Recover encrypted files or folders

Hi,
Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate
on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and crapped out on
me.

I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an external
drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am running
into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not allowing me to
transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can access their
security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and Support - and I
think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am not sure
and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru where these
keys/certificates are located or what I should do.

Thanks

Your files are lost regardless of which OS you are running unless you have a
backup copy of a certificate used to encrypt files.

"mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F82F34E9-E716-42ED-98FB-132617165A2F@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista
> Ultimate
> on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and crapped out
> on
> me.
>
> I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an external
> drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am
> running
> into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not allowing me
> to
> transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can access
> their
> security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and Support -
> and I
> think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am not
> sure
> and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru where
> these
> keys/certificates are located or what I should do.
>
> Thanks

I recall making a backup or something back in the day - but I don't know if I
left it in a folder on the drive or put it on an external drive. It's been so
long I have no idea what happened to it. But I can see when I search the old
drive a folder with different certificates and keys and what not - but I dont
know how to proceed from there.

Where would this kind of stuff be located so I can try and hunt it down?

"bazad" wrote:

> Your files are lost regardless of which OS you are running unless you have a
> backup copy of a certificate used to encrypt files.
>
> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F82F34E9-E716-42ED-98FB-132617165A2F@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> > Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista
> > Ultimate
> > on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and crapped out
> > on
> > me.
> >
> > I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an external
> > drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am
> > running
> > into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not allowing me
> > to
> > transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can access
> > their
> > security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and Support -
> > and I
> > think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am not
> > sure
> > and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru where
> > these
> > keys/certificates are located or what I should do.
> >
> > Thanks
>
>

Have you tried using the Easy Transfer Wizard to copy the files over? If you
use the wizard, it will also copy over your EFS certificate and key. For
more information on using the Easy Transfer wizard, see this article:
"Transfer files and settings from another computer"
(http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...49561033.mspx).

If you still have problems opening the files after you have transferred them
with the wizard, the last section in this article can help you recover them:
"Troubleshoot encrypted files and folders"
(http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...1033.mspx#EDD).

Charlene
--
Charlene Shepard
Windows User Assistance Team
Microsoft Corporation


"mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2BFD3A96-19CE-4F6B-A494-CD4BA2C8D9B1@microsoft.com...
>I recall making a backup or something back in the day - but I don't know if
>I
> left it in a folder on the drive or put it on an external drive. It's been
> so
> long I have no idea what happened to it. But I can see when I search the
> old
> drive a folder with different certificates and keys and what not - but I
> dont
> know how to proceed from there.
>
> Where would this kind of stuff be located so I can try and hunt it down?
>
> "bazad" wrote:
>
>> Your files are lost regardless of which OS you are running unless you
>> have a
>> backup copy of a certificate used to encrypt files.
>>
>> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F82F34E9-E716-42ED-98FB-132617165A2F@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi,
>> > Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista
>> > Ultimate
>> > on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and crapped
>> > out
>> > on
>> > me.
>> >
>> > I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an external
>> > drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am
>> > running
>> > into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not allowing
>> > me
>> > to
>> > transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can access
>> > their
>> > security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and Support -
>> > and I
>> > think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am not
>> > sure
>> > and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru where
>> > these
>> > keys/certificates are located or what I should do.
>> >
>> > Thanks
>>
>>

Hi Charlene,

Like I mentioned earlier, I do not have access to my old computer - all I
have is the old hard drive itself - which I am accessing by my usb external
drive. I have tried the Easy Transfer Wizard but it asks me to connect to the
old computer and clearly I can't do that.

Since I cannot transfer the files with the wizard - what else can I do?
I went to the link that I provided below and tried to follow the directions
but If I cannot directly access the old computer then where can the
certificate and key be found on the old hard drive.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...033.mspx#ECCAC

Thanks
Matt

"Charlene Shepard [MSFT]" wrote:

