Solved How to decrypt files

[386DX]

Hi. I ran a full backup on files from my C;\ HDD to E:\SSD. About 5 GB out of 25GB were not copied because the files were encrypted. I'm an Administrator. It may be that when they were encrypted, I logged in under a different (old) user. Do I need to log in as the old user, make my current user a member of the Administrators Group, and try again? I have other permission issues I need to resolve ASAP, but I'll start here. Thanks!

 

[Brink]

Hello,

You would need to log in to the original account that encrypted the files to be able to easily decrypt them.

Encrypt or Decrypt a Folder or File | Vista Forums

Otherwise, you would need to import the encryption certificate to your account to be able to decrypt them.

Encrypted File System (EFS) Certificate Backup | Vista Forums

Encrypted File System (EFS) Certificate Restore | Vista Forums

 

[386DX]

Thanks. This may be related, but I'm having trouble ensuring if I backed up all files.

I’m using Backup Maker. I backed up files from C:\ HDD to E:\ SSD.

C:\ 25.4GB, 25,188 files, 2711 folders
E:\ 19.5GB, 23,647 files, 2711 folders (all in 1 .zip file)

Do you think these differences are due to the encryption issue?

 

[Brink]

Yeah, if the encrypted files were not included in the backup, that would account for the smaller file size and less number of files for "E".

 

[386DX]

Makes sense. The backup set did include the encrypted files, but it sounds like I couldn't back them up (copy them) because they were encrypted.

 

[386DX]

I tried your suggestions trying to decrypt files , but keep getting "Access Denied". There aren't any .pfx files on my HDD, may have been deleted along with an old profile. Are there any options you can think of to save these files? I"m trying to decrypt and back up to an SSD. I can't open, copy or move. Thanks.

 

[Brink]

It's going to be about impossible to recover encrypted files without the security key.

If the data is really needed, you could try a professional encryption data recovery company or program, but it won't be cheap.

 

[386DX]

What's interesting is that I can open some of the green encrypted files and others I can't.

 

[RolandJS]

Have you already ltried logging into that older account that encrypted the files?

 

[386DX]

Unfortunately I deleted the user profile.

 

[RolandJS]

Unfortunately I deleted the user profile.

Sorry, I forgot you said that earlier.