Enable "Encrypt contents to secure data" option in Windows Explore

[Guest]

In Windows Explorer (Home Edition) if I select a file / folder

1) Right click then select Properties
2) On General Tab, Click Advanced
3) "Encrypt contents to secure data" is not Enabled

I want to enable this feature in my Windows Explorer. Please help me enable
this feature.

 

[M8RIX]

Some things to consider:
To open Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, point to
Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
a.. You can only encrypt files and folders on NTFS file system volumes.
a.. Files or folders that are compressed cannot also be encrypted. If you
encrypt a compressed file or folder, that file or folder will be
uncompressed.
a.. Files marked with the System attribute cannot be encrypted, nor can
files in the systemroot directory structure.
a.. When you encrypt a single file, you are asked if you want to encrypt the
folder that contains it as well. If you choose to do so, all files and
subfolders that are added to the folder in the future will be encrypted when
they are added.
a.. When you encrypt a folder, you are asked if you want all files and
subfolders within the folder to be encrypted as well. If you choose to do
so, all files and subfolders currently in the folder are encrypted, as well
as any files and subfolders that are added to the folder in the future. If
you choose to encrypt the folder only, all files and subfolders currently in
the folder are not encrypted. However, any files and subfolders that are
added to the folder in the future are encrypted when they are added.

 

[M8RIX]

Sorry I missed the XP "Home" part......

Windows XP home users:
1.. Select the folder you wish to encrypt.
2.. Right-click the folder and click Properties.
3.. Click the Sharing tab.
4.. Check the box Make this folder private
5.. Click Apply and then Ok.

Make this folder private is grayed out?

In order for this option to work in Microsoft Windows XP home you must meet
the below requirements.

1) The hard disk drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32.

2) The folder you're attempting to encrypt must be in your own personal
folder. For example, if your name is bob, you must be encrypting a folder
that is or that is contained within the below folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

 

[Guest]

Information still does not show me how to enable this feature. None of the
files I'm trying to encrypt are compressed.

 

[Lem]

Sorry I missed the XP "Home" part......

Windows XP home users:
1.. Select the folder you wish to encrypt.
2.. Right-click the folder and click Properties.
3.. Click the Sharing tab.
4.. Check the box Make this folder private
5.. Click Apply and then Ok.

Make this folder private is grayed out?

In order for this option to work in Microsoft Windows XP home you must meet
the below requirements.

1) The hard disk drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32.

2) The folder you're attempting to encrypt must be in your own personal
folder. For example, if your name is bob, you must be encrypting a folder
that is or that is contained within the below folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

"Private" isn't the same as "encrypted." The EFS [Encrypting File
System] feature is not included in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

There are good reasons for this. One reason is that encrypting files
with Windows EFS is very dangerous. If you are not careful, you can
easily irretrievably lose your data.

If you are determined that you want to encrypt things (rather than
relying on NTFS permissions to restrict access), then use something a
bit less wrapped up in the operating system, such as free PGP:
http://www.pgpi.org/ or one of the other free encryption utilities:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/encryption.shtml

Don't encrypt your entire disk. And the disclaimer on the page linked
above applies here as well:
Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty
whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book or
service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse
or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other
standard disclaimers also apply.

 

[4wunders]

In Windows Explorer (Home Edition) if I select a file / folder

1) Right click then select Properties
2) On General Tab, Click Advanced
3) "Encrypt contents to secure data" is not Enabled

I want to enable this feature in my Windows Explorer. Please help me enable
this feature.

Encrypting File System is available only on XP Pro.
IMHO, a much better program to do this is the freeware "Truecrypt".

<http://www.truecrypt.org>

HTH,
John

 

[Bruce Chambers]

In Windows Explorer (Home Edition) if I select a file / folder

1) Right click then select Properties
2) On General Tab, Click Advanced
3) "Encrypt contents to secure data" is not Enabled

I want to enable this feature in my Windows Explorer. Please help me enable
this feature.

WinXP Home does not support EFS; you'll have to upgrade to WinXP Pro to
avail yourself of this feature.

Best Practices for Encrypting File System
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223316


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Lem]

Sorry I missed the XP "Home" part......

Windows XP home users:
1.. Select the folder you wish to encrypt.
2.. Right-click the folder and click Properties.
3.. Click the Sharing tab.
4.. Check the box Make this folder private
5.. Click Apply and then Ok.

Make this folder private is grayed out?

In order for this option to work in Microsoft Windows XP home you must
meet the below requirements.

1) The hard disk drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32.

2) The folder you're attempting to encrypt must be in your own
personal folder. For example, if your name is bob, you must be
encrypting a folder that is or that is contained within the below folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

"Private" isn't the same as "encrypted." The EFS [Encrypting File
System] feature is not included in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

There are good reasons for this. One reason is that encrypting files
with Windows EFS is very dangerous. If you are not careful, you can
easily irretrievably lose your data.

