Win XP Pro-EFS Decryption after OS reinstalled-HELP PLEASE!!!

[David Bellingham]

Hello people,

I could really do with some help here although unfortunately I think I
already know the answer.

I'm running XP Pro SP1a on a notebook.

HDD is partitioned into C: and D: drives with the OS on the C: drive and
very valuable documents on the D: drive.
Documents on D: were encrypted as I travel to some really miserable places
in the world with sensitive information.

OS has been particularly unstable recently and so yesterday I made the fatal
mistake of removing C: partition and reinitialising it before reinstalling
XP on it without realising that I should have exported the encryption key
first.

You all know what my question is going to be now don't you?!

Is there ANY way to decrypt these encrypted files or are they now gone for
good?

I would really appreciate any help you can give.

Many thanks in advance!

David

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If you failed to make copies of your certificate (and no recovery agent certificates exist),
you won't be able to use your encrypted files. No back door exists, nor is there any practical
way to hack those files. (If there were, it wouldn't be very good encryption.)

HOW TO: Remove File Encryption in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308993

Without a backup of the original Encryption Certificate Key, encrypted files
are unrecoverable as they will stay encrypted forever. There is no recovery
method since the encryption algorithm is now completely different with a
reinstall of Windows XP.

See if the following articles help in any way:

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

Best Practices for the Encrypting File System
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223316

Encrypting File System in Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/cryptfs.mspx

EFS Files Appear Corrupted When You Open Them
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329741

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| Hello people,
|
| I could really do with some help here although unfortunately I think I
| already know the answer.
|
| I'm running XP Pro SP1a on a notebook.
|
| HDD is partitioned into C: and D: drives with the OS on the C: drive and
| very valuable documents on the D: drive.
| Documents on D: were encrypted as I travel to some really miserable places
| in the world with sensitive information.
|
| OS has been particularly unstable recently and so yesterday I made the fatal
| mistake of removing C: partition and reinitialising it before reinstalling
| XP on it without realising that I should have exported the encryption key
| first.
|
| You all know what my question is going to be now don't you?!
|
| Is there ANY way to decrypt these encrypted files or are they now gone for
| good?
|
| I would really appreciate any help you can give.
|
| Many thanks in advance!
|
| David