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Simple but effective file encryption?

694 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  JohnWill 
#1 ·
Hi, I'm looking to add a measure of encryption protection for sensitive files on my computer. Is Windows' Encryption File System (EFS) worth messing with? Is there a better alternative?

Looking around the web, what I've found so far is:
Encrypting is easy
Decrypting is automatic for the user who created the file

But it seems that if I reinstall Windows, or copy the file to another computer, or pop the HDD into another computer, or the key gets corrupted ... etc. etc. .... the file will be inaccesible unless I previously had backed up the key. I've not been able to find clear instructions how to do that.

Everything I read seems to be talking about a special situation, like
if the computer is on a network, part of a workgroup, or a domain, etc.

I just want to back up the key on a standalone computer so I can access the file myself later in one of the above circumstances.

Can anyone make this more sensible to me, or point me in another direction?

I have XP Pro SP2 on one computer and Windows 2000 SP4 on another one. Also, no one seems to be saying this explicitly, but EFS is contingent on the file system being NTFS, is it not? Some of my partitions are FAT32.

Thanks,
Ted
 
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#2 ·
Windows EFS will do the trick for you, and it already on hand.

How to backup the recovery agent for EFS describes the method of recovery with both workgroup and domain configurations.

Once you create the backup disk, it can be used to recovery your files.

I'll also point out that if you lose your key for other encryption schemes, you have the same problem, no data. :)
 
#3 ·
JohnWill said:
How to backup the recovery agent for EFS describes the method of recovery with both workgroup and domain configurations.
Thanks so much for your response. Yes, that is exactly the document I was reading. But as I said, it seems to be talking about special situations, computers as part of a domain or workgroup, and therefore I am afraid the instructions might not apply, since my machine is neither, just standalone. And I really don't understand the use of the term "recovery agent".

Thanks
 
#4 ·
There are lots of simple encryption packages out there. For a encryption individual files look at Dscrypt. You can even run it off of a thumbdrive. Or, you could just Zip or Rar to an encrypted archive.

To encrypt lots of files, look at some of the vault style programs such as Cryptainer.
 
#5 ·
The EFS instructions also apply to a single workstation, just do the backup to a floppy, or burn it onto a CD after writing it to a key folder. It works well, and is transparent in operation while you're using it, other than a small performance hit on the encrypted files.
 
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