Windows 10: Assistance Needed for Accessing Encrypted Files After Windows Upgrade

Dear Microsoft Community,I hope this message finds you well.In my previous Windows installation, I encrypted several folders on my external hard drive. I selected the files, went to Properties, under the Attributes section clicked on Advanced, and checked the option "Encrypt contents to secure data" under the "Compress or Encrypt attributes" section. Please note that the files were in the external hard drive. Only the files I specified were locked, while the rest of the files on the drive remain accessible.Before upgrading to the new Windows, I forgot to decrypt those files, and now I am unabl

:)

 

Windows XP file encryption

LOL thanks, I think its standard windows XP file encryption

 

Unable to access/open encrypted files

Hello Tom,

We regret for the inconvenience and we understand the frustration when things don't go the way they supposed to. Let me assist you.

Before we proceed any further let us know a few more details on the below questions.

• Are you facing any issues while accessing data not encrypted in your PC?
• Did you observe the issue immediately after Windows 10 installation or after any software/hardware changes made to PC (if any) ?
• What is the relevant error message when you say 'locked and cannot be opened'?

As an initial recommendation, I suggest you to refer to the below thread, wherein
Niranjan Majhi has replied to on 31st May, 2016.

Cannot open EFS encrypted files after upgrading to Windows 10

Write to us with the updated status and the required information related to encrypted files in Windows, for us to be able to assist you further.

Thank You.

 

Software encryption

read this:
The Encrypting File System (EFS) is a file system driver with filesystem-level encryption available in Microsoft Windows (2000 and later) operating systems, except Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Vista Basic, and Windows Vista Home Premium. The technology transparently allows files to be encrypted on NTFS file systems to protect confidential data from attackers with physical access to the computer.

User authentication and access control lists can protect files from unauthorized access while the operating system is running, but are easily circumvented if an attacker gains physical access to the computer. One solution is to store the files encrypted on the disks of the computer. EFS does this using public key cryptography, and aims to ensure that decrypting the files is in theory impossible without the correct key. However, EFS is in practice susceptible to brute-force attacks against the user account passwords. In other words, encryption of files is only as strong as the password to unlock the decryption key.

read more ...wikipedia Encrypting File System - Wikipedia