Export file encryption keys

[Ed H]

I want to export and save my certificates (keys) for file encryption in
order to recover my backup files if C: is ever crashed or formatted for some
reason. I am following the instructions to export personal key for backup. I
get to the line that says, "Click the certificate that says 'File Recovery'.
.. . I only see one certificate in the pane and it says "Encrypting File
System." Is this the right one?How do I back up my keys?

Thank You,
TTs

 

[Miha Pihler]

Hi Ed,

To export your private keys, logon as the user that encrypted the files,
open internet explorer and go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Content ->
Certificates. Select the certificate that you need to export and click
Export. Make sure you select "Yes, export the private key".

Once it's exported save it to safe place (personally I like to burn it to CD
and keep it in safe place). Also make sure, you don't forget the password
you set!

I hope this helps you out,

Mike

 

[Shaun L. Anderson]

Hey I like you FINALLY SOMEBODY WHO WANNA BACKUP SOMETHING!!! MY LIFE NOW HAS MEANING!!!

Okay got that out the way <takes deep breath>

To backup your EFS Recovery key you'll first need to create one, and to do so you will need to get to know the cipher.exe program.

Open any DOS Prompt (except command.com cause command.com can only run 16 bit executables and cipher.exe is a 32 bit executable).

Got the DOS prompt up? now type in this command

"cipher /?" (without the quotes)

This will bring up cipher's little help screen in which I suggest you get to know VERY well.

By now you've probably seen that by typing "cipher /r:<name of recovery cert>" (without the quotes) will create a new EFS Recovery Cert but not so fast I first want you to get a basic understanding of how the EFS process works so yeah
you could go ahead and create you EFS Recovery cert right now but would you even know what to do with the cert? How to import/export it? I'm guessing not (otherwise I wouldn't be reading/typing this), so with that said it is my opinion that I suggest you head to http://www.microsoft.com/ and do a search for "EFS in Windows XP" (with or without the quote in this case).
EFS is a very powerful tool so I'm not the one to tell you what to do with you data in this case cause if you make even a little mistake you file are gone forever with no hope of ever decrypting them again EVEN IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! AND DOING IT CORRECTLY!!

 

[Ed H]

Apparently the certificate I was seeing was the correct one even though it
did not say that it was "File Recovery." I exported the certificate that
said "Encrypting File System" and tried it out, it worked fine. Thanks
again.