"Access Denied!" .. Can't remove Encryption

[Ke3pup]

hey everyone:

today i had to use my backup to restore Windows XP PRo. i had a Encrypted folder Which now i can't access any of the files in there. every time i click on any of those files (e.g. .txt) ,it says "Access Denied", i tried giving it Permission and taking ownership but it didn;t work.

right clicking any files in that folder then, in Properties >> Advance >> "Encrypt Data To secure content" is checked. i can;t remove the tick , it says "Access denied when i try to do so. There is a "Detail" button next to it , when i click it a window i can see that I SHOULD have access to this file because my Account name is the only name under "User who can Transparently access This file".

can anyone plz help me. i badly need these files. plz help guys. thanx

[giantsnyy]

once xp encrypts those files its for that installation only

theres a way to back up the encryption information but i'm not sure how, so sorry guy you are out of luck.

[Ke3pup]

can anyhelp? plzzzzz

[Intersect]

there is nothing you can do sorry.

[Olly-]

This program can read NTFS, and might be able to recover your files: http://www.ntfs.com/products.htm

[Ke3pup]

i tried it, but it didnt help. The "recovered" files are still Unaccessable and encyrpted. anyone knows how to get thru this. plz help

[Max Veteran]

Sorry dude, unless you backed up the encryption certificate beforehand you are completely out of luck. I had exactly the same problem and have to live with it.

[Ke3pup]

i can see all the Details of The "CertificatE" thru Properties >> Advance >> Detail (next to Encyrpt content to secure data), is that of any use?

[kaffra]

you can get more information about EFS, under File Encrption on the left side.

Unless you backed up your keys or have a recovery agent i dont think you can do anything about it.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...t_overview.mspx

[+BudMan MVC]

Did you setup recovery agent.. Did you backup your encryption keys? How did you "restore" your xp from backup.. Your backup should of included all the keys.. Was it a backup from before the key was created to encrypt these files?

this may help?

Troubleshooting EFS

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...nb_efs_yzfa.asp

You really should FULLY understand what your doing and what happens when you click the encrypt button.. ;)

[Ke3pup]

ok i made a "backup " of the certificate using "cipher /x" command. now what?

[Ke3pup]

  BudMan said:

Did you setup recovery agent.. Did you backup your encryption keys?  How did you "restore" your xp from backup..  Your backup should of included all the keys..  Was it a backup from before the key was created to encrypt these files?

this may help?

Troubleshooting EFS

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...nb_efs_yzfa.asp

You really should FULLY understand what your doing and what happens when you click the encrypt button.. ;)

586118373[/snapback]

Ya the backup was from before the Files were encrypte! :( i managed to make a backup of the certificate using "cipher /x" commnad. is that of any use?

[+BudMan MVC]

Dude if the backup was from before the files were encrypted -- then what is your problem? Your restore of such a backup would be with unecrypted files?

Do you have the KEY the files were encrpted with or not? If you do not have this or a recovery agent.. then your pretty much out of luck! What key did you make a backup of??

cipher /x backups the key of the current user.. Was the user account the same? Was the account that encrypted the files logged in at the time? Did you point to an efsfile when you ran this command.. So it would of backed up the cert used to encrypt the file.. Not the currently logged in user..

If you create an account "billy" encrypt some files as billy.. then blow away XP.. recreation of the account name billy is not going to do you any good.. the cert will not be the same.. You have to have the cert from the first billy account.. Or if you had set the admin or some other account of the first xp install as a recovery agent.. and have their cert..

Do you have the "CERT" used to encrypt these files or not? Backing up certs from a new xp install is not going to get you anything.. except for a backup of files you encrypt with these accounts..

What exactly do you mean by used your "backup" to restore XP?? If it was a true backup - then all user accounts and their certs should of been restored.. Or did you "reinstall" xp or use some type of restore CD that installs xp?

[Colin-uk Veteran]

you could always try "Get databack for NTFS" not sure if that would work though as i dont know if it deals with encrypted files... (google for the link) :)

[+orgitnized Subscriber¹]

Remember guys...this is Windows. :laugh: More times than not, there's a way to do anything and get anything if you have the right tools. :rofl:

If it's really that important to you, Elcomsoft's Advanced EFS Recovery will get the files back for you.

It'll cost you, but if you need them back, this is your ticket.

[griffinheart]

hey, i had a smiliar prob dunno if it will work in your case try this:

in system tools use back up app, back up the folder when done use the same app. to restore the back and when restoring there should be a part with some check boxes, just uncheck the one that says restore without security settings hope it helps :)