windows XP file incription

surge · September 24th, 2003

I have some files on a seprate hard drive that have been incripted by windows xp. i right clicked on the files and selected incript,

i had to reinstall windows xp becasue it was crashign all the time
now i cant get access to the files on the other drive. which is just a storage drive,

is there anyway to recover thoes files of mine that are incripted?

**rushm001** · September 24th, 2003

Originally posted by surge
is there anyway to recover thoes files of mine that are incripted?

You mean Encrypted?

You should be able to log in as administrator and take ownership of the files. I think.

Every user name in windows xp is given a unique user number which is used when a file is encrypted. When the user is deleted, even if the user name is the same the user number will be different.

surge · September 24th, 2003

i am an administratior on the pc, but do i need to long in as the administrator to take ownership?

**rushm001** · September 24th, 2003

It depends how your system is configured, by default a member of the administrators group should be able to take ownership of files.

surge · September 24th, 2003

i have taken ownership of some of the files , but i cant unencript them, i just get an error message.

**Brad** · September 24th, 2003

what is the error message?

surge · September 24th, 2003

an error occurred while applying attributes to file:

access is denied

**Enyo** · September 24th, 2003

Your not going to get access to them. The certificate used to encrypt them was lost when you reinstalled windows. If you had decrypted them or backed the encryption certificate up you would have been fine.

**Brad** · September 24th, 2003

Originally posted by Enyo
Your not going to get access to them. The certificate used to encrypt them was lost when you reinstalled windows. If you had decrypted them or backed the encryption certificate up you would have been fine.

yup.

oDin · September 24th, 2003

if i remember correctly. once you encrypt a file or folder you will only be able to decrypt it with the user account with which it was encrypted or a recovery agent. not even the administrator will be able to decrypt it.

the only way for you to decrypt your files would be to copy them to a FAT volume.

surge · September 24th, 2003

thanks Enyo i kinda guessed that could have been why

thanks anyway

could you tell me how to back up an encryption certificate
and restore it if i need to please.

surge · September 24th, 2003

never mind now

files have been deleated, they were just wallpaers and msn6 icons.

thanks for the help guys.

**Enyo** · September 24th, 2003

HOW TO: Back Up the Recovery Agent Encrypting File System Private Key in Windows 2000 (and XP)

**Brad** · September 25th, 2003

Originally posted by surge
never mind now files have been deleated, they were just wallpaers and msn6 icons.

thanks for the help guys.

and here i was thinking it was something important.

surge · September 25th, 2003

well there was some other important stuff thats been recovered
o the joys of poilce data forensic software

.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #1
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	windows XP file incription I have some files on a seprate hard drive that have been incripted by windows xp. i right clicked on the files and selected incript, i had to reinstall windows xp becasue it was crashign all the time now i cant get access to the files on the other drive. which is just a storage drive, is there anyway to recover thoes files of mine that are incripted?

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #2
rushm001 In the beginning...... Joined: September 2002 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,480 Reputation: 1370 Power: 165	Originally posted by surge is there anyway to recover thoes files of mine that are incripted? You mean Encrypted? You should be able to log in as administrator and take ownership of the files. I think. Every user name in windows xp is given a unique user number which is used when a file is encrypted. When the user is deleted, even if the user name is the same the user number will be different.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #9
Brad OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 2,276 Blog Entries: 1 Reputation: 1552 Power: 161	Originally posted by Enyo Your not going to get access to them. The certificate used to encrypt them was lost when you reinstalled windows. If you had decrypted them or backed the encryption certificate up you would have been fine. yup.

September 25th, 2003	Top \| #14
Brad OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 2,276 Blog Entries: 1 Reputation: 1552 Power: 161	Originally posted by surge never mind now files have been deleated, they were just wallpaers and msn6 icons. thanks for the help guys. and here i was thinking it was something important.

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September 24th, 2003	Top \| #3
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	i am an administratior on the pc, but do i need to long in as the administrator to take ownership?

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #4
rushm001 In the beginning...... Joined: September 2002 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,480 Reputation: 1370 Power: 165	It depends how your system is configured, by default a member of the administrators group should be able to take ownership of files.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #5
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	i have taken ownership of some of the files , but i cant unencript them, i just get an error message.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #6
Brad OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 2,276 Blog Entries: 1 Reputation: 1552 Power: 161	what is the error message?

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #7
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	an error occurred while applying attributes to file: access is denied

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #8
Enyo OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: February 2003 Posts: 1,338 Reputation: 330 Power: 130	Your not going to get access to them. The certificate used to encrypt them was lost when you reinstalled windows. If you had decrypted them or backed the encryption certificate up you would have been fine.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #10
oDin xp m0nk3y Joined: February 2004 Location: vancouver, bc Posts: 368 Reputation: 0 Power: 104	if i remember correctly. once you encrypt a file or folder you will only be able to decrypt it with the user account with which it was encrypted or a recovery agent. not even the administrator will be able to decrypt it. the only way for you to decrypt your files would be to copy them to a FAT volume.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #11
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	thanks Enyo i kinda guessed that could have been why thanks anyway could you tell me how to back up an encryption certificate and restore it if i need to please.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #12
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	never mind now files have been deleated, they were just wallpaers and msn6 icons. thanks for the help guys.

September 24th, 2003	Top \| #13
Enyo OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: February 2003 Posts: 1,338 Reputation: 330 Power: 130	HOW TO: Back Up the Recovery Agent Encrypting File System Private Key in Windows 2000 (and XP)

September 25th, 2003	Top \| #15
surge OSNN Senior Addict Joined: February 2004 Posts: 382 Reputation: 0 Power: 105	well there was some other important stuff thats been recovered o the joys of poilce data forensic software .