| Subject: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/5/2008 6:33:59 PM |
| From: bradb56@hotmail.com |
My PC crashed, forcing a reload. I had stored some files in an encrypted folder on a separate partition. Like a bonehead, I didn't save the keys before the crash. Is there anyway I can get to the file contents? Help!!!!!! |
| Back |
| Subject: Re: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/5/2008 6:40:45 PM |
| From: Nonny [Email Address Protection] |
bradb56@hotmail.com wrote: >My PC crashed, forcing a reload. I had stored some files in an >encrypted folder on a separate partition. > >Like a bonehead, I didn't save the keys before the crash. > >Is there anyway I can get to the file contents? > > >Help!!!!!! Answer is the same as the one you got in your first thread in vista.general |
| Back |
| Subject: Re: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/5/2008 7:09:47 PM |
| From: "C.B." [Email Address Protection] |
<bradb56@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:v28074ljir9oarnoi3aoqkhai4cm0njqrg@4ax.com... > My PC crashed, forcing a reload. I had stored some files in an > encrypted folder on a separate partition. > > Like a bonehead, I didn't save the keys before the crash. > > Is there anyway I can get to the file contents? > > > Help!!!!!! If you made a backup to a different drive or to a DVD prior to the crash you can backup your current configuration, use your backup to decrypt the folder, get the information you need and then restore. Otherwise, you're out of luck. Any and all information of an important nature should always be backed up on a regular basis. C.B. -- It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the underprivileged and unfortunate among us. |
| Back |
| Subject: Re: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/6/2008 2:06:18 AM |
| From: "Daniel Petri [Email Address Protection]" <daniel@petri.co.il.removethis> |
If you've used EFS and did not properly back up your private key, you're toasted. If the computer was a member of a domain you could have removed EFS by using the Recovery Agent's user account and private key. But on a Vista stand-alone machine there is NO Recovery Agent, and even of there was, since you formatted the drive all the data on it is lost. You could try to use Elcomsoft's EFS recovery tool, but it costs money and I'm not sure it will help when the machine was formatted. -- Sincerely, Daniel Petri MVP, Senior IT consultant, trainer www.petri.co.il <bradb56@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:v28074ljir9oarnoi3aoqkhai4cm0njqrg@4ax.com... > My PC crashed, forcing a reload. I had stored some files in an > encrypted folder on a separate partition. > > Like a bonehead, I didn't save the keys before the crash. > > Is there anyway I can get to the file contents? > > > Help!!!!!! |
| Back |
| Subject: Re: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/6/2008 11:39:56 PM |
| From: "Vladimir Katalov" [Email Address Protection] |
"Daniel Petri <MVP>" <daniel@petri.co.il.removethis> wrote in message news:84C53755-D8CC-4D12-872A-CDDD55444430@microsoft.com... > If you've used EFS and did not properly back up your private key, you're > toasted. If the computer was a member of a domain you could have removed > EFS by using the Recovery Agent's user account and private key. But on a > Vista > stand-alone machine there is NO Recovery Agent, and even of there was, > since you formatted the drive all the data on it is lost. > > You could try to use Elcomsoft's EFS recovery tool, but it costs money and > I'm not sure it will help when the machine was formatted. In many cases, it does. Professional version of our software scan the disks by sectors, searching for keys by patterns, and if they have not been overwritten by other data -- they're retrieved and so could be used for decryption. But I'd recommend to try the the free trial version, of course -- at least it detects whether any keys are still there, and whether the files are decryptable: http://www.elcomsoft.com/aefsdr.html -- Sincerely yours, Vladimir Vladimir Katalov CEO ElcomSoft Co.Ltd. mailto:vkatalov@elcomsoft.com http://www.elcomsoft.com |
| Back |
| Subject: Re: Lost Encryption Keys |
| Group: microsoft.public.windows.vista.security |
| Date: 7/7/2008 1:59:47 AM |
| From: "Daniel Petri [Email Address Protection]" <daniel@petri.co.il.removethis> |
:-) -- Sincerely, Daniel Petri MVP, Senior IT consultant, trainer www.petri.co.il "Vladimir Katalov" <vkatalov@elcomsoft.com> wrote in message news:6dds1sF21jrkU1@mid.individual.net... > "Daniel Petri <MVP>" <daniel@petri.co.il.removethis> wrote in message > news:84C53755-D8CC-4D12-872A-CDDD55444430@microsoft.com... >> If you've used EFS and did not properly back up your private key, you're >> toasted. If the computer was a member of a domain you could have removed >> EFS by using the Recovery Agent's user account and private key. But on a >> Vista >> stand-alone machine there is NO Recovery Agent, and even of there was, >> since you formatted the drive all the data on it is lost. >> >> You could try to use Elcomsoft's EFS recovery tool, but it costs money >> and I'm not sure it will help when the machine was formatted. > > In many cases, it does. Professional version of our software scan the > disks > by sectors, searching for keys by patterns, and if they have not been > overwritten > by other data -- they're retrieved and so could be used for decryption. > > But I'd recommend to try the the free trial version, of course -- at least > it > detects whether any keys are still there, and whether the files are > decryptable: > > http://www.elcomsoft.com/aefsdr.html > > -- > Sincerely yours, > Vladimir > > Vladimir Katalov > CEO > ElcomSoft Co.Ltd. > mailto:vkatalov@elcomsoft.com > http://www.elcomsoft.com |
| Back |