Encryption Panic

I was in a panic for a short while when I got a message about encryption and key back up. I don’t encrypt and never have. I did install legitimate software from the maker yesterday (photo editor) and had to reboot; the reboot said a New Component was installed… Hmmm…

Virus and malware scans were OK, then I Googled it: I was put at ease when I found a post on it in the Eight Forums (link below). So I backed up the key .

So, since I’ve never encrypted nor have any understanding of what happened, how do I find out what was encrypted over multiple drives and TBs in each? How do I remove this encryption on items found? How do I stop the encryption?

Don’t know if this helps but when I was Windows Exploring a folder of the new software (an expanded Zip addon of pack of images) I saw, for the first time, Green folder names. Inside the folders the files and any subfolders are also Green. The folders and files behave normally and I can view, move, copy, etc. A sign of encryption I guess.

Link:
Solved - what is it this warning ? backup encryption key pop up | Windows 8 Help Forums
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You should first look at Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features and see what was last installed.
Google the the legitimate software name you installed + Encryption

Nice tip on the Control Panel; I’ll have to remember that one. The only thing recently installed was the program and yet two more Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable installs (I have something like 20+ of these…).

I also Googled how to find all encrypted files on your system and found the answer here (link below). The only files found were the program’s assets. I found, or felt, nothing nefarious. It could be they want to protect copyright stuff, or maybe only allow one user on the system. And I’m good with that.

Thanks for the help, Megahertz07.

Link:
Encrypted Files - Find All on the Local Hard Drives
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You're welcome.
If you're done, please mark this thread as Solved.

Hi Megahertz07. I wanted to ‘sleep on it’ before closing, and I’m glad I did as a follow-up question came to mind.

If it was so easy for this program to encrypt something on my computer without warning or allowing me to intervene, what’s stopping the ‘bad guys’ from doing the same?
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TDKMate said:

If it was so easy for this program to encrypt something on my computer without warning or allowing me to intervene, what’s stopping the ‘bad guys’ from doing the same?
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Programs can do anything as long as they have permissions to. The main defense against that are, precisely, operating system permissions and user accounts, but as long as the user you use has access rights they can do anything, literally.

Your worry is not unjustified. The proliferation of ransomware is just software doing bad things with encryption and it was possible exactly due to that. The main defense against those are a good set of permissions blocking access to anything not needed, good backups for restoring your data in case of an incident, and common sense to avoid potentially malicious software in the first place.

Sorry for the delay in getting back... Thanks for the info Alejandro85. I'll mark this as Solved.