Windows XP Home - Encryption nightmare

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I encrypted some files on my laptop and copied them to an external drive as
backup. Laptop was stolen. When I access the external drive with the
encrypted files with a new laptop, I am not able to open the files as the
Properties>General>Advanced>Encrypt Attributes command is not available. I
can see the check in the box but I is not available to uncheck.
It is vital that I can remove the encryption so I can access the
information.Please help !!
 
walterrest said:
I encrypted some files on my laptop and copied them to an external drive as
backup. Laptop was stolen. When I access the external drive with the
encrypted files with a new laptop, I am not able to open the files as the
Properties>General>Advanced>Encrypt Attributes command is not available. I
can see the check in the box but I is not available to uncheck.
It is vital that I can remove the encryption so I can access the
information.Please help !!
Click to expand...

Since XP Home does not have any native encryption ability, you must have
used a third-party encryption program. Contact that program's tech
support for help.


Malke
 
Thank you Malkey, just returned from trip. You are correct, I mispoke - I
encrypted the files with the laptop that was stolen with XP Pro and put the
file on an external disk that I am now trying to trying to open without
success with XP Home and Vista Business. A couple of these files are
extremely important, PLEASE HELP !!
 
walterrest said:
Thank you Malkey, just returned from trip. You are correct, I mispoke - I
encrypted the files with the laptop that was stolen with XP Pro and put the
file on an external disk that I am now trying to trying to open without
success with XP Home and Vista Business. A couple of these files are
extremely important, PLEASE HELP !!
Click to expand...

If you neglected to back up your key and/or set a recovery agent, the
chances of you recovering that data are slim-to-none. You can contact
Elcomsoft to see if their program can retrieve your data. If not, then
the files are effectively gone.

http://www.elcomsoft.com/aefsdr.html


Malke
 
First - you are not going to be using Windows XP Home Edition to open
Windows XP Professional encrypted files.

Second - if you did not backup your encryption key/certificate someplace
where you can still get at it - those important files are all but toast.
You may be able to purchase some really expensive application to try and get
into them or send it off to some expensive data recovery business - but
without that backed up key/cert - I would say you are out of luck. Likely
anything that could get into them might take your lifetime+ some to get into
them.

Best practices for the Encrypting File System
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223316

.... particularly:
"Why you must back up your certificates...
Because there is no way to recover data that has been encrypted with a
corrupted or missing certificate, it is critical that you back up the
certificates and store them in a secure location. You can also specify a
recovery agent. This agent can restore the data. The recovery agent's
certificate serves a different purpose than the user's certificate."
 
Expensive lesson indeed - thatnk you very much for taking the time to assist
me with this !!!
Walter
 
Expensive lesson indeed - Shenan, thank you very much for taking the time to
assist me with this !!!
Walter
 
walterrest said:
Expensive lesson indeed - Shenan, thank you very much for taking the time to
assist me with this !!!
Walter
Click to expand...
Sorry your data appears to be lost.

I wrestled with encryption for some time trying to find a good
application for this purpose. I was reluctant to use Windows XP
encryption because it is my understanding that the encryption is tied to
the userid that created it (among other things).

I finally was introduced and have been successfully using Open Source
TrueCrypt (truecrypt.org) to make encrypted volumes and entire thumb
drives. I like the ability to make an encrypted virtual volume that
can be copied between machines and emailed if needed.

Check it out, its very easy to setup/use encrypted volumes. It has
a great user guide that walks though the creation of a volume.

Marty
 
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