Re: Windows XP -- encrypt, decrypt -- I am in deep TROUBLE -- HELP



"PJSampson" <PJSampson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:70FD8DF8-390B-4531-8E1E-92B833AFAF41@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
These are the kinds of issues, answers and suggestions I came here looking
for. Thanks for your reply.

You're welcome. It's important to read and understand all of the material
on EFS if you're going to use it successfully and safely.

Most of the time people post regarding EFS, it's a story without a happy
ending.

MS did a great job of making strong encryption available, but perhaps not so
great a job at making the implications and data-safety requirements and
practices clear. Worse, you don't *have* to back up the certificates as
part of the process. This means that encrypted data is instantly
vulnerable.

-pk

"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

"PJSampson" <PJSampson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:01A51072-9847-48FF-9C25-957408EF13CE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Will is right, there is an issue here. He only changed his password
because
he was prompted to. Changing passwords every so often is a recommended
security feature. If he changed his password when prompted and it did
not
apply to the files or folders that he encrypted, there is indeed a
Microsoft
issue to be dealt with.

I'm just beginning to look into encrypted folders or entire drives and
am
trying to research issues like this so I'll know how to deal with it.

Changing the password from within the account should not affect encrypted
files, though it would be a good idea to re-export certificates. It's
the
only safe way to change the password.

Changing the password from *outside* the account (i.e, from users in
another
Admin acccount or a password removal tool) is pretty much guaranteed to
break access to encrypted files and folder.

I don't find any posts with this title and there are no references here,
so
I can't comment on the original, but when using EFS it is critical to
complete the job and export the certificates, *and test them*. Store
copies of the certificates offsite on non-decaying media.

HTH
-pk


One rebuke was enough - the other personal attacks seemed like piling
on
to
me.

"Will L" wrote:

Hmm... guys give that person a break! I think it is a genuine problem.
Nobody
seems to be addressing the real concern.







.



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