Cannot Access Encrypted Files (#22850)

Here is an article regarding this:

File Access Denied despite being administrator, owning the files, and having full permissions
http://superuser.com/questions/318768/file-access-denied-despite-being-administrator-owning-the-files-and-having-ful

Here is an article regarding EFS Certificate needing to be copied over from the old profile:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/decrypt-encrypted-xp-files/

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Microsoft have suggested this if we can get on to the old profile:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/back-up-efs-certificate#1TC=windows-7


To back up your EFS certificate

Open Certificate Manager by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, typing certmgr.msc into the search box, and then pressing Enter.‌

Administrator permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

In the left pane, double-click Personal.

Click Certificates.

In the main pane, click the certificate that lists Encrypting File System under Intended Purposes. (You might need to scroll to the right to see this.)

If there is more than one EFS certificate, you should back up all of them.

Click the Action menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Export.

In the Certificate Export wizard, click Next, click Yes, export the private key, and then click Next.

Click Personal Information Exchange, and then click Next.

Type the password you want to use, confirm it, and then click Next. The export process will create a file to store the certificate.

Type a name for the file and the location (include the whole path) or click Browse, navigate to a location, type a file name, and then click Save.

Click Next, and then click Finish.

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Depending on getting hold of the old certificate the following steps can be followed found on: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-vista/share-encrypted-files

To import the EFS certificate

After you get the EFS certificate from the person you want to share the file with, you need to import the certificate.

Open Certificate Manager by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, typing certmgr.msc into the Search box, and then pressing ENTER.‌

Select the Personal folder.

Click the Action menu, point to All Tasks, and click Import.

In the Certificate Import wizard, click Next.

Type the location of the file that contains the certificate, or click Browse, navigate to the file's location, and then click Next.

Click Place all certificates in the following store, click Browse, click Trusted People, and then click Next.

Click Finish.

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Example of client:

Under a old profile c:\users\john.doe.old, the certficate folder can be found under C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\My\ folder.

Then follow these instructions:

Open Certificate Manager by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, typing certmgr.msc into the Search box, and then pressing ENTER.‌

Click the Personal folder.

Click the Action menu, point to All Tasks, and click Import.

In the Certificate Import Wizard, click Next.

Type the location of the file that contains the certificate, or click Browse, navigate to the file's location, and then click Next.

If you navigate to the right location, but don't see the certificate you are importing, then, in the list next to the File name box, click Personal Information Exchange.

Type the password, select the Mark this key as exportable check box, and then click Next.
Note

Do not select the Enable strong private key protection check box.

Click Place all certificates in the following store, choose Personal, and then click Next.

Click Finish.

I was then able to turn off the encryption on the files under u:\PC Rebuild\Desktop

John will need to create shortcuts to these folders on the desktop, but will first need to delete them off/from the desktop.

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