File Share Encryption

Hi there,

3 days ago i was forced to change my user-password on my windows XP (with SP3) machine, which has PGP WDE 9.10.0 (Build 605) installed.
I tried to use a password, which i already used on another machine (without pgp installed) successfully.
This password contains the "@" sign. PGP did not accept this character as a part of the password.

So i left the "PGP change password screen" and started to search in internet if this was a common problem on the second machine.
A couple of seconds later, the pgp encrpyted machine continued to startup windows - but i did not press any key.

I was a little bit surprised, but since i did not find any solution about my problem, i started to work on that machine.
After i finished my work i did a shut down.
Today i tried to start my machine again, but i fail to logon at the grey PGP WDE logon screen.
Neither the old one nor the new one password works.
What can i do to access my data again ?

Please assist. Thanks in advance for your help.

It sounds like the machine, for whatever reason, wound up processing what ever was showing as the new password, whenever this happened to occur.  If you can think of what might have been entered at that time, such as possibly what you wanted prior to the @, I'd suggest trying that.  Maybe even try just one character less that what you wanted, then two less, etc.  I'd even try entering nothing.

Hello Tom,

thanks for your quick reply.

This was exactly, what i already tried - but to no luck. I wrote down the password, so i know exactly what it should be. I also tried to enter nothing, or just the first one or the first 2 characters. But nothing worked.

Is it possible to set the password back to the previous one ? Or reset the current password ? How can i again get access to my data ?

Is this a known issue, that the machine continues to boot, if you are changing the password but do not enter anything for a period of time ?

There are two possibilities for this.

The first is to use a WDRT, but this requires that you be in a PGP Universal managed setting that has enabled use of WDRT.

The second only applies to PGP 10.x users:

Hello Tom,
 

this machine hast WDRT enabled. Where can i request such a token ?

You need to request it from the administrator of your PGP Universal Server.  I doubt this reference will be necessary, but just in case:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH185688

I´m no longer working in the company i was working for, so i don´t have access to this group who owns this server.

So what should i do to get access to my data again ?

I did not do something wrong.

There other possible options, but which are not likely to make a difference, are to try decryption of the disk by attaching it to another computer with PGP installed, or attempting decryption with the WDE Recovery CD. 

9.10 is quite old (End of Life Date 10-21-09, End of Life Support date was extended to 4/1/2012), so there is the possibility that you had a Windows or other software update that may have contributed to this problem. 

If i use the WDE Recovery CD i assume i have would have to know the current password as well, right ?

At this time no upgrades, updates, patches or any other software has been installed, neither windows nor any other application.

If i connect the harddrive to a different machine, which version should i use ? The same as on the harddrive or the most current one ?

Best regards,
Andy

If the passphrase was actually changed, you will need to know the passphrase for any access to the disk.  Using the Recovery CD, or attaching the disk to another computer with PGP installed, will only be of assistance if there is some other glitch that is resulting in your receiving this error.  Whether you attempt either the Recovery CD or use of another computer, it is best to use 9.10, or next best being 9.12.  If either of those are not available, you can attempt a newer 10.x version, but make sure not to try an older version.

Do you have further concern with this?