lost it all

[Mike]

after upgrade to XP pro from xp home, system froze and
would not resume. Finally had to load a new xp in a new
partition. Now I can't use any data from old files
although I can see data. Very frustrating as I had just
encrypted most valuable data to protect it. New xp won't
let me decrypt it. Can anyone help or am I screw--?

 

[Bastet]

after upgrade to XP pro from xp home, system froze and
would not resume. Finally had to load a new xp in a new
partition. Now I can't use any data from old files
although I can see data. Very frustrating as I had just
encrypted most valuable data to protect it. New xp won't
let me decrypt it. Can anyone help or am I screw--?

If you didn't back up the encryption key then, yes, you are. Windows
generates a new key for each new installation. If you can't access the old
one then there is no way you're going to be able to access it (short of
paying a data recovery outfit £1000s - and even they may not be successful).

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

You need an encryption certificate or a recovery agent made in the system
that encrypted the files. Without one of these, you cannot recover the
encrypted files. If you can still access or repair the original
installation, you need to do this and create the necessary agent. If you
have formatted or deleted the original installation, then you may as well
delete the encrypted files, as this is what strong encryption is all about.

If the original installation still exists, try a repair installation on it.
Follow these steps to do a repair install which should preserve your data,
settings, and programs:

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM
drive.
2. Restart your computer. If you have to, change the BIOS settings to start
from
the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer again.
3. At the "Welcome to Setup" page, press ENTER.
4. Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
5. Use the arrow keys to select the installation of Windows XP that you want
to
repair, and then press R to start the automatic repair process.
6. When Setup is completed, activate Windows XP.

Note that you will need your Product Key for this procedure, so have it
handy before you begin.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Plato]

after upgrade to XP pro from xp home, system froze and
would not resume. Finally had to load a new xp in a new
partition. Now I can't use any data from old files
although I can see data. Very frustrating as I had just
encrypted most valuable data to protect it. New xp won't
let me decrypt it. Can anyone help or am I screw--?

Just use your backup. You did make backups right?

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Actually, if he does have a back and it has a feature that restores NTFS
permissions and he doesn't turn it off, he'll have the same problem. Below
is the reason and the fix.



This sounds like a file ownership issue related to NTFS. Note, file
ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How you resolve
it depends upon which version of XP you are running.



XP-Home



Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for "Simple File
Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and start
hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the administrator's
password. This is not your administrator account, rather it is the
machine's administrator account for which users are asked to create a
password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab, scroll to
the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File Sharing" deselect it
and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or won't let you make a change,
move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user that was logged
on when you were refused permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and type in the name of
the user you just enabled. If you wish to set ownership for everything in
the folder, at the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these files when
you log back on as that user.



XP-Pro



If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder
Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.



If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,
right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the
folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even
in a limited account.

 

[Bastet]

Actually, if he does have a back and it has a feature that restores
NTFS permissions and he doesn't turn it off, he'll have the same
problem. Below is the reason and the fix.



This sounds like a file ownership issue related to NTFS. Note, file
ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How you
resolve it depends upon which version of XP you are running.



XP-Home



Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for
"Simple File Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and
start hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the
administrator's password. This is not your administrator account,
rather it is the machine's administrator account for which users are
asked to create a password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab,
scroll to the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File
Sharing" deselect it and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or
won't let you make a change, move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the
Security tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user
that was logged on when you were refused permission to access the
files. Click apply and ok. Close the properties box, reopen it,
click add and type in the name of the user you just enabled. If you
wish to set ownership for everything in the folder, at the bottom of
the Owner tab is the following selection: "Replace owner on
subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these
files when you log back on as that user.



XP-Pro



If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select
Folder Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File
Sharing" is not selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and
ok.



If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a
user, right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and
objects," place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files
in the folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin
account again, right click the folder, select Properties, go to the
Security tab and be sure the user is listed in the user list. If
not, click add and type the user name in the appropriate box, be sure
the user has all the necessary permissions checked in the permission
list below the user list, click apply and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that
folder even in a limited account.

Err, Mikey, they're *encypted* - you can't take ownership of encrypted data
without the key that was used to encrypt it...

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

You are correct, I missed the encryption reference in the post. My
information does not apply.

 

[Bastet]

You are correct, I missed the encryption reference in the post. My
information does not apply.

I and I apologise for calling you 'Mikey' - it was slightly insolent.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Thank you very much for your apology.