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.RTF trouble

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Drew, Jul 28, 2009.

  1. Drew

    Drew Arrogant, contemptible, and obnoxious Adored Veteran

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    Remove all ads!
    So, the wife has been working on a book for a while...and we've hit a little snag. She took a long hiatus from writing (and, during that time, we removed the password requirement for logging into XP and installed service pack 3), and when she got back to it, the text for the file extension of the main body of her work (with a lot of edits and an extra 10,000 words or so that she really doesn't want to lose) has turned green, and the file will not open -- supposedly because it is being used by another program (which it isn't). It's a .rtf file, and I'm not terribly sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
     
    Drew, Jul 28, 2009
    #1
  2. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I assume the problem persists across reboots?

    Have you tried to just make a copy of the file by right-clicking it in Windows Explorer and choosing Copy and then Paste?

    EDIT:
    Oh, did you look for a file in the same folder that is the same name of the file you are trying to open but the first two characters have been replaced with "~$" ? You could try deleting that too.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jul 28, 2009
    #2
  3. Tarrasque

    Tarrasque Whoever said Paladins had to be charismatic? ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Supposedly the green file names is a sign that Windows has encrypted the files.

    It may be worth attempting to unencrypt them (R-mouse click, properties, Advanced and remover the tick for encrypt these files IIRC). Other than that, you'll propably need someone more experienced in the vagaries of XP and encryption.
     
    Tarrasque, Jul 28, 2009
    #3
  4. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Isn't the whole file name colored green when it's encrypted? Drew mentioned only the extension was green, so I wasn't sure what would do that...
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jul 28, 2009
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  5. Drew

    Drew Arrogant, contemptible, and obnoxious Adored Veteran

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    Nah, it's the whole file name. I'm just an idiot.

    That said, the file is encrypted, it won't let me remove the encryption in properties, it won't let me copy or paste the file, there aren't any duplicate files with the first 2 characters replaced, and despite the fact that we haven't changed computers, our certificate no longer matches the certificate the file expects to see and the file doesn't give me the full certificate it expects to see either, so to the best of my knowledge I can't just change my certificate to match the file's expectations. :o
     
    Drew, Jul 29, 2009
    #5
  6. Montresor

    Montresor Mostly Harmless Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    I think you have to log on with the Windows user account the file was encrypted under and unencrypt the file using that account.

    See Microsoft's info here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308993
     
    Montresor, Jul 29, 2009
    #6
  7. Drew

    Drew Arrogant, contemptible, and obnoxious Adored Veteran

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    The problem in this case is that I am logged into that account, this machine has only ever had one account, and apparently service pack 3 used some kind of jedi mind trick to convince the .rtf file that we aren't the droids it's looking for.
     
    Drew, Jul 29, 2009
    #7
  8. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

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    It's likely that the certificate was lost during the update. The certificate is needed to decrypt the file. People tell me that windows' default encryption system is EFS, which is easy nowadays to crack and that there are tools to generate new certifications that can be used to decrypt the file.

    The easiest thing that you can try is to re-enable the password requirement and try opening the file again. Perhaps the certificate can only be used when the user is *actually* logged in.

    If that doesn't help, then this tool looks quite promising. There is a free trail if you don't want to pay 150 dollars for the standard edition or 300 dollars for the professional one. The professional one looks on a deeper level, beneath the file system and might have a better chance of recovery. I personally think that 300 dollars could be worth it, if you don't, then there are always other ways of acquiring it.
     
    Morgoth, Jul 29, 2009
    #8
  9. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    I'm echoing Morgoth, with the addition that you want to use the same password as you did before.

    Also, next time... use TrueCrypt or something when encrypting something, Windows has encryption you can bypass with enough patience or expertise, and it isn't too reliable in getting the files back in the case of a system change... as you found out the hard way.
     
    Taza, Jul 30, 2009
    #9
  10. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    I echo that. (we must be in a cave or something)

    With TrueCrypt you create a virtual drive, which is encrypted, and then you just dump all your files in to it as if it's a secondary hard drive. Once you dismount the drive image, no one can even see the files inside...let alone open them. :thumb:
     
    Kitrax, Jul 30, 2009
    #10
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