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Windows NTFS encryption + OS crash == failure?

V

velis

Senior member
Windows 7 machine crashed and now encrypted files are not readable any more.
There's only one user account on the computer and it's set to administrator.
The computer seems otherwise unaffected by the crash.

If I try to open an .xls, Excel says the file is in a wrong format
If I try to remove encryption (file properties / advances / encrypt...), UAC prompt pops up, but then still says I don't have the rights to decrypt.

Naturally, there's no backup either of the data or encryption key.

What are my options to try and recover these files?
 
Not having rights means you don't own the file - At least not in the eyes of Windows.

Try right clicking and going into the security tab. Go to advanced and make yourself the owner of the file. Then try to decrypt it.
 
Turns out the original certificate was not damaged, but only moved to public store. Moving it to private store restored access to encrypted files.
 
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