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  • 1.  Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 13, 2014 10:43 AM

    Hello all,

     

        I'm using PGP desktop to encrypt the HDD on my Desktop, I have installed it, and encrypted the partition C and D whith a key storred in the USB Token (Safenet), after ncrypting C (where the OS is installed Windows 7 Pro 32bit) and D, I have formatted C and réinstalled the OS  Windows 7 Pro 64bit, after formatting C the bootGuard where PGP store its settings where loss, so the after installaing PGP Desktop in C, the partition D was not visible in the application to decrypt it, Now I need a solution to decrypt my D partition, because it contains an important .pst and other important files ?

     

    Thanks in advance 



  • 2.  RE: Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 13, 2014 07:25 PM

    My first suggestion here would be to attempt this on another machine with our PGP software, where the drive in question is slaved with a USB adapter. Symantec Encryption Dektop may treat the drive differently when it is slaved through a USB adapter.
    With any luck, you will see a password prompt and it will attempt to mount the partition.

    If you are willing to try some of our common recovery procedures, they are available here :
    Drive Encryption Diagnosis and Recovery - Symantec Drive Encryption & PGP Whole Disk Encryption

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH149679

    I wil also summarize them for you below...

    If you are familiar enough with opening a command prompt, open a command prompt to the following location,


    and attempt the following command.

    pgpwde --enum

    Entering this command displays a list of disks

    Type pgpwde --status --disk 1. In the command, substitute the PGP WDE disk number listed in the previous step for the number 1 if it is different. The output of this command tells you whether the disk is still encrypted.
     

    If you are able to see that the disk is there, and the partition is encrypted, you should be able to attempt this next command with that disk.
    Type pgpwde --decrypt --disk 1 --passphrase {MYPASSWORDHERE}. This will start the decryption process. To view progress, type the status command listed in step 3 and note the Highwater number. This number will get smaller and smaller as the number of sectors encrypted decreases.


    Can you paste your results here in the forum?


    If you are not able to follow the above instructions,or if you are in a hurry and that does not get you anywhere, the next best option is to burn our bootg.iso file and boot with that iso file. It will attempt to find some backup encryption data that is hidden randomly on the drive. Make sure you burn the bootg.iso that matches your specific verion of Symantec Encryption Desktop.

     

    The information that I have described above is excerpted from the above article (Section 3 of Drive Encryption Diagnosis and Recovery here :

     

    SECTION 3 - Using Recovery Disk Images (bootg.iso or bootg.img)

    Warning: Use of the recovery disks should be used as the last step when attempting recovery.  Should there be a power loss while decrypting with the recovery disk, the result to the disk could be fatal and non-recoverable. It is also highly recommended to use the latest recovery disk available for the version you are running.

    Recovery Images can be obtained by following the links below:

    Windows



  • 3.  RE: Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 14, 2014 04:21 AM

    Thank you Phil for he detailed reply, I'll try your suggestions, and let you know if it solves my problem.



  • 4.  RE: Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 14, 2014 04:24 AM

    We have already tried to connect the disk in another machine with PGP through a SATA port, but the disk is in a RAW, so the OS suggest to format it, and it is not visible in PGP desktop.

     

    Thanks



  • 5.  RE: Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 14, 2014 07:19 PM

    Have you attempted the command prompt commands?

    Please navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\PGP Corporation\PGP Desktop  and shift + right click on an empty space, then select "Open command prompt here"

    Then attempt the following commands, and copy/paste the results here...

    pgpwde --enum

    and then...

    pgpwde --status --disk 1. In the command, substitute the PGP WDE disk number listed in the previous step for the number 1 if it is different. The output of this command tells you whether the disk is still encrypted.

    If you are able to see that the disk is there, and the partition is encrypted, you should be able to attempt this next command with that disk.
    Type pgpwde --decrypt --disk 1 --passphrase {MYPASSWORDHERE}. This will start the decryption process. To view progress, type the status command listed in step 3 and note the Highwater number. This number will get smaller and smaller as the number of sectors encrypted decreases.



  • 6.  RE: Decrypt a partition after formatting bootGuard sector

    Posted Oct 15, 2014 03:14 AM

    Yes I have tried this command, but it doesn't recognise the D partition. I should explain again the issue :

     

    I have PGP Desktop installed with C: and D:. On C: the OS, Win 7 was installed and D: had all my personal/official data.

    Due to some reason the OS doesn't load after entering the passphrase in the bootguard console, and I could not get it to work or recover using recovery CD. So a technician has formatted the C partition and installed the OS, without formatting D or  backing up the data from D. so D still encrypted and C is now formatted and the OS is installed again.

    Now my desktop is working again and PGP has been installed in C but the D: when I double-click on it says ‘The disk in drive D: is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?’. after taking the whole Hard drive and put it on another machine as slave, it's not recognized by PGP dsktop and it appears in RAW type.

    Also after using the command the D partition is not listed !

     

    Any suggestion, I think that PGP support team had a solution for this kind of cases ?

     

    Thanks