Vista File Permission Dilemma

Hi all,

I have 2 HDD which one is used for my OS and one for data. I was using Vista business X64 but decided to put on XP Pro. However after reformatting my OS HDD and putting on XP half my files are now hitting with me with "access denied. It is obviously looking for my Vista user account and will only let you open the folder / run the file. I have rebooted into safe mode and set myself as the owner and given all permissions. I am an admin on the machine as well.
Anyknow how I can get around this or do I have to use datarecovery , ghost the drive and then set the permissions. I have attached a screenshot of the encryption that is on a particular file which is then asking about certificates.

If anyone has any suggestions, thanks in advance.

Hi,

Did you make a backup of your EFS certificate? If you did then all you should need is a Vista machine. Here is a tutorial on what to do:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/99...e-restore.html

You would need to do this on either another machine or on the same machine if you reinstalled Vista without decrypting your encrypted files first. It is worth bearing that in mind folks, as the situation may arise where you have to recover data from a drive that you have slaved to another Vista box, where the certificates will be different ;)

I believe that Vista creates a new certificate each time you install it, but I don't use EFS and I only have the Home Premium edition so I could be wrong? Obviously the new or different certificate won't unlock files that have been encrypted using the original certificate.

There is a commercial product that is supposed to fix this:

http://www.elcomsoft.com/aefsdr.html

It is rather expensive, so I would only consider it myself if I expected to have a reasonable number of clients with this problem.

Otherwise you could try this gross hack...........it might work? (I think that you will need a Vista machine)

1. Make a backup of your files first ;)
2. Create a New Folder on the desktop. (not encrypted)
3. Move all the encrypted files into the New Folder.
4. Right click on the New Folder and click "Send To" -> "Compressed (zipped) Folder". (on desktop)
5. Right click on the New Compressed Folder and "Extract" the New Folder.
6. Click "Yes" to the do you want to replace the old New Folder.
7. The files should not be encrypted now.

WARNING! I have not tried that one myself, so do make sure that you have a backup:halo:

Good Luck!

Quote:

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1. Make a backup of your files first ;)
2. Create a New Folder on the desktop. (not encrypted)
3. Move all the encrypted files into the New Folder.
4. Right click on the New Folder and click "Send To" -> "Compressed (zipped) Folder". (on desktop)
5. Right click on the New Compressed Folder and "Extract" the New Folder.
6. Click "Yes" to the do you want to replace the old New Folder.
7. The files should not be encrypted now.

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Hey Nihil,

I couldnt copy a file to test this out from my HDD to the desktop. Dont know why , maybe because the OS is on a different HDD. If I try and follow your instructions where the file is setting I get a no read permission error.

I havent tried this in safe mode yet but I will later.

I didnt make a backup of my EFS certificate and I have XP Pro on now not vista. If it doesnt work in safe mode then I dont know because all my music is now flagged as encrypted :/

I think that you will need to slave it to a Vista box or reinstall Vista on that box.

Pain in the butt I know, but I can't think of anything better :(:(

I haven't looked to see if there is any other software out there............from what I have heard EFS isn't that secure?

Quote:

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from what I have heard EFS isn't that secure

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- So secure I cant even get my own data :)

If I plug this into a linux box will I be able to do it there just out of interest? I've got Vista machines at work where I can do this.

Why doesnt M$ release a fix or update for this, IMHO its really crappy.

Anyway, shot for the help.

I guess that you will have to do some research on that. I guess it all depends.

Try the trial of that commercial software:

http://www.crackpassword.com/products/prs/mswin/efs/

and see if it tells you it can recover your data. If it can't, I would say that you won't be able to crack it either.

What you might try is a data recovery tool and see what you can restore from the previous Windows install. This is what is claimed:

Quote:

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Advanced EFS Data Recovery is a powerful data recovery tool that helps recovering the encrypted files under various circumstances.

• EFS-protected disk inserted into a different PC
• Deleted users or user profiles
• User transferred into a different domain without EFS consideration
• Account password reset performed by system administrator without EFS consideration
• Damaged disk, corrupted file system, unbootable operating system
• Reinstalled Windows or computer upgrades
• Formatted system partitions with encrypted files left on another disk

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Another possibility lies with how Efs works. It copies stuff into (hidden?) temporary files before encryption, although I am not sure about the Vista version.

It doesn't erase the files AFAIK but marks them as deleted. You might be able to recover the unencrypted files. The files you are looking for are Efs0.tmp

If you have overwritten the required files you have lost your data. I do not believe that it is possible to break the encryption by brute forcing within a realistic timescale.

EDIT:


You might look at this. Not sure if it applies to Vista though:

http://www.beginningtoseethelight.org/efsrecovery/