1

USING "ENCRYPTING FILE

SYSTEM" TO PROTECT

FILES AND FOLDERS

IN "WINDOWS.."

2

Web location for this

presentation:

http://aztcs.orgClick on

“Meeting Notes”

3

SUMMARYMany of the "editions" of

"Windows 2000", "Windows

XP", "Windows Vista",

"Windows 7", and "Windows 8"

have the "Encrypting File

System" (EFS) for securing files

and/or folders inside NTFS hard

drive partitions.

4

TOPICS• Basics of Encrypting File System

• "EFS" versus "BitLocker"

• "Encrypting File System" Service

• Using the "Certificate Manager" to

Check for Existing Personal "Public

Key Certificates"

• Encrypting A File or Folder with EFS

• Using the "Certificate Manager" to

Export a Newly-Created Public Key and

Private Key

5

TOPICS (continued)• .PFX "Personal Information Exchange"

files

• Decrypting an EFS-encrypted file/folder

• Deleted Certificates Stay in RAM And

Are Active Until You Reboot

6

BASICS OF EFS

• The "Encrypting File System"

(EFS) is a feature of "NTFS"

hard drives (and partitions)

for many editions of

"Windows 2000" through

"Windows 8".

7

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• When view in "Windows

Explorer" ("File Explorer"), a

folder that contains only

"Encrypting File System"-

encrypted files will have it's

name in green text:

8

9

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• When viewed in "Windows

Explorer" ("File Explorer"),

a file that is encrypted by

"Encrypting File System"

will have it's name in

green text:

10

11

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• Another user on the same computer

will be unable to open/view the EFS-

protected file.

• If someone takes your hard drive,

and puts it into an external hard drive

enclosure and attaches the

enclosure to their own computer,

they will be unable to open/view the

EFS-protected file.

12

13

14

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• "ESF" is a feature of "NTFS"

hard drives (and partitions)

for many editions of

"Windows 2000" through

"Windows 8".

15

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• In EFS, "public key

certificates", "private keys",

and passwords to controll the

various keys all work together

to give you "two factor

authentication".

16

BASICS OF EFS (continued)• The advantages of having

certificates are detailed in `

http://www.trustico.com/material/Te

chpaper_10_Best_Practices_Securi

ng_Your_Enterprise.pdf#page=6

and

http://serverfault.com/questions/182

980/how-is-using-client-certificates-

more-secure-than-tls-plus-basic-

authentication

17

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• According to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encr

ypting_File_System, Ecrypting

File System (EFS) is available

for the following editions of

"Windows..":

18

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

19

BASICS OF EFS (continued)• "Windows Vista Starter", "..Home

Basic", and "..Home Premium"

allow only decryption--so you can

read encrypted files but you

cannot encrypt them according to

http://pcworld.about.net/od/encry

ption1/The-Simple-Way-to-Keep-

Your-Pr.htm

20

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• For "Windows Vista Starter",

"..Home Basic", and "..Home

Premium" you can decrypt EFS-

encrypted files using the cipher

command line command. See

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-

IS/windows-vista/What-is-

Encrypting-File-System-EFS

21

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

• "Windows 7 Starter", "..Home

Basic", and "..Home Premium"

allow only decryption--so you can

read encrypted files but you not

encrypt them

22

BASICS OF EFS (continued)• For "Windows 7 Starter", "..Home

Basic", and "..Home Premium"

you can decrypt EFS-encrypted

files using the cipher command

line command.

23

BASICS OF EFS (continued)• See

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-

us/windows/forum/windows_7-

windows_programs/cipherexe-

returns-error-the-request-is-

not/9d5cb3fc-d092-4551-bc9f-

f62dbd46f37c?msgId=5ad136ca-

dedf-4013-8f1c-81627b907895

24

BASICS OF EFS (continued)

25

BASICS OF EFS (continued)• "Encrypting File System" is also

available for NTFS drives/partitions

for the "..Pro" and "..Enterprise"

editions of "Windows 8".

• "Encrypting File System" will not be

available for the "..RT" or "Windows

8" editions of "Windows 8".

• Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8_edition

s#Comparison_chart

26

"EFS" VERSUS "BITLOCKER"

• "Bitlocker" is used to encrypt entire

hard drives or hard drive partitions

whiile "Encrypting File System" is

used to encrypt individual data files

and/or folders

• "EFS" causes less of a

performance reduction on your

Windows computer

27

"EFS" VERSUS "BITLOCKER" (continued)

• See

http://www.lockergnome.com/windo

ws/2012/04/25/bitlocker-vs-efs/

28

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM"

SERVICE MUST BE SET TO

"MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC"• In order to encrypt or decrypt a

file or folder, the "Encrypting

File System" services has to be

set to "Manual" or "Automatic":

You can run services.msc from

any search box or "Run" box in

"Windows.." to turn it on:

29

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 1: Click on the "Start"

button in versions of "Windows"

prior to "..8" or, for "Windows

8..", hover over the lower-left

"Hot Corner" and use the

RIGHT mouse" to click on "Run"

in the pop-up "Power User

Context Menu":

30

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 2: Type in

services.msc

• Step 3: Press once on the Enter

key.

