My storage hard drive in my current system is actually my data drive out of
my old machine. Problem is, during my move, my old machine took a hardware
dump, but the drive was fine.

Now I have the drive installed into the new system Also running Windows XP
Pro SP2, and I have a very important folder marched "Encrypted". Does anyone
know of a way that I can un-encrypt those files with the hard drive being in
the new machine!? There is absolutely no chance of putting this hard drive
back in the old machine.

Thanx in advance!

=?Utf-8?B?Q2hhcmxlcyBULiBXYXRlcnM=?= <Charles T.
(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:6D8059DF-8805-4DDF-AEB4-(E-Mail Removed):

> My storage hard drive in my current system is actually my data
> drive out of my old machine. Problem is, during my move, my old
> machine took a hardware dump, but the drive was fine.
>
> Now I have the drive installed into the new system Also running
> Windows XP Pro SP2, and I have a very important folder marched
> "Encrypted". Does anyone know of a way that I can un-encrypt those
> files with the hard drive being in the new machine!? There is
> absolutely no chance of putting this hard drive back in the old
> machine.
>
> Thanx in advance!
>

If these files were created using the Encrypted File System (EFS),
then (on the assumption that you did not backup your certificates)
your only chance to recover these files is to use that disk to boot
up some system, login using your old login, and then you will be
able to access those files or create backups of your certificates
that you can use to access those files on another system. If you
use EFS, then the following is mandatory reading -- particularly the
part about backing up your certificates:

"Best practices for the Encrypting File System"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223316/en-us>

Personally, specifically to avoid this eventuality, I use the
freeware Truecrypt instead for my encrypted files.
<http://www.truecrypt.org>

Good Luck,
John

Thanx for the answer! That's what I was afraid of, especially since I have no
access to that machine anymore. It was something I was just trying out, and
never expected to not have that machine anymore before changing those from
Decrypted files.

Thanx for the help!

"John Wunderlich" wrote:

> =?Utf-8?B?Q2hhcmxlcyBULiBXYXRlcnM=?= <Charles T.
> (E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> news:6D8059DF-8805-4DDF-AEB4-(E-Mail Removed):
>
> > My storage hard drive in my current system is actually my data
> > drive out of my old machine. Problem is, during my move, my old
> > machine took a hardware dump, but the drive was fine.
> >
> > Now I have the drive installed into the new system Also running
> > Windows XP Pro SP2, and I have a very important folder marched
> > "Encrypted". Does anyone know of a way that I can un-encrypt those
> > files with the hard drive being in the new machine!? There is
> > absolutely no chance of putting this hard drive back in the old
> > machine.
> >
> > Thanx in advance!
> >
>
> If these files were created using the Encrypted File System (EFS),
> then (on the assumption that you did not backup your certificates)
> your only chance to recover these files is to use that disk to boot
> up some system, login using your old login, and then you will be
> able to access those files or create backups of your certificates
> that you can use to access those files on another system. If you
> use EFS, then the following is mandatory reading -- particularly the
> part about backing up your certificates:
>
> "Best practices for the Encrypting File System"
> <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223316/en-us>
>
> Personally, specifically to avoid this eventuality, I use the
> freeware Truecrypt instead for my encrypted files.
> <http://www.truecrypt.org>
>
> Good Luck,
> John
>
>