Windows 7 - lock icon next to my user name??

i had a problem before with my files being encrypted and when i reinstall the OS lost all my access to those files because they couldnt be decrypted..


again, for some reason when i go to C Drive> Users> there arel two folders, Eldin and Public.

the Eldin folder should be my administrator account cause i dont have any other accounts. for some reason there is a lock next to my user name. i will post screenie at the bottom.

now if i go into the folder and find for instance a picture (jpeg file) and i transfer that file to another partition (secondary hard drive) it shows the file in that drive but also has a lock next to the file.

i dont want a problem with these files somehow being encrypted again and not having access to them if i dont decrpyted them first.

please help i had a nightmare before with this

thanks,
eldin

One thing that will cause the lock to appear is if the Everyone group is not listed as usernames under the properties of your folder. Also it's an ownership issue too. Try the following:

1. Add the "Everyone" group to the Security tab for users. Assign rights as normal. you may get an error, just hit continue when they come up as it will continue to run.
2. If step one doesn't work, On the same tab click "Advanced"
3. On the next screen click owner tab.
4. Then click the edit button.
5. Highlight your username and click apply. you will get a dialogue box just click o.k. on that.
6. Click o.k. again out of everything.

That should hopefully resolve your issue.

sos did that work?

i followed another site that said i had to add "users" and it removed the icon but still when i copy the files it says a lock. so what i did was for each partition i c d f i went to the security tab and add users to all of them and it gave some error messages but it seems to work. i guess i cant really tell until i have to reinstall OS. so im praying nothing messes up

the pic is no of the errors i got when i add everyone in addition to users as i first did before reading your post.

...Just leave things alone! This lock icon is nothing to be concerned about.
You are just going to screw things up by trying to mess with file (esp., drive permissions!) permissions.

thats what happen last time with that lock that means my files are encrypted and if i dont remove the encrtyption i cant access on another computer or if i reformat.

that was the problem i had last time and so thats why i wanted to remove the lock.

Don't touch it; I have the lock and its fine - if you add Everyone to your users, then everyone can access your files - get it?

dude i understand and im not in a network so its fine, maybe u dont understand that LOCK means your files are encrypted... and so read here for more understanding of it.

"
Recovery

Files encrypted with EFS can only be decrypted by using the RSA private key(s) matching the previously-used public key(s). The stored copy of the user's private key is ultimately protected by the user's logon password. Accessing encrypted files from outside Windows with other operating systems (Linux, for example) is not possible — not least of which because there is currently no third party EFS component driver. Further, using special tools to reset the user's login password will render it impossible to decrypt the user's private key and thus useless for gaining access to the user's encrypted files. The significance of this is occasionally lost on users, resulting in data loss if a user forgets his or her password, or fails to back up the encryption key. This led to coining of the term "delayed recycle bin", to describe the seeming inevitability of data loss if an inexperienced user encrypts his or her files.
If EFS is configured to use keys issued by a Public Key Infrastructure and the PKI is configured to enable Key Archival and Recovery, encrypted files can be recovered by recovering the private key first."





if i dont decrypted them and and for reason i need to reformat pc or move files to another computer i cant access them without the key or unless i FIRST DECRYPTED them.
thats what happen to me before and i lost over 200GB worth of media and some important files. i just didnt know how that lock got there and why since i didnt mess with anything.

so anyhow i figured out how too and now im fine.





source:Encrypting File System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nothing is encrypted here - look in the advanced properties, the encrypted check box for my User folder is unchecked; there is no encryption. These files can be opened by any OS.

My question would be, how are they getting encrypted?