unencrypt files?

[SSL]

k, so when i upgraded a couple weeks ago, and reinstalled windows, i had some encrypted files on the second partition, i forgot 2 take off the encryption, so now i cant access the files, im running windows xp pro sp1. does anyone kno a way i can get these files back?<BR>

[Iceman]

unless you have the original password file (from c:windowssystem32config) called 'sam' then i don't think there is any way that you can unencrypt the files <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> <BR><BR>moral of the story...always have a backup of the 'sam' file

[SSL]

hmm, thers gotta b a way 2 decrypt it, maybe a third party software or something

[in54n3]

lol ur talking about hacking ur own box <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

[SSL]

yes i am actually, i can c y microsoft dont put a way to do this on their site, but some1s gotta have a way somewhere, theres gotta b other ppl in my position, isnt there?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">

[SSL]

well if anyone comes thru this post, im gettin a program 2moro that may be able 2 fix my proble from 1 of the other techs i work with, i'll keep posted

[andyzxc]

hi, ive managed to do a similar thing but the old opporating system is still in tact. I changed the hardware of the pc, so of course had to reinstall windows. However didnt realise you had to unencrypt all your information before hand.

Ok I have the "sam" files in the system 32 directory.

Please could somebody explain to me how to use the sam key to unencrypt and allow me access to all my files again. 120 gb worth of movies and music ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh not to mention all my work , its got me rather worried. :eek:

[rd42]

I had the same thing happen, another way to attack this problem is with
http://www.sysresccd.org - System Restore CD
or
http://www.ntfs.com/ - NTFS readable boot disk. You will need a fat drive to copy the information too. The interface is a littel confusing, but it works.
or
And the coolest..
Knoppix which is a CD bootable version of linux with a GUI, Networking, etc, all run from CD.

All of these will walk right past the windows encryption and allow you access to your files or copy them to another drive.

[Ginie66]

This allows administrators to encrypt a file or folder so that only the person who encrypted the file can view it. The administrator can also specify which other users can view the file. U will need the public key from c:windowssystem32config called sam sorry dude i will look into it

[DmdStar]

hi, ive managed to do a similar thing but the old opporating system is still in tact. I changed the hardware of the pc, so of course had to reinstall windows. However didnt realise you had to unencrypt all your information before hand.

Ok I have the "sam" files in the system 32 directory.

Please could somebody explain to me how to use the sam key to unencrypt and allow me access to all my files again. :eek:

I, too, am in this situation, and I DO have the original SAM off my old hard drive. Do we just replace the SAM file on the new hard drive with the file from the old one?

[CHE]

lol ur talking about hacking ur own box <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

......

[RedDelta]

Did anyone ever find a solution to this ? :(

[stlouis1]

yup, i have, if you cannot recover the original encryption keys, either public or private, there is a program called EFS key made by passware that can recover the files without those keys.

but its tricky, in order to use it, you need to know a password to one of the accounts that was on the machine at the time they were encypted. AND that account must have had admin rights IE: the ability to encypt/decrypt those files

there is more info on it here
http://www.lostpassword.com/efs.htm