Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 March 26

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March 26

How to decrypt the encrypted files under different OS?

Hello friends!, My OS is windows XP PRO SP2.I have once encrypted some of my folders in a drive by right clicking and selecting properties and then selecting "advanced". There I encryted all my sub-folders under my root folder in Drive D. Later I re-formatted OS drive and installed WIndows XP PRO SP2 again(same disc).Now when I try to open the encrypted files(Appearing in green text)it shows error in opening. Later while I was around,I got to know that some certificates are needed for opening which was created at the time of my preious OS. Now with new installation,that certificate has changed...and hence its not opening. I wa able to view that certificate number...But no help it does give.Please friends!, let me know if there is any means of data recovery!....If try to decrypt by right clicking and so,nothing happens and the file still remains encrypted...Please help..Thanks in advance

From this it seems like you only need the password of the user account to decrypt it, have you tried setting the same password for your user as before? Otherwise Google Search turns up a lot of paywares that can allegedly recover them, maybe some more googling will give you a freeware alternative? --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:11, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

If I understand your situation correctly, your files are probably unrecoverable. The file encryption key is derived from (among other things) a random key stored with the user account. When you reinstalled Windows you overwrote the old account information, including the key. There's a chance (fairly small, I think) that the old key was not physically overwritten and might be recovered from the unused areas of your OS drive. An ordinary undelete utility won't work for this, including those that claim to be able to recover encrypted files (they're talking about the case where the encrypted file was deleted, not the user account). Since this must be a fairly common user error, I wouldn't be surprised if there is software that will help with this, but I don't know of any, and, again, I think success is unlikely. -- BenRG (talk) 15:46, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

From what I see, the chances of recovery depends on your not turning the computer on. The more you use the computer, the larger the chances of your losing the files. I hope you are reading this from a computer other than the computer in question. Kushal 19:53, 26 March 2008 (UTC) However, chances are that there are flaws in the encryption method which could allow you access to the data. Stay tuned for more information. Kushal 19:54, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm? Even if it can't decrypt the files, that space is still marked in use by the filesystem. He can write to that drive all he wants as long as he doesn't actually delete them. Also, he's talking about his D drive, usually not the %windir%, so turning the computer on would really have nothing to do with it. :D\=< (talk) 22:57, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I am talking about C: where his certificates were. Kushal 23:44, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh, right right. I'd be surprised if they're stored as files though; they're probably buried in the registry. And who said certs? It's probably just encrypted with his password.. I have no idea how NTFS encryption works, but it's not real full volume encryption :D\=< (talk) 01:20, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

122.164.61.117 (talk) 08:55, 28 March 2008 (UTC)Thanks "Antilived,Kushal and Ben",I too guess that the encryption is based on my previous account password.By which windows may've generated some certificate!....The certificate has it's own unique ID which I read was different than my Previous....And I guess if the Data recovery needs to be done by undelete or unformat software,then I won't get any,coz I've been using my system for more than 4 days since this happened!....If there is any way like,reseting the certificate,or maybe editing,or cleaning the registry,then do let me knw...Thanks

stepper motor controller through parallel port?

The ciruit & programme to control the motion of stepper motor through parallel port?

It varies ;-). But if this is for your homework, you'll probably learn more if you do it yourself. If it's not for your homework, you'll probably want to give us a bit more of an idea of what you're trying to accomplish.

Atlant (talk) 17:55, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

does upgrading from win98 to 2000 require a HD to be formatted?

My elderly neighbour has a Toshiba Tecra 8000 running windows 98. All is stable - she's been running it for years.

However, she's upgrading from dial up to broadband next week and I suspect that an upgrade to windows 2000 will be required.

I've read that during the upgrade, I'll be asked if I want to change to NTFS (from FAT32?) and that I should select 'yes'. Will this format the hard drive (ie - losing all her emails/stored files?)

thanks 83.104.131.135 (talk) 16:51, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

It usually depends on the system. I've never worked with any of that stuff but it may be hard to find a concrete answer. Your best bet would be to save the hard drive to a memory stick/cd-rom just in case. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 17:53, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand why you need Windows 2000. Moreover, you don't need to upgrade just because you are getting cable Internet. You do not need NTFS. However, converting or not converting to NTFS does not change anything. You MUST back up everything important before the upgrade. NTFS provides support for larger files (larger than 4 GiB) and handles larger partitions. If you do not need the additional features that NTFS provides, you can stay with FAT32. I am bracing myself to be scorned for championing old file systems. Bring it on! Kushal 19:50, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Generally speaking, most broadband ISPs don't necessarily require Windows 2k+, though they'll refuse to troubleshoot anything software-related over the phone; their setup software may not work so if that's required you'd have to provision it over the phone (and to be a pain, some install techs refuse to install on unsupported systems, and agents may say that the service won't work at all on other OSs, though neither should be happening). As well, Cable and DSL modems don't always have USB drivers for older OSs, so you'd need an ethernet adapter. Nothing wrong with going to 2k though; 98 is awful. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 00:29, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Why on earth would you need to install software to connect to your router? Insane! :D\=< (talk) 02:21, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Not necessarily the router, I was thinking the modem. Some companies like Comcast actually have software (often that you can download from the captive portal page that comes up when your modem is unprovisioned) that you have to run to provision your modem. Though they should be able to do it manually if you call them and explain that you have an OS that doesn't support it. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 20:53, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I didn't think people connected directly to their modem anymore.. wouldn't you want a NAT or something between you and the internet? :D\=< (talk) 16:51, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

If you are upgrading to Windows XP, the answer is "no".^[1] According to WinBook^[2], the answer is "no" for Windows 2000, either. However, I would suggest that you do not convert to NTFS unless you need to. (You can always to it later if you need to.) Special thanks to Google for making the search possible.

