Private Key and Encryption

[Koutsokeras Vaggelis]

One client of mine encrypted some personal files. And this was working fine.
One day tryied to open one of his file and he couldn't. Access is denied. He
tryed to decrypt the file but there was the same error: Access is denied.

I looked for the certificate but it is valid until 02/06/2108. I tried for
test purposes to apply encryption to a new file and there was the following
error:

Key not valid for use in specified state.

Is there any way to obtain access to his files again?

Thank you very much.


Koutokeras Vaggelis

 

[anarita]

To decrypt a folder or file:

Right-click the folder or file you want to decrypt, and then click
Properties.

Click the General tab, and then click Advanced.

Clear the Encrypt contents to secure data check box, and then click OK.

Note:

If you try to open an encrypted file and you get a message that access
has been denied, your encryption key might be corrupted or missing. In
this case, you must have a backup copy of your original encryption key,
or, if you're on a domain, your network administrator must have a
recovery certificate. You can recover the encrypted files by restoring
the encryption key with a backup copy, or by using a recovery
certificate. If you don't have a backup copy of the key or a recovery
certificate, you won't be able to access your files.

 

[Swifty]

One client of mine encrypted some personal files. And this was working
fine. One day tryied to open one of his file and he couldn't. Access is
denied. He tryed to decrypt the file but there was the same error:
Access is denied.

This can happen if an administrator changes the user's password with any
of the mechanisms that don't require knowledge of the previous password
(such as in the User Accounts area of the Control Panel).

When I accidentally did this to my own userid, I found that going back
to my previous password seemed to solve the problem.

I always keep records of my old passwords, as I usually forget to change
one or more of them across the hundreds of places where I use a password.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

One client of mine encrypted some personal files. And this was working
fine. One day tryied to open one of his file and he couldn't. Access is
denied. He tryed to decrypt the file but there was the same error: Access
is denied.

I looked for the certificate but it is valid until 02/06/2108. I tried for
test purposes to apply encryption to a new file and there was the
following error:

Key not valid for use in specified state.

Is there any way to obtain access to his files again?

Thank you very much.


Koutokeras Vaggelis

Depends on what the client used to encrypt the files. That's an important
detail.

If it's XP Pro and if EFS was used, and if the user did not take the
foolishly optional step of not backing up the account certificates, the data
is likely gone - unless he has unencrypted backups.

If the backed-up certificates are available, simply import them.

HTH
-pk