EFS nightmare...

[alec eiffel]

Hi there,

I'm trying to recover files on my hard drive that have
been encrypted with an old EFS certificate, and I'm hoping
someone can help me. My registry became corrupted, and in
the process of repairing the registry and reinstalling
windows xp, my profile was overwritten (though my files
and other data are intact). However, i can no longer
access the encrypted files. (Before you tell me I should
have made a backup key -- I did. But I lost the floppy.
What I should have done is not lost the floppy...)

Anyway, I've checked
out "www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/" but it's
near incomprehesible (to me), and i don't think the
instructions apply to windows xp; for instance, i couldn't
find a registry key that
matched: "hklm\sam\sam\domains\account\users\%
usernumbers%". If someone could help me interpret the
instructions to match my situation, i would really
appreciate it.

The reason I think there's a ray of hope is that I
downloaded the program "EFS Key"
from "www.lostpassword.com" and it was able to
successfully decrypt an encrypted text file and show some
of the text in it's preview pane. However, the program is
not compatible with dynamic drives, so it cannot fully
recover files on a dynamic drive. And, ofcourse, you-
guessed-it, I converted my NTFS drive to dynamic a few
months ago (some, uh, microsoft site said it was a smart
thing to do...)

Anyway, if this program is able to partially decrypt this
text file (with my original password), then some portion
of the certificate and private key must be present
somewhere on my disk. If only I could find it, and somehow
import it into my certificates base, regaining access to
all my files... can anyone help?

thanks...

 

[David Cross [MS]]

It is not clear whether or not you still have elements of your profile
available. If you do have enough, Microsoft Product Support Services can
walk you through some steps to try and attempt a recovery.

 

[alec eiffel]

hi -- thanks for responding. signing up for microsoft
product support services might be worth the expense if i
knew for certain a recovery was possible -- is there any
way to check and see?

-----Original Message-----
It is not clear whether or not you still have elements of your profile
available. If you do have enough, Microsoft Product Support Services can
walk you through some steps to try and attempt a recovery.

--


David B. Cross [MS]

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

http://support.microsoft.com

Hi there,

I'm trying to recover files on my hard drive that have
been encrypted with an old EFS certificate, and I'm hoping
someone can help me. My registry became corrupted, and in
the process of repairing the registry and reinstalling
windows xp, my profile was overwritten (though my files
and other data are intact). However, i can no longer
access the encrypted files. (Before you tell me I should
have made a backup key -- I did. But I lost the floppy.
What I should have done is not lost the floppy...)

Anyway, I've checked
out "www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/" but it's
near incomprehesible (to me), and i don't think the
instructions apply to windows xp; for instance, i couldn't
find a registry key that
matched: "hklm\sam\sam\domains\account\users\%
usernumbers%". If someone could help me interpret the
instructions to match my situation, i would really
appreciate it.

The reason I think there's a ray of hope is that I
downloaded the program "EFS Key"
from "www.lostpassword.com" and it was able to
successfully decrypt an encrypted text file and show some
of the text in it's preview pane. However, the program is
not compatible with dynamic drives, so it cannot fully
recover files on a dynamic drive. And, ofcourse, you-
guessed-it, I converted my NTFS drive to dynamic a few
months ago (some, uh, microsoft site said it was a smart
thing to do...)

Anyway, if this program is able to partially decrypt this
text file (with my original password), then some portion
of the certificate and private key must be present
somewhere on my disk. If only I could find it, and somehow
import it into my certificates base, regaining access to
all my files... can anyone help?

thanks...

.

 

[Michael A. Locke]

I have a problem similar to his...heck, it may even be
the same as his. My system keeps locking up(for no reason
appearent to me), and so I have to restart. I decided to
do a restore, and during the restore my computer locked
up again. I made all of the folders on my user profile
private, and when I fixed the installation of Windows XP,
the folders from my previous profile will not let me
access the folder at all. can anyone help me? some people
say it would be too hard to explain it.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Michael;
If you made them Private, all you need to do is Take Ownership:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

 

[David Cross [MS]]

if you have your profile and your old account passwor, they can help you
recover

--


David B. Cross [MS]

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

http://support.microsoft.com

hi -- thanks for responding. signing up for microsoft
product support services might be worth the expense if i
knew for certain a recovery was possible -- is there any
way to check and see?

-----Original Message-----
It is not clear whether or not you still have elements of your profile
available. If you do have enough, Microsoft Product Support Services can
walk you through some steps to try and attempt a recovery.

--


David B. Cross [MS]

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

http://support.microsoft.com

Hi there,

I'm trying to recover files on my hard drive that have
been encrypted with an old EFS certificate, and I'm hoping
someone can help me. My registry became corrupted, and in
the process of repairing the registry and reinstalling
windows xp, my profile was overwritten (though my files
and other data are intact). However, i can no longer
access the encrypted files. (Before you tell me I should
have made a backup key -- I did. But I lost the floppy.
What I should have done is not lost the floppy...)

Anyway, I've checked
out "www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/" but it's
near incomprehesible (to me), and i don't think the
instructions apply to windows xp; for instance, i couldn't
find a registry key that
matched: "hklm\sam\sam\domains\account\users\%
usernumbers%". If someone could help me interpret the
instructions to match my situation, i would really
appreciate it.

The reason I think there's a ray of hope is that I
downloaded the program "EFS Key"
from "www.lostpassword.com" and it was able to
successfully decrypt an encrypted text file and show some
of the text in it's preview pane. However, the program is
not compatible with dynamic drives, so it cannot fully
recover files on a dynamic drive. And, ofcourse, you-
guessed-it, I converted my NTFS drive to dynamic a few
months ago (some, uh, microsoft site said it was a smart
thing to do...)

Anyway, if this program is able to partially decrypt this
text file (with my original password), then some portion
of the certificate and private key must be present
somewhere on my disk. If only I could find it, and somehow
import it into my certificates base, regaining access to
all my files... can anyone help?

thanks...

.