PROBLEM IN ENCRYPTED FILE

hi friends

ive problem in an encrypted file,i encrypted some files and i saved them on
the partition D of my hard disk , then i formated the system which was on the
C partition and i installed fresh copy of xp professional as the previous one,

when i tried to access the files ,i encrypted b4, i found those files
unaccessable,

i saw the options of the file-->advanced--->encryption deatails--->i saw it
is allowed only to the account i had in the previous system that i formatted
and i saw that there is smth called certificate for that account and
special thumbprit and those r so advanced for me !!

i wonder is there any way to decrypt those files?

"AHMED FAREED" <AHMED FAREED@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:12DFCCA7-E86A-4EDA-9F0E-979AC20060A4@microsoft.com...
> hi friends
>
> ive problem in an encrypted file,i encrypted some files and i saved them
> on
> the partition D of my hard disk , then i formated the system which was on
> the
> C partition and i installed fresh copy of xp professional as the previous
> one,
>
> when i tried to access the files ,i encrypted b4, i found those files
> unaccessable,
>
> i saw the options of the file-->advanced--->encryption deatails--->i saw
> it
> is allowed only to the account i had in the previous system that i
> formatted
> and i saw that there is smth called certificate for that account and
> special thumbprit and those r so advanced for me !!
>
> i wonder is there any way to decrypt those files?

Without having your certificates, your chances of restoring your files
are unfortunately close to nil. In future make sure to become familiar
with the encryption process AND to back up your certificates.

"AHMED FAREED" <AHMED FAREED@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:12DFCCA7-E86A-4EDA-9F0E-979AC20060A4@microsoft.com...
> hi friends
>
> ive problem in an encrypted file,i encrypted some files and i saved
> them on
> the partition D of my hard disk , then i formated the system which
> was on the
> C partition and i installed fresh copy of xp professional as the
> previous one,
>
> when i tried to access the files ,i encrypted b4, i found those
> files
> unaccessable,
>
> i saw the options of the file-->advanced--->encryption deatails--->i
> saw it
> is allowed only to the account i had in the previous system that i
> formatted
> and i saw that there is smth called certificate for that account
> and
> special thumbprit and those r so advanced for me !!
>
> i wonder is there any way to decrypt those files?


If by encryption you mean that you used EFS (encryption file system),
you need to designate an alternate recovery agent or export your EFS
certificate after creating it (i.e., after the first time you use EFS
to encrypt a file). The security key associated with the EFS cert is
unique to a particular instance of the OS. You blew away that
instance of the OS and installed a new instance. The old EFS cert
isn't defined in your new instance of the OS. You need to import your
previously exported EFS cert to decrypt the files that were encrypted
under that old EFS cert. Since you don't have the EFS cert to import,
you won't be getting into those encrypted files. There is no backdoor
to EFS.

In "Start -> Help and Support", for EFS, it describes how to export
and import the cert.

On Sat, 6 Oct 2007 13:53:02 -0700, AHMED FAREED <AHMED
FAREED@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>hi friends
>
> ive problem in an encrypted file,i encrypted some files and i saved them on
>the partition D of my hard disk , then i formated the system which was on the
>C partition and i installed fresh copy of xp professional as the previous one,
>
>when i tried to access the files ,i encrypted b4, i found those files
>unaccessable,
>
>i saw the options of the file-->advanced--->encryption deatails--->i saw it
>is allowed only to the account i had in the previous system that i formatted
> and i saw that there is smth called certificate for that account and
>special thumbprit and those r so advanced for me !!
>
>i wonder is there any way to decrypt those files?

Sure, if you have any friends in the NSA and a couple of years for
them to work on those files.

By the way, what State secrets were you protecting? There is very
little need to use high level encryption on a personal home computer.
Frankly, it's a disaster waiting to happen, and there are easier ways
to protect your data that aren't going to give you TRASH that you will
never see again when you screw up, as you did, with your encryption
scheme.