Encryption and decryption

[Hoodinii]

I had to completely format a PC, before that I backed up 20gb of pictures on a external hard drive. What I found that they were encrypted. I upgraded from xp to windows 7. I tried a lot of programs to decrypt them without any success. They are encrypted with EFS and i don't have any EFS keys or certificates. No idea what to do. If i can recover data from the formated hard drive somehow will i have some success in that? I need help 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Backups?

 

Did you encrypt them?

 

 

[captain_to_fire]

18 minutes ago, Hoodinii said:

I had to completely format a PC, before that I backed up 20gb of pictures on a external hard drive. What I found that they were encrypted. I upgraded from xp to windows 7. I tried a lot of programs to decrypt them without any success. They are encrypted with EFS and i don't have any EFS keys or certificates. No idea what to do. If i can recover data from the formated hard drive somehow will i have some success in that? I need help 

I'm afraid you're pretty much out of luck. You really need that encryption key to access your files. 

[Hoodinii]

1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Backups?

 

Did you encrypt them?

 

 

I didn't encrypt them. They were encrypt and I realized that when I formated the whole hard drive.

 

55 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I'm afraid you're pretty much out of luck. You really need that encryption key to access your files. 

What about to try with a data recovery program, and try to recover some of the files from the formated hard drive? Will this even work?

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, Hoodinii said:

What about to try with a data recovery program, and try to recover some of the files from the formated hard drive? Will this even work?

There doesn't seem to be a big backdoor, so you lost the files unless you have backups or that key. You can try a data recovery service, but you will probably get the same answer.

[Hoodinii]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

There doesn't seem to be a big backdoor, so you lost the files unless you have backups or that key. You can try a data recovery service, but you will probably get the same answer.

Where are those keys located in the system? 

[captain_to_fire]

17 minutes ago, Hoodinii said:

What about to try with a data recovery program, and try to recover some of the files from the formated hard drive? Will this even work?

I think that only works if the drive isn't encrypted. I don't think brute forcing a drive could work either. That's why smartphones with file level encryption enabled can be wiped out and all data can't be recovered once the encryption keys are stripped off. 

14 minutes ago, Hoodinii said:

Where are those keys located in the system? 

I think so, especially if you have a trusted platform module. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

24 minutes ago, Hoodinii said:

Where are those keys located in the system? 

how did you encrypt it? Your os doesn't just encyrpt something without telling you. It should have given you a recovery key

 

[Hoodinii]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

how did you encrypt it? Your os doesn't just encyrpt something without telling you. It should have given you a recovery key

 

No idea, it wasn't my PC it was my friends. If she ever did encrypt it she would tell me and I could simply decrypt the files before copying them on the external hard drive. But no idea why they were encrypt she's not a tech person, she only use her pc for Internet and movies. No idea how you can encrypt something without knowing.

 

5 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I think that only works if the drive isn't encrypted. I don't think brute forcing a drive could work either. That's why smartphones with file level encryption enabled can be wiped out and all data can't be recovered once the encryption keys are stripped off. 

I think so, especially if you have a trusted platform module. 

Maybe my only option is to try a recovery software, and see if there's somehow to recover the keys?