> Have you tried using the Easy Transfer Wizard to copy the files over? If you
> use the wizard, it will also copy over your EFS certificate and key. For
> more information on using the Easy Transfer wizard, see this article:
> "Transfer files and settings from another computer"
> (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...49561033.mspx).
>
> If you still have problems opening the files after you have transferred them
> with the wizard, the last section in this article can help you recover them:
> "Troubleshoot encrypted files and folders"
> (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...1033.mspx#EDD).
>
> Charlene
> --
> Charlene Shepard
> Windows User Assistance Team
> Microsoft Corporation
>
>
> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2BFD3A96-19CE-4F6B-A494-CD4BA2C8D9B1@microsoft.com...
> >I recall making a backup or something back in the day - but I don't know if
> >I
> > left it in a folder on the drive or put it on an external drive. It's been
> > so
> > long I have no idea what happened to it. But I can see when I search the
> > old
> > drive a folder with different certificates and keys and what not - but I
> > dont
> > know how to proceed from there.
> >
> > Where would this kind of stuff be located so I can try and hunt it down?
> >
> > "bazad" wrote:
> >
> >> Your files are lost regardless of which OS you are running unless you
> >> have a
> >> backup copy of a certificate used to encrypt files.
> >>
> >> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:F82F34E9-E716-42ED-98FB-132617165A2F@microsoft.com...
> >> > Hi,
> >> > Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista
> >> > Ultimate
> >> > on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and crapped
> >> > out
> >> > on
> >> > me.
> >> >
> >> > I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an external
> >> > drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am
> >> > running
> >> > into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not allowing
> >> > me
> >> > to
> >> > transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can access
> >> > their
> >> > security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and Support -
> >> > and I
> >> > think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am not
> >> > sure
> >> > and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru where
> >> > these
> >> > keys/certificates are located or what I should do.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks
> >>
> >>
>

This program may be able to help.

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

I believe the trial version only decrypts the first part of a file but it
will allow you see if it works before you buy it.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2664E054-117C-4D85-82CF-8CA45715BEAF@microsoft.com...
> Hi Charlene,
>
> Like I mentioned earlier, I do not have access to my old computer - all I
> have is the old hard drive itself - which I am accessing by my usb
> external
> drive. I have tried the Easy Transfer Wizard but it asks me to connect to
> the
> old computer and clearly I can't do that.
>
> Since I cannot transfer the files with the wizard - what else can I do?
> I went to the link that I provided below and tried to follow the
> directions
> but If I cannot directly access the old computer then where can the
> certificate and key be found on the old hard drive.
>
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...033.mspx#ECCAC
>
> Thanks
> Matt
>
> "Charlene Shepard [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>> Have you tried using the Easy Transfer Wizard to copy the files over? If
>> you
>> use the wizard, it will also copy over your EFS certificate and key. For
>> more information on using the Easy Transfer wizard, see this article:
>> "Transfer files and settings from another computer"
>> (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...49561033.mspx).
>>
>> If you still have problems opening the files after you have transferred
>> them
>> with the wizard, the last section in this article can help you recover
>> them:
>> "Troubleshoot encrypted files and folders"
>> (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...1033.mspx#EDD).
>>
>> Charlene
>> --
>> Charlene Shepard
>> Windows User Assistance Team
>> Microsoft Corporation
>>
>>
>> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2BFD3A96-19CE-4F6B-A494-CD4BA2C8D9B1@microsoft.com...
>> >I recall making a backup or something back in the day - but I don't know
>> >if
>> >I
>> > left it in a folder on the drive or put it on an external drive. It's
>> > been
>> > so
>> > long I have no idea what happened to it. But I can see when I search
>> > the
>> > old
>> > drive a folder with different certificates and keys and what not - but
>> > I
>> > dont
>> > know how to proceed from there.
>> >
>> > Where would this kind of stuff be located so I can try and hunt it
>> > down?
>> >
>> > "bazad" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Your files are lost regardless of which OS you are running unless you
>> >> have a
>> >> backup copy of a certificate used to encrypt files.
>> >>
>> >> "mattske" <mattske@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:F82F34E9-E716-42ED-98FB-132617165A2F@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> > Hopefully someone can help me out here. I am running Windows Vista
>> >> > Ultimate
>> >> > on a brand new computer. My old pc had video card problems and
>> >> > crapped
>> >> > out
>> >> > on
>> >> > me.
>> >> >
>> >> > I have attached my old hard drive to this new computer via an
>> >> > external
>> >> > drive, and so far I am able to transfer my files over, however I am
>> >> > running
>> >> > into problems with some encrypted files that I have. It is not
>> >> > allowing
>> >> > me
>> >> > to
>> >> > transfer or open them. I can see that they are present and can
>> >> > access
>> >> > their
>> >> > security settings. I have followed the directions in Help and
>> >> > Support -
>> >> > and I
>> >> > think I have located my Windows XP EFS Certificate and key but I am
>> >> > not
>> >> > sure
>> >> > and I still cannot access these files. Can someone walk me thru
>> >> > where
>> >> > these
>> >> > keys/certificates are located or what I should do.
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks
>> >>
>> >>
>>