I cant open my encrypted files!

[Ryan ?Ericson G. Canlas]

Lately, my cousin asked me to help him recover his lost
files from a damaged WindowsXP installation. We
reinstalled a new copy of XP and tried transfering
ownerships of his files to the new account. But we have
notices that most of the files cannot be accessed because
they were all encrypted without his knowledge. We tried
some steps described in Windows Help, we tried backup and
restoring all files to a FAT drive to get rid of NTFS
security but we failed.

Is there a way we can remove these encryptions so we can
access the files? We already have all the files but they
all give us a message " Access Denied!". /even the
admisitrator account cannot decrypt them. Please reply
back. Thanks.

[Miha Pihler]

Hi,

if you haven't exported or backed up encryption keys on running PC (PC where
files ware encrypted in the first place) your files are as good as gone...
Trying to take over ownership, restoring them to NTFS and even administrator
account won't help.
This is what encryption is supposed to do -- protect your files in case
e.g. your PC or HDD get stolen and another administrator get hold of your
files.

--
Mike
MCSA 2K, MCSE 2K, MCT, ...

"Ryan ?Ericson G. Canlas" <ryanericsongcanlas@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:066301c35014$de2f36b0$a601280a@phx.gbl...

> Lately, my cousin asked me to help him recover his lost
> files from a damaged WindowsXP installation. We
> reinstalled a new copy of XP and tried transfering
> ownerships of his files to the new account. But we have
> notices that most of the files cannot be accessed because
> they were all encrypted without his knowledge. We tried
> some steps described in Windows Help, we tried backup and
> restoring all files to a FAT drive to get rid of NTFS
> security but we failed.
>
> Is there a way we can remove these encryptions so we can
> access the files? We already have all the files but they
> all give us a message " Access Denied!". /even the
> admisitrator account cannot decrypt them. Please reply
> back. Thanks.

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Ryan;
Are you sure it is not an Ownership issue:
[url]http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421[/url]

If the files are encrypted.
If you did not back-up the encryption key or the Recovery Agent and
are not on a domain, the files are as good as gone.
This must be accomplished while you have access to the files.
If you have not already done so, it is now to late.

If you can restore the original profile (not recreate) you may be able
to recover the data.
Recreating profiles and passwords is irrelevant.
Contact Microsoft if you can restore the profile.
Or:
[url]http://www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/index.php[/url]

EFS is very good at what it does and there is no back door.
Read and understand these links before using EFS to keep from
permanently losing your data:
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/administration/recovery/default.asp[/url]
(58 pages)
[url]http://support.microsoft.com/?id=223316[/url]

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp[/url]
Please respond to newsgroup only for everyone's benefit.


"Ryan ?Ericson G. Canlas" <ryanericsongcanlas@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:066301c35014$de2f36b0$a601280a@phx.gbl...

> Lately, my cousin asked me to help him recover his lost
> files from a damaged WindowsXP installation. We
> reinstalled a new copy of XP and tried transfering
> ownerships of his files to the new account. But we have
> notices that most of the files cannot be accessed because
> they were all encrypted without his knowledge. We tried
> some steps described in Windows Help, we tried backup and
> restoring all files to a FAT drive to get rid of NTFS
> security but we failed.
>
> Is there a way we can remove these encryptions so we can
> access the files? We already have all the files but they
> all give us a message " Access Denied!". /even the
> admisitrator account cannot decrypt them. Please reply
> back. Thanks.