Encryption

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

For safety ive encrypted a file on my D: drive But due to a hard drive
failing ive had to by a new HD and now it wont let me access the file i
encrypted. How can i get access back to this file it is only a text file but
contains some info that i really need.

Any idea's ?
 
in message
For safety ive encrypted a file on my D: drive But due to a hard
drive
failing ive had to by a new HD and now it wont let me access the
file i
encrypted. How can i get access back to this file it is only a text
file but
contains some info that i really need.

Any idea's ?
Click to expand...


If "encrypted" means you used EFS (encryption file system) in Windows
then you are required to export the EFS certificate or designate a
recovery agent (another account) so you can decrypt the files if you
lose your EFS certificate in the instance of Windows under which it
was created. Unless you are in a corporate network, there isn't much
point in designating a recovery agent and most EFS users simply export
the certificate (so they can import it later for recovery).

There is no backdoor to EFS.

Start -> Help and Support
Search on "EFS", "recovery agent", and "export EFS certificate".
This is required reading to understand how to use EFS.

Since you don't have the EFS certificate to import it under the new
instance of Windows, you cannot decrypt those old EFS-protected files.
 
For safety ive encrypted a file on my D: drive But due to a hard
drive failing ive had to by a new HD and now it wont let me access
the file i encrypted. How can i get access back to this file it is
only a text file but contains some info that i really need.
Click to expand...

If it was encrypted using EFS on WinXP Pro, and you didn't backup
your certificates per the following:

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

.... then your data is as good as gone (if it weren't, then the
encryption wouldn't be worth much).


My humble recommendation for encryption is the freeware "Truecrypt".
Unlike Windows EFS, you have full control of your encryption key, the
encrypted container file can easily be moved between different
machines (or on USB Drive), and a system/disk crash doesn't
necessarily mean loss of access to your data.

<http://www.truecrypt.org>

HTH,
John
 
Did you back up the necessary keys?
If not, your data is effectively gone for good.

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

If it is an Ownership issue and not EFS, Step 1 on the above link will
help.
 
Thanks Guys for the help and Advice.. I can get the information back just
will take a few days. Ill have a look through all that information you have
provided.

Thanks for your help.
 
Back
Top