I had encrypted a folder under a particular user account. Now I am
unable to login to that user account probably due to incorrect
password. This means that I cannot access that encrypted folder at
all.
1. Is there any way I can un-encrypt it now?
2. I have another userid with administrative privileges. Can something
be done with this?
Thanks.
If the account is damaged or if you change the password from outside the
account, there are only two ways to recover the encrypted data.
However, since you are asking this question here, it's very likely that
neither of them are available to you.
The first is to import the credentials you weren't required to back up, and
consequently probably don't have.
The second is to use the Designated Recovery Agent that so few people
specify.
You cannot decrypt the encrypted data with another account of *any* level
unless you import the encrypted account's credentials to it.
If you want to continue to have a chance of accessing that data, here is one
of the few things you can do. Remove the original hard disk and image it
to another drive (using something like Acronis TrueImage), and put *that*
drive in. You can boot from that drive and try whatever you like for
password recovery without fear of damaging the original account; if the
original is damaged you will never, ever, have any chance of recovery. If
you damage the image, you can always re-create it from the original drive.
You might want to make an image file to smooth the process.
Sorry there isn't better news.
HTH
-pk