If you are determined that you want to encrypt things (rather than
relying on NTFS permissions to restrict access), then use something a
bit less wrapped up in the operating system, such as free PGP:
http://www.pgpi.org/ or one of the other free encryption utilities:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/encryption.shtml

Don't encrypt your entire disk. And the disclaimer on the page linked
above applies here as well:
Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty
whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book or
service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse
or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other
standard disclaimers also apply.

For the most recent example of why you should not use Windows'
Encrypting File System, see the thread beginning with the post "Help,
I've encrypted my files and I can't get up" posted by Mel about 2 hours ago.

 

[Guest]

29-Jul-07

XP Not encrypting my folders and files...
-----------------------------------------

New system, Win XP Pro SP2, 1 GB RAM, all NTFS partitions (no FAT32 format
option available during install).


Sori to butt in but this is rather urgent an I see some v authoritative
sources
at work here in this thread. I've no land line here yet. Going thru some
distant
public wifi connection w/ no or low signal and this is hell. Been at it for
days. Just now took 90 minutes just to get to this point. I may, if I can,
post

this also to Security, regardless of reprimands. Getting a bit desperate.

I've read these posts but nothing works for me. Will follow up the links if
ever get a good connection. Thanx to the brilliant programmers of this
newsgroups
posting ap - and to the weak signals - when the thing times out or if I X it
after
10 minutes of the 'reply' not going anywhere - I have to recycle the entire
msg and routine several times. This is my 3rd try now...

I'm aware of the pitfalls (typical; nothing new) from your post but I can't
find
that "Help" post. Not to wori tho; I got backup.


(1) Encryption Problem.

Not sure if I understand the new terminology but thot that "encrypt" meant

"Convert ordinary language into code" so no one can read it until decrypted.

Well, that's not the case here. When I do my thing, all I get is a font
change
to green for the folder and file names, so on. When I tick and Apply,
"Details"

remains shaded/inactive. There are no compressed files. The folder is in C:\.

I did see the dynamic file transfer pop-up an things hopping from left to
right; but after all that, everything in those "encrypted" folders is still
accessible as usual in my account (which, by the way, was not
password-protected
- but is now).

I subsequently placed a test folder under my account in "Documents and
Settings"
and followed same procedure. It had one file. I did not see the file-transfer
pop-up this time and results were same. I can still access the folder and
file
at anytime without going thru any decryption procedure.

Perhaps I just don't understand what MS means by "encryption" in the context
of this OS. Am new to this issue.

The info on the subject given in Help seems rather skimpy and doesn't really
put

any light on the subject for me. There is no meat in there. So I don't really
know what's going on or what I may be doing wrong.

Can any one clear this up for me please?


(2) Notepad Memory Problem.

This has been bugging me for a long time, since the last XP computer I worked
on. It looks like this is a standard bug or intentional. Whenever a
Notepad.txt
file reaches around 50 KB, a warning message pops up about 'not enuf mem to
complete the operation' yet the file does open ok once I x out the message. I
got 1 GB RAM in here and not many aps installed yet. It's annoying. Is there
a
registry fix for this?

Thanx in advance,

Ted...



--
Ted...

Sorry I missed the XP "Home" part......

Windows XP home users:
1.. Select the folder you wish to encrypt.
2.. Right-click the folder and click Properties.
3.. Click the Sharing tab.
4.. Check the box Make this folder private
5.. Click Apply and then Ok.

Make this folder private is grayed out?

In order for this option to work in Microsoft Windows XP home you must
meet the below requirements.

1) The hard disk drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32.

2) The folder you're attempting to encrypt must be in your own
personal folder. For example, if your name is bob, you must be
encrypting a folder that is or that is contained within the below folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

In Windows Explorer (Home Edition) if I select a file / folder

1) Right click then select Properties
2) On General Tab, Click Advanced
3) "Encrypt contents to secure data" is not Enabled

I want to enable this feature in my Windows Explorer. Please help me
enable
this feature.

"Private" isn't the same as "encrypted." The EFS [Encrypting File
System] feature is not included in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

There are good reasons for this. One reason is that encrypting files
with Windows EFS is very dangerous. If you are not careful, you can
easily irretrievably lose your data.

If you are determined that you want to encrypt things (rather than
relying on NTFS permissions to restrict access), then use something a
bit less wrapped up in the operating system, such as free PGP:
http://www.pgpi.org/ or one of the other free encryption utilities:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/encryption.shtml

Don't encrypt your entire disk. And the disclaimer on the page linked
above applies here as well:
Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty
whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book or
service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse
or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other
standard disclaimers also apply.

For the most recent example of why you should not use Windows'
Encrypting File System, see the thread beginning with the post "Help,
I've encrypted my files and I can't get up" posted by Mel about 2 hours ago.

--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer

 

[Guest]

I hope you've received help by now, but just a couple of points. As long as
you are logged in with the username and password that you used to encrypt the
files, there is no decryption process to view the files. Filenames are
changed to green to indicate encryption.

Also, as another user pointed out, you can't encrypt files in the systemroot
directory (c:\).