Free file encryption with the Windows XP Encrypted File System (EFS)
Tutorial, Usage, Security, and Trouble-Shooting.

Did you know that Windows 2000 and Windows XP Pro Edition can encrypt your files so that nobody else (other than the Windows user that encrypted the files) can read it? Even reinstalling Windows with the same user name or inserting the hard disk into another PC does NOT reveal the data!  However, this also means that YOU have to backup your KEY carefully, otherwise you can no longer access your data after a Windows reinstallation or if the key files become corrupted.

Encrypting your data is easy:

1. Select the folder that you want to encrypt. In our case we want to encrypt our "FAX" folder.

2. Open the FAX folder properties:

3. Select the "Encrypt contents..." attribute - That's all!

Note:  Under Windows XP encrypted folders are displayed with a GREEN color:

Test: Log off and log on as a different uses. You will see the file names but you are not able to access them!

Important: Now its time to back up your private key otherwise you are in risk of losing ALL encrypted data once you need to reinstall Windows!!!

We are not aware of any method to "crack" or "hack" EFS in a reasonable time. So if you ever loose your key your data is lost!

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q223316 Best Practices for Encrypting File System

Q230520 How to Encrypt Data Using EFS in Windows 2000

Q242296 How to Restore an EFS Private Key for Encrypted Data Recovery

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/howitworks/security/encrypt.asp

There is also a NEW white paper for Windows XP available on the Microsoft Website that is called "Data Protection and Recovery in Windows XP" by David Cross. Among other topics, this paper also describes the necessary steps to export and import your private key (.pfx file) using the MMC with the Certificates snap-in. All steps are described in detail along with some screenshots. It is highly recommend that you read at least this part of the white paper before you apply EFS to any critical data!!! Tip: Try to actually export and import the key once to make sure you understood the procedure.