WIN2000 Encrypted Folders & Administrator Profile

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bevan
  • Start date Start date
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Bevan

An MCSE I hired to fix a Registry problem ended up
formatting my drive & reinstalling WIN2000.

However, my "My Documents" folder was encrypted (& stored
on a non-system drive).

I had a complete backup of my system on an external backup
drive & am able to restore the complete file system.

However, my Administrator profile that I was using was
renamed Administrator.XXXXXXXXXXX by a security
enhancement some time ago and now I am unable to recover
that profile as the recently installed Administrator
account is now the default.

I believe that if I can reinstall the previous
Administrator.XXXXXXXXXXX profile, then I should be able
to use the digital security certificate for the encrypted
folder.

Can someone please advise me how this might be possible?

Thanks.
 
If you know the password to the old administrator account and have the old profile
you may be able to recover the EFS files. The EFS private keys used are stored in the
profile of the user and Recovery Agent for those files. There is no easy way however
after a reinstall, without exported private keys to import. Microsoft may be able to
help with a paid support call or try one of the EFS recovery programs such as the
one from ElcomSoft which has a free download that will at least tell you if it can
find the keys associated with the files before you spend the $99. The program will
look for the EFS private keys and then you need to enter the password that the user
used for that account. If your computer was a member of a domain, a domain
administrator may be a recovery agent. Efsinfo can be helpful in determining who can
decrypt EFS files --- Steve

http://www.fileboost.net/directory/...009693_advanced_efs_data_recovery_review.html
 
Steven said:
If you know the password to the old administrator account and have the old profile
you may be able to recover the EFS files. The EFS private keys used are stored in the
profile of the user and Recovery Agent for those files. There is no easy way however
after a reinstall, without exported private keys to import. Microsoft may be able to
help with a paid support call or try one of the EFS recovery programs such as the
one from ElcomSoft which has a free download that will at least tell you if it can
find the keys associated with the files before you spend the $99. The program will
look for the EFS private keys and then you need to enter the password that the user
used for that account. If your computer was a member of a domain, a domain
administrator may be a recovery agent. Efsinfo can be helpful in determining who can
decrypt EFS files --- Steve

http://www.fileboost.net/directory/...009693_advanced_efs_data_recovery_review.html
Click to expand...
Hi

If you have access to the user profile folders for the user that
encrypted the files and if you remember the password for the user
that encrypted the data, you might be able to save the files
without paying for a program or support call.

Take a look at this site for more details:

http://www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/
 
Steven & Torgeir,

Many thanks for your invaluable help.

I tried the manual approach & found there were a couple of
pieces missing and so decided to go the Elcomsoft route
which gave me the results I was looking for.

Best Regards,
Bevan
 
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