encrypted files help

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

I have stupidly encrypted my personal folders on an external hard drive as previously had one stolen.

I have swapped laptops as mine died and now can't access cvs wedding list and most important at the moment my christmas card list and addresses.

I have spent hours on this now trying all kinds of things and I still can't open the files. Is there a way of decrypting the files I have tried searching windows help ......not impressed at the mo.

Red_Rose_Exile

which program did you use to encrypt the files?

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

Thanks for replying

I think I just clicked encrypt files but i have unchecked this box but it keeps saying access denied.

Red_Rose_Exile

follow the instructions here if you are using XP

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

I have just tried alot of the stuff but am still having problems.

As it is a different computer it is not seeing me as authorised I have tried to take ownership and to uncheck the encrypt and read only boxes but just keep getting access denied.

I am fairly computer literate but this is doing my head in!!!:o

moneysavingwannabe

Only the user who encrypts a file can recover data that has been encrypted, unless the user specifies a recovery agent before they encrypted the files. To make sure that you have the ability to decrypt files in the future, you should always export your certificate and private key and keep them in a safe place. For additional information about how to to this, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Ok so does this mean that because I am seen as a different user I will not be able to recover these files??

Red_Rose_Exile

I have sent you a PM.... not for general consumption or script kiddies

superscaper

Red_Rose_Exile wrote: »

I have sent you a PM.... not for general consumption or script kiddies

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

amcluesent

>not for general consumption or script kiddies<

Let us know if you're able to break EFS when you don't have the private key

Red_Rose_Exile

If you log on as the local administrator account, you should be able to access and decrypt the files, using recovery agent.

On a standalone XP box, the local admin account is the Recovery Agent for that computer.

to add the recovery agent

It's knowing the local admins password that is the key