Windows 10: Recover encrypted files after upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10

Hi,


I did the following:


1. Was using Windows 7 and had a directory of encrypted files

2. Replaced the motherboard and CPU, added a new SSD as the system drive (C , and added the previous system drive as an additional drive (G

3. Clean installed Windows 10 on the new system drive


So my entire old Windows 7 installation is still intact, but it is not the system/boot drive anymore.


Since my new Windows 10 install is a clean one, it obviously doesn't recognize me as the same previous Windows 7 user. So even though I can see my files that were encrypted under Windows 7, I can't decrypt them. And I can't seem to find any exported EFS certificates on my old drives.


Is there any way to recover these, aside from disassembling my new computer, reassembling my old one, booting up Win 7, logging in as my "old" self, and exporting my EFS keys from there?


For example, is it possible to import my old Win 7 user account into my new Win 10 OS? And if I do that, will I be able to decrypt those files that I encrypted with that old Win 7 account?

:)

 

Windows XP file encryption

LOL thanks, I think its standard windows XP file encryption

 

Windows 10 upgrade problem, no input accepted

I really hate having to come here and ask for help, but I really am stumped. It hurts my geek pride. I have a PC with fairly modern hardware in it. It has a p8p67 pro in it. I have tried upgrading windows 10 on it twice now. Both times I have had the same result.

After windows finishes upgrading it goes to the log in/set up screen. I can't do anything. No keyboard or mouse input is accepted.

I will list some, or hopefully all, of the troubleshooting steps I have tried:

• Move keyboard and mouse to different USB ports.
• Try different keyboard or mouse.
• Restart computer, repeatedly.
• Google for related issues.
• Update Bios, because why not.
• Create boot media and revert to windows 7.

The windows 10 system restore boot media works fine with keyboard and mouse. All USB ports work in windows 7. I don't know what is wrong. I suspect that windows 10 is lacking a driver of some sort, but since the computer accepts no input I have no way of checking for which driver let alone installing it.

Please help me figure this out. If I have to revert back to windows 7 again, I am not going to get it upgraded to windows 10. Thank you in advanced.

 

windows 7 encryption problem

Sounds like he was using the Encrypting File System (EFS) built into XP. This uses a certificate (similar to that used on SSL for websites) and optionally a password to unlock the files.

The certificate can be stored separately from the computer and imported into another one running Windows XP, Vista or 7, in which case you can then read the files just fine.

By the sound of it, the cert wasn't stored anywhere and has now been lost due to the drive reformat.

In this case he's f*cked.

I strongly suggest you and he read up on encryption and thoroughly understand it before turning it on again. Using it in a half-baked manner does more harm than good, as you and him have found out. The Inside Out series of books from Microsoft have the best info on Windows and are reasonably priced from Amazon.