Hi
I had loads of problems with my old pc (which ran Vista) and before it died I did several re-installs and complete pc restores from my backups to try to rectify the problems without success. I think the problem was with the hard drive.

I bought a new pc (running windows7) but when I came to restore my documents I was unable to access a lot of them. The problem seems to be that, unbeknown to me, my folders had somehow become encrypted with Vista's EFS. Because I wasn't aware of this I haven't got an original backup key of certificate.

I understand you can use a recovery certificate but to use this you need to have the original encryption key, or a copy of it.

I would be really grateful if anyone help me with any ideas as to how I can get access to these documents without the original encryption key.

Thank you

I'm sorry but without the original certificate (which you said that you didn't back up) I'm afraid that you probably can't do anything to get them back. I don't know of any hacks but it would be against our terms of service to provide you with any. In reality we don't know that you didn't just take the hard drive out of someone else's computer (although you probably didn't).

Hi Townsbg - thank you for your reply. No! I certainly did not take anyone's hard drive and I'm a bit upset that it is even suggested. I'm just trying to get back vital documents that I've lost

just wondering if you've already tried recuva? I've tried it and it worked like a charm to me. I just do not know if there was some sort of certificate requirements.