MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/4E963D13/HowtoRecoverEFSEncryptedFiles.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" How to Recover EFS Encrypted Files

How to Recover EFS Encrypted File= s

QUESTION:
I encrypted some files with EFS, but I had to reinstall Windows and now I c= an't access the encrypted files. What can I do?

ANSWER:
Unfortunately, EFS was designed to be secure, and there is no way to recove= r EFS encrypted data without the digital certificate that contains the private key used to encrypt your data. That's why you should always back up your EFS certificate to another location (a network drive and/or removable media), in case of corruption of the certificate or a situation like this, where you h= ave to reinstall the operating system.

Here's how: =

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.=
  3. Click the Content tab, then click Certificates in the Certificates section.
  4. Click the Personal tab.
  5. Navigate to the certificate whose "intended purposes" field says "Encrypting File System." This will only be present if you have previously encrypted a folder or file.
  6. Click Export. This invokes the Certificate Export Wizard.
  7. Click Next on the firs= t page of the Wizard.
  8. On the next page, click Yes, export the private key. Click Next again. <= /span>
  9. Click Enable Strong Protection. Click Next again.
  10. Type a password to protect the private key.
  11. Type a path where you want to save the key (a flo= ppy disk, network drive, CD, or other location). Click Next.

T= here is a way to recover EFS encrypted files if your computer belongs to a domain (= this usually doesn't apply to home networks). In that case, there may be a recov= ery agent designated who can decrypt everyone's EFS encrypted files. If your computer is on a business network, ask your network administrator to recover your files in this way.