31

32

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 4: A "Services" Microsoft

Management Console window

will be displayed:

33

34

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 5: Use the vertical scroll bar

on the right to scroll downward until

you locate the "Encrypting File

System" service.

• Step 6: Use your RIGHT mouse

button to click on it.

• Step 7: A pop-up context menu will

be displayed:

35

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 8: Click on "Properties" in the

pop-up context menu:

36

37

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 9: A "Properties" dialog box will

be displayed.

• Step 10: Make sure that "Startup

type" is set to "Manual" or

"Automatic". "Manual" is preferable.

• Step 11: Click on the "Apply" button

if it is not grayed out.`

38

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" SERVICE SET

TO "MANUAL" OR "AUTOMATIC" (continued)

• Step 12: Close the "Properties"

dialog box.

• Step 13: Close the "Services"

Microsoft Management Console

window.

39

40

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES"

• Step 1: Click on the "Start" button in

versions of "Windows" prior to "..8"

or, for "Windows 8..", hover over the

lower-left "Hot Corner" and use the

RIGHT mouse" to click on "Run" in

the pop-up "Power User Context

Menu":

41

42

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 2: Use the right mouse button

to click on "cmd.exe" in versions of

"Windows" prior to "..8" or, for

"Windows 8..", use the left mouse

button to click on "Command

Prompt (Admin) in the pop-up

Power User Tasks menu:

43

44

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 3: Use the left mouse button to

click on "Run as administrator" in

versions of "Windows" prior to "..8"

or, for "Windows 8..", use the left

mouse button to click on the "Yes"

button of the "User Account Control"

dialog box:

45

46

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 4: A command prompt window,

will be displayed:

47

48

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 5: Inside the command prompt

window, type in

certmgr.msc

• Step 6: Press once on the Enter

key.

49

50

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 7: A "certmgr" Microsoft

Management Console window will

be displayed:

51

52

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 8: Double-click on the

Personal group in the right-most

pane:

53

54

55

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 9: Double-click on

"Certificates" subgroup in the right-

most pane:

56

57

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO CHECK FOR EXISTING PERSONAL

"PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATES" (continued)

• Step 10: Note that you presently

have no "Public Key Certificates" or

subgroups in the "Personal" group:

58

59

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER

WITH "ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM"

• Step 1: Start "Windows

Explorer" ("File Explorer").

• Step 2: Locate or create the

folder or file that you want to

encrypt.

60

61

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 3: Use the RIGHT mouse

to click on it.

• Step 4: A pop-up context menu

will be displayed.

• Step 5: Click on "Properties".

62

63

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 6: A "..Properties" dialog

box will be displayed.

• Step 7: Click on the "Advanced"

button.

64

65

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 8: An "Advanced

Attributes" box will be displayed:

66

67

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 9: Put in a checkmark for

"Encrypt contents to secure

data".

• Step 10: Click on the "OK"

button:

• Step 11: The "Advanced

Attributes" box will disappear.

68

69

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 12: Click on the "Apply"

button of the "..Properties"

dialog box, if the "Apply" button

is not grayed out. Step 11: The

"Advanced Attributes" box will

disappear.

70

71

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 13: Select the desired

"option button":

72

73

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 14: Click on the "Continue"

button of the "Access Denied"

dialog box:

74

75

ENCRYPTING A FILE OR FOLDER WITH

"ENCRYPTING FILE SYSTEM" (continued)

• Step 15: The "Access Denied"

box will disappear.

• Step 16: The file name(s) of the

newly-encrypted file(s) will now

be displayed in a green font to

indicate that the file(s) is/are

encrypted by "Encrypting File

System".

76

77

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER"

TO EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED

"PUBLIC KEY" AND "PRIVATE KEY"

• Step 1: Click on the "Start" button in

versions of "Windows" prior to "..8"

or, for "Windows 8..", hover over the

lower-left "Hot Corner" and use the

RIGHT mouse" to click on "Run" in

the pop-up "Power User Context

Menu":

78

79

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 2: Use the right mouse button

to click on "cmd.exe" in versions of

"Windows" prior to "..8" or, for

"Windows 8..", use the left mouse

button to click on "Command

Prompt (Admin) in the pop-up

Power User Tasks menu:

80

81

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 3: Use the left mouse button to

click on "Run as administrator" in

versions of "Windows" prior to "..8"

or, for "Windows 8..", use the left

mouse button to click on the "Yes"

button of the "User Account Control"

dialog box:

82

83

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 4: A command prompt window,

will be displayed:

84

85

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 5: Inside the command prompt

window, type in

certmgr.msc

• Step 6: Press once on the Enter

key.

