Truecrypt

[G@MER 01]

Hi I decided to encrypt my external hard drive with truecrypt. I chose encrypt a non-system partition/drive. In volume creation mode I chose encrypt partition in place . After the encryption proses completed I mounted my drive then windows asked me to format the drive. My problem is that I completely forgot to back up my external and I have alot of data on it is there any way to recover the data using software if I format the drive. Please this is very urgent!!!

 

[Hawkeye22]

I doubt it. The encryption process probably overwrote the original files. You can normally recover deleted files, but once they are overwritten, they are gone for good.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You just learned a valuable lesson the hard way:

1. Always keep a backup copy of all important files.

A second lesson is contained in the quote under my avatar. It sounds like you didn't fully understand how the whole disk encryption works.

 

[G@MER 01]

but why is it asking me to format the drive in the info box under encrypt partition in place it says: The entire drive and all data will be encrypted in place.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Looking at the beginners tutorial, it seems pretty clear that this is a destructive process.

http/www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=tutorial

 

[G@MER 01]

So is there no software I can use to recover the data or should I just format the drive.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

When you "mounted" the volume were you prompted for the passphrase?

 

[G@MER 01]

Yes it did asked me. but i just ran the encryption on another drive and it mounts just right.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

The one and only shot you have at recovering your data is to decrypt the drive. If that doesn't work then your data is gone forever.

 

[G@MER 01]

Do you think people dedicated to data recovery can get it back.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Not if it's encrypted.

 

[G@MER 01]

if i format and decrypt the drive can i recover the dat and what can i use to recover it with. is there a recovery software that recovers whole files and not just individual data

 

[ex_bubblehead]

If you format it the data is gone. Just decrypt it.

 

[G@MER 01]

I can't decrypt it before I don't format it. To decrypt the drive you have to format the drive.

 

[Ijack]

To decrypt the drive you have to format the drive.

That's one hell of a decryption! Encryption causes far more problems than solutions IMO; I do wonder why people feel the need for it, certainly on a disk-wide basis.

 

[Hawkeye22]

To decrypt the drive you have to format the drive.

That's one hell of a decryption! Encryption causes far more problems than solutions IMO; I do wonder why people feel the need for it, certainly on a disk-wide basis.

For protection. home users have bank accounts and stuff on their drives. A lot of companies give laptops to their sales people or other personell. They encrypt the drives so in case the laptop is stolen, they can't get hold of private company data.

What most home users forget, is that you still need backups. No sense having the password to a faulty drive.

 

[Ijack]

There might be small areas of a home computer worth encrypting, but I don't bother. I've seen so many cases of people losing all of their data by failed encryption. And once someone compromises your computer it usually means they've got your password - encryptions no use then. But each to their own.

 

[Hawkeye22]

There might be small areas of a home computer worth encrypting, but I don't bother. I've seen so many cases of people losing all of their data by failed encryption. And once someone compromises your computer it usually means they've got your password - encryptions no use then. But each to their own.

Most times it's not failed encryption, it's people forgetting their passwords or their drive fails and they want to know how to get the encrypted data off of it.

1. Always keep your password in a safe place (not on the computer with the encrypted drive).
2. backups can save you from a ton of potential problems.

Anyhow, it has it's uses. I don't encrypt my home drives. Our work drives (mostly laptops) I'll encrypt. It's essential.

 

[G@MER 01]

so there's no way to get my data back I should just format it

 

[Hawkeye22]

As I stated earlier, it's doubtful. Encryption is meant to protect data. If you forget the password or the drive gets hosed, it's usually toast and will need reformatted.

In the future, if the data is important enough to encrypyt then it's most certainly important enough to back up.