a W7 pc but that is not essential.
I am out of my depth and knee-deep in jargon, once again, with the feeling that internet villains are everywhere trying to mislead me, dropping their evil little files in my new pc.
Advice, please,
Thanks.

I believe free software like TrueCrypt will do this for you. Just keep in mind that flash storage isn't the most reliable, so if these files are important, keep a safe backup of them.

convul said:

W10, Office 2013.
I want to keep a dozen or two private files on a flash drive, protected by a password or encryption, accessing and changing them regularly.
I already have a simple 16 GB drive so I don't want to have to buy a more expensive one with a ready-installed system, but I will do that if it is the easiest for me.
I would like to be able to 'replay' this on a W7 pc but that is not essential.
I am out of my depth and knee-deep in jargon, once again, with the feeling that internet villains are everywhere trying to mislead me, dropping their evil little files in my new pc.
Advice, please,
Thanks.

I use BitLocker. To encrypt the flash drive you need Windows 10 Pro. Not totally sure, but I think that once the drive is encrypted, you can use it on Windows 10 Home and Windows 7.

I have just managed to install the inbuilt password protection in a Scandisk memory stick. So, faff over, and a green tick, but many thanks for the advice.