HELP!!! File encryption problem!! 3rd PARY TOOLS?

[calskibunny]

An error occurred in my local policy setting that denies me the right to logon both in my regular and administrator account even in safe mode, and safe mode with command won’t display. When trying to logon I get a pop up error message:

“The local policy of this system does not permit you to logon interactively.”

Not being able to logon to my desktop Microsoft had me do a parallel instillation and manually restore my system however when I restored the system to an earlier state I was denied access to my encrypted files! I have critical data I have to access!!! :scared:

I’ve spent more than 20 hours on the phone with Microsoft but still my problem goes unresolved. Are there any third party tools I can use to un-encrypt my files on XP Pro? Or change the local policy settings without having to logon to my desktop?

I have also noticed that my certificates state they are not located in the trusted root folder after a system restore.

Are there any third party tools or suggestions to how I might fix this problem?

[stlouis1]

trying running chkdsk from the recovery console. looks like your registry is corrupted, the sam file at least. if chkdsk doesnt help at all. restore the sam file from the repair folder. you'll have to recreate your user profiles though

[DarkDestroyer]

right, assuming these encrypted files are on your hard drive then you will need to remember what kind of encryption you used and what strenth it was 16-bit, 32-bit etc. then if i am correct you should then look for a decryption tool that can decrypt these files (most encryption programs will also decrypt) and then with the correct credentials (password etc) you should be able to decrypt easily.

If they are encrypted using the built in windows encryption stuff on the proffesional version im sorry i dont have a clue but it will be a lot harder because they will probably be made so that only windows can decrpt them.

[suitepotato]

EFS is non-trivial to break and you'd be very old or dead before you managed. By then, the reason for the files is irrellevant, right?

I am guessing that the encryption certificates were blipped when you restored to an earlier state but the encrypted files left so now you have a locked box and no key.

You're almost certainly SOL.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/encrypt_overview.mspx?mfr=true

You might find something there, but you won't crack EFS. If you didn't back up your certs and keys and didn't designate an agent, ouch.