Can't decrypt crypted files

[4N]

Hi,

after my WinXp stopped working I had to reinstall it but now I can't decrypt
some text file though I use the same user name and password.
How can I solve this?
I strongly believe that THERE IS a way to make it or cryptography of ntfs
would be REALLY DANGEROUS!

Remark:
Just in case I simply renamed my old folders (windows-program
files-documents and settings) so they're still on my HDD, though I don't
know if I can rename them back and somehow make window start just to decrypt
the files.

 

[Marcin Domaslawski]

Hi,

If you crypted by EFS and you didnt define recovery agent or you havent got
certificates (are created automatically when you crypted first time) - your
data has already lost.

EFS uses certificates particular users to encrypt/decrypt files. You're
right EFS is dangerous - needs a lot of attention

Marcin Domaslawski

 

[4N]

If you crypted by EFS and you didnt define recovery agent or you havent

got certificates (are created automatically when you crypted first time) -
your data has already lost.

Noooooooooooooooooo!!!
are you sure I can't rename back my folders and use the recovery console
somehow!?!?
and btw what are EFS and how should have I stored those certificates? and
how an average user should know about it if it isn't written anywhere in the
dialogs of explorer!?
and btw why windows should crypt files using some not know password when it
has username and login password to begin with!?!?!?
I can't believe it!!!
@##]+*-

Help!!!

 

[Jim]

If you crypted by EFS and you didnt define recovery agent or you havent
got certificates (are created automatically when you crypted first
time) - your data has already lost.

Noooooooooooooooooo!!!
are you sure I can't rename back my folders and use the recovery console
somehow!?!?
and btw what are EFS and how should have I stored those certificates? and
how an average user should know about it if it isn't written anywhere in
the dialogs of explorer!?
and btw why windows should crypt files using some not know password when
it has username and login password to begin with!?!?!?
I can't believe it!!!
@##]+*-

Help!!!

EFS = Encrypted File System.
On command, Windows uses a single key encryption method to perform the
encryption. The person who issued the command must keep a copy of the
encryption certificate because that is the only way to recover the
information. No, Windows does not keep a copy because doing so would render
encryption worthless as a security measure.

The reason that Windows encrypted the files is that someone told it to do
so. That someone should have kept a record of the encryption key.

I don't use this facility because it is too likely that I won't be able to
find my copy of the key when I need it most.

Jim

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Yes, EFS is extremely to data if proper steps are not taken.
That is why EFS is often called the "Delayed Recycle Bin"
If it were as easy as you hope, EFS would be worthless as a security
measure.

Renaming files is not enough.
You need the ORIGINAL keys and they can not be recreated.
Or if you can somehow recover your original profile, again, it can not
simply be recreated.

See the links near the bottom of this page for ways to help prevent this
type of data loss in the future:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/encrypt.htm

 

[4N]

Renaming files is not enough.

You need the ORIGINAL keys and they can not be recreated.
Or if you can somehow recover your original profile, again, it can not
simply be recreated.

I didn't mean it like that!
I have all the old folders so maybe I can recover my old Windows. It should
be enough to make the boot programs recognize the old folders as if they
weren't renamed somehow so I can access them as the old me.
I don't care about the GUI, it should be enough to start through recovery
console and copy the files on a FAT32 filesystem to make them decrypt
automatically.
Isn't there a way to recover my old windows for real?
I'm not interested here about on how to force a decrypt of files, but to
recover my old install of windows so everything will be done by windows
itself.

btw months ago I found by chance a site hosting a program that used tables
to decrypt passwords crypted by windows, but I don't think it can be of any
help and anyway I don't recall how to reach it...

 

[4N]

meanwhile I'll try the methods/programs in the link you gave me, thanks

 

[Bob Harris]

Once you did the re-install of XP you gave up the possibility of fixing
things, unless you thought to first make a disk image, such as via GHOST,
from which you could revert to the former non-working state. From there,
perhaps someone could get the PC working, without destroying the encryption
keys.

Your best best at this point would be to look for a third-party that can
crack the encryption. That will be expensive, if it can be done at all.

Plan B: Did you have any backup of personal files off of the PC, such as on
CD, USB drive, etc? If so, cut your losess, recover what you can, and move
on. If not, add the concept of backup to your list of painfully learned
lessons.

 

[4N]

Plan B: Did you have any backup of personal files off of the PC, such as

on CD, USB drive, etc? If so, cut your losess, recover what you can, and
move on. If not, add the concept of backup to your list of painfully
learned lessons.

That is a lesson I learnt years ago, so yeah, I can partially recover my
data but I will try to recover anything and looks like following the
instructions in the page that Jupiter Jones pointed me to I can do something
about it.

 

[4N]

The reason that Windows encrypted the files is that someone told it to do

so. That someone should have kept a record of the encryption key.

Well, of course it was ME to ask Windows to encrypt my files, and it was MY
fault for not caring about how it encrypts files, but since NO warnings are
given my assumption was it was a safe procedure, likely using just the
username and its login password to generate a key.
That said, since this point isn't made clear and people can make mistakes,
would it be that hard (in 7 years) to add 2 (3 maybe?) lines of code in
explorer to make a MessageBox apperar if it's the first time this feature is
used?
Would they really be 15 minutes of wasted time?
Many applications warn you if you're gonna do something that may be
troublesome in the future, why can't Windows that is a program anyone uses
and made by a big company that cares about its customers do the same?
Looks also like this isn't the first time such a thing happened or there
wouldn't be programs written to resolve this problem.