Hope that helps, Kushal 20:55, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

IMO your best bet is to backup your documents, export contacts / save your email to a personal folder, format your hard drive and install windows XP from scratch. Upgrading 98 will bring along years of junk and potential spyware etc. Also, why bother with win 2000? Sandman30s (talk) 08:09, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

thanks for the input everyone. I have a memory stick for backup. The emails are stored in a .pst file, aren't they? I'm almost certainly going to upgrade because of issues with drivers/support etc. As the broadband company are supplying a wireless router, I'm going to use a pcmcia wireless card and 2000 will have drivers for it. I will go to 2000, and not XP, because I have a 2000 disc and don't have an XP disc. 83.104.131.135 (talk) 10:07, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes the .pst file is your personal folder. Be careful though, this will only hold email that has been moved to it, or been setup to move to it via filters. Your normal inbox and sent items are stored in .ost files. Good luck! Sandman30s (talk) 11:30, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

USB flash drive - memory manufacturer

How can I ascertain the manufacturer and model number of the chip(s) in a USB flash drive (without opening it up)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seans Potato Business (talk • contribs) 18:59, 26 March 2008

No good answers there, since a manufacturer will make internal changes to the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and chips without making any changes to the model number on the case. A couple bad answers are 1) become good friends with someone in the manufacturing division of the company that produced it; their internal documents may say what particular chips are in that model/serial number. 2) have someone else do it. advertising alert Part of making them work again long enough to suck files off them is what I do for a living, and that generally includes opening them up. -SandyJax (talk) 19:14, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps the USB Vendor ID and Device ID will provide useful information. See lsusb. And lsusb -v should give a real flood of extra information. (Help desk regulars who use operating systmes with no lsusb command are invited to list their system's lsusb equivalent here, or even better, add it to the lsusb article! Which I see now is actually a redirect to a stubby lspci article. Ouch) --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:19, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Note that lsusb can only be used in Linux, Mac OS or other Unix-based systems; i.e. not Windows. Xenon⁵⁴ 22:03, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

recording issues

It seems that trying to use the record feature of any program (including Windows Sound Recorder) causes my computer to crash and reboot. A Google search yield no results that were remotely helpful. Can anyone help me solve this problem? I couln't find any new drivers for my integrated SigmaTel sound 'card' and un/reinstalling it didn't work.

Could it be a hardware problem? I had SigmaTel ac97 integrated chip in one of my computers. I cannot remember of a single instance that I suspected the chip to cause a crash. Could you try a different program, say Audacity? Please try recording something with Audacity and let us know the results. I could be wrong and it could be a hardware problem with the sound. Kushal 23:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I've tried everything, including using Audacity and most other audio editors.

Install non-microsoft audio drivers? :D\=< (talk) 01:19, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

You can find the required drivers at Intel Hail Intel! website. Please download and install the appropriate for your machine. Kushal 16:52, 27 March 2008 (UTC) If windows says that the drivers have not passed WHQL or something just ignore it and install it anyways. Kushal 14:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Help on reconfiguring keyboard

Hi, I just got my DELL hard drive erased, and Windows XP reinstalled. The problem is that I have a keyboard with spanish layout which came with the computer (its a Dell Enhanced Quietkey PS2 with DellTouch; it has ñ next to the l, ampersand as secondary on the Q, and an upside down exclamation sign and question mark key next to the upright signs key), but I doesnt type what the actual keys say (so for example, theres an apostrophe key but it types -, and I couldnt find the real apostrophe key so I cant type it in).

I remember that the last time this happened I found a .exe on the Internet that fixed this, but Ive been looking for hours and couldnt find it again. I looked on the Drivers CD that came with the computer, but the drivers there didnt help me fix the keyboard. I also tried changing region configurations but it makes no difference.

Please help ASAP, its excruciating trying to type by guessing again and again where the symbols really are on the keyboard. (I tried to log in but I couldnt, sorry.) 190.159.200.176 (talk) 23:20, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

As far as I know, you should not need some program off the Internet. Microsoft^TM Windows^TM allows you to set keyboard layout options from Control Panel (Windows). Please tell us exactly what you are trying to achieve. We will try our best to help you.

Sincerely, Kushal 23:38, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I just got it fixed. The problem is that Windows in Spanish comes with a configuration for over 20 Spanish options, so there's standard as well as one for every single country in Latin America, so configuring it takes some patience. 190.159.200.176 (talk) 23:47, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

MP3 conversion

Does anyone know of any good free software that will convert from a high-quality mp3 to a lower quality one? At the moment, my mp3 player only has a 256MB storage and I prefer lower quality music; but most downloadable music is much higher quality (e.g., 250 Kb/s). 216.169.164.70 (talk) 23:30, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Audacity can do it with the LAME encoder. Hope that helps. Kushal 23:33, 26 March 2008 (UTC)