Encrypted Folder (2)

[Topazworm]

A while back i had an accident with my comp. As a result the "My Documents Folder" i think was encrypted and after reformat it cant be accessed. Since downloading the demo of Active File REcovery it teases me by showing the entire contents of my lost dir and the ability to recover the files. So my question is:
Its not lost data its encrypted. Is there a way i can access the folder? i dont want to pay fo rthe programme simply because i cannot afford it
and 2 is there a way of deleting the folder in question. as it will always state "access denied" when i try to do anything with it!
any help is appreciated!!

[snowmonkey]

I do recall your original post a while back and I did reply to you via PM, but I guess you did not read it, read your PM and reply to it.

Cheers

[Topazworm]

Originally Posted by snowmonkey

I do recall your original post a while back and I did reply to you via PM, but I guess you did not read it, read your PM and reply to it.

Cheers

i did respond..maybe wasnt in depth but i did. I just need general advice. The situation has changed slightly since

[snowmonkey]

Read your PM (Private Messages) again.

Cheers

[Cache]

Originally Posted by Topazworm

A while back i had an accident with my comp. As a result the "My Documents Folder" i think was encrypted and after reformat it cant be accessed. Since downloading the demo of Active File REcovery it teases me by showing the entire contents of my lost dir and the ability to recover the files. So my question is:
Its not lost data its encrypted. Is there a way i can access the folder? i dont want to pay fo rthe programme simply because i cannot afford it
and 2 is there a way of deleting the folder in question. as it will always state "access denied" when i try to do anything with it!
any help is appreciated!!

Hi,

Iv put a batch script together that might totaly recover the folder. Including giving you access to it. But keep in mind that I have never had to do this on my own machine, so I cant say it will work for sure. But here it is anyway.

Copy the text starting from the line "@ECHO OFF" and paste it into notepad, then save it as ATTRIB.cmd then double click it.

Where you see "username" change it for your windows user name. In the "CALCS" line where "username" is specified, wrap it in quotes if your username has more then one word, like "john doe". Also, press Y folowd by enter when prompted. Sorry if the instructions are a bit stechy, if you like you could type each line into a command window pressing enter after each line.

@ECHO OFF
title Attrib changer
ECHO.

ECHO This command file will attempt to change the attribute set on "My Documents".
pause

CACLS "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents" /P username:F

ATTRIB -S -H "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

ATTRIB -E "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

pause
EXIT

[Cache]

I just tried the batch file on a folder in my own machine. It seem the batch file doesnt like the ATTRIB commands and just keeps cycling through the the CALCS command.

Instead of making a .cmd file just type the folowing commands into a command prompt, pressing enter after each line and see if that works:

CACLS "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents" /P username:F

ATTRIB -S -H "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

ATTRIB -E "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

Dont forget to change "username" for your windows username. Unfortunately I cant test the line for removing the encrypted attribute because it seems that parameter only comes with newer versions of XP.

[Topazworm]

Thanks for all your advice. I tried Active File Recovery. Paid For it in the end. And it worked like a charm. So now i need your help once more. This time in deleting the annoying folder. "my documents" ive got all my data back, and placed in a folder called Docs for now. i want to delete the old my documents but of course "access denied" any advice? thanks

[Cache]

Hi,

Try this to get rid the access denied message:

Go to start-> run-> type cmd-> in the command window type:

CACLS "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents" /P username:F

Change "username" for your Windows username then press enter and agree(Y) then press enter again.

After that you will have to remove the system attribute before it can be deleted (if at all).

Still at the command prompt type:

ATTRIB -S -R "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

Again change "username" to your Windows username then press enter.

Then to delete the folder open task manager and kill explorer.exe. In the command prompt type:

RD /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents"

Change "username" to your Windows usename and press enter.

Next type:

Explorer.exe

Press enter to start Windows Explorer again.

Hopefuly that should work. Post back and let us know.

[Topazworm]

Doesnt work for me
This is how i had it:
Old Username before format : Topazworm
New One Operator3
my documents is located at : d:\my documents

Ive tried editing what you gave me to reflect this but still no dice. Its not a huge problem not deleting it apart from the fact its using about 35 GB of my hard drive space