86

87

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 7: A "certmgr" Microsoft

Management Console window will

be displayed:

88

89

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 8: Double-click on the

Personal group in the right-most

pane:

90

91

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 9: Double-click on

"Certificates" subgroup in the right-

most pane:

92

93

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 10: Note that you now have a

newly-created "Public Key

Certificate" in the "Certificates"

subgroup of the "Personal" group:

94

95

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 11: Note that you now have a

newly-created "Public Key

Certificate" in the "Certificates"

subgroup of the "Personal" group:

96

97

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 12: Use the RIGHT mouse

button to click on the newly-created

"Public Key Certificate":

98

99

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 13: Click on "All Tasks" in the

pop-up context menu:

100

101

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 14: Click on "Advanced

Operations" in the secondary

context menu:

102

103

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 15: A "Certificate Export

Wizard" dialog box will be

displayed.

• Step 16: Click on the "Next" button:

104

105

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 17: Select the "Yes, export the

private key" option.

• Step 18: Click on the "Next" button:

106

107

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 19: Click on the "Next" button:

108

109

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 20: Click on the "Next" button:

110

111

112

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 21: Type in a password and

record it somewhere in a secure

manner (such as with "Roboform" or

"LastPass"):

113

114

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY"(continued)

• Step 22: Type in the same

password again.

• Step 23: Click on the "Next" button:

115

116

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 24: Click on the "Browse"

button:

117

118

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 25: Use the "Save As" box to

work your way to the hard drive or

flash drive location where you wish

to place the .PFX file:

119

120

121

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 26: When you arrive at the

desired location for the .PFX file,

type in a name for the .PFX file.

• Step 27: Click on the "Save" button:

122

123

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 28: Click on the "Next" button:

124

125

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 29: Click on the "Finish"

button:

126

127

128

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 30: Click on "OK" button:

129

130

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 31: Click on "x" button to close

the "certmgr" window:

131

132

USING THE "CERTIFICATE MANAGER" TO

EXPORT A NEWLY-CREATED "PUBLIC KEY"

AND "PRIVATE KEY" (continued)

• Step 32: Click on "x" button to close

the Command Prompt window:

133

134

135

• .PFX file(s)

= "Personal Information Exchange"

files

• .PFX file(s) an be moved, copied,

renamed, and e-mailed without

restrictions.

.PFX FILE(S) (continued)

136

• Double-click on it to "Import"

the certificate and the private

key into any computer or

Windows user account. Then

you can open/view the

associated the EFS-encrypted

data file

.PFX FILE(S) (continued)

137

If your Windows user account or your

Windows computer cannot open an

EFS-encrypted file, do the following:

• Step 1: Obtain the .PFX file (from

the creator/owner of the EFS-

encrypted file) and double-click on

the .PFX file:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-

ENCRYPTED FILE/FOLDER

138

139

140

• Step 2: Click on the "Next" button of

the "Certificate Import Wizard":

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

141

142

• Step 3: Click on the "Next" button:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

143

144

145

• Step 4: Type in the password for the

.PFX file (which you should have

obtained from the creator/owner of

the EFS-encrypted data file):

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

146

147

• Step 5: Select the "Mark this key as

exportable" option.

• Step 6: Click on the "Next" button:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

148

149

• Step 7: Click on the "Next" button:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

150

151

• Step 8: Click on the "Finish" button:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

152

153

• Step 9: Click on the "OK" button:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

154

155

• Step 10: If you EFS-encrypted files

are inside an EFS-encrypted folder,

double-click on the folder to open it:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

156

157

• Step 11: Double-click on the EFS-

encrypted data file to open it:

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

158

159

• Step 12: The EFS-encrypted data

file will open with its default

associated software application

program ("app"):

DECRYPTING AN EFS-ENCRYPTED

FILE/FOLDER (continued)

160

161

DELETED CERTIFICATES STAY IN

RAM UNTIL YOU RE-BOOT

• If you run certmgr.msc to delete

a certificate from your

computer's hard drive, the

certificate will stay active in

RAM, so you have to re-boot to

flush out the active certificate.

162

OPTIONS IN "ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE.."

FOR BACKING UP HARD DRIVES THAT

CONTAIN EFS-ENCRYPTED FILES

• According to

http://www.acronis.com/support/

documentation/ATIH2012/index.

html#267.html:

163