Hoping someone here can help. My sister bought SanDisk Cruzer from a retail store and popped it into a laptop, copied the important files and folders over to the SanDisk, and then e-wasted the laptop. She asked me to look at her SanDisk because the files have been encrypted automatically apparently.
She gave me the drive and I can see the files and copy them to my computer. But none of them will open, all are encrypted.
My sister says she did not run any encryption app, she just copied the files. I asked if she were to set this up, what password would she use and she gave me her universal password that is the only one she would have used here (if for some reason it did ask her and she forgot).
I inserted the drive and ran the SanDiskSecureAccessV3.1.exe and gave it this password in the setup screen.
The files are all still viewable, but encrypted. I have found no way to recover any of these files.
Is there a method to recover in this situation? We made copies of the drive before doing anything, in case that is needed.
Secure access will create a private vault in your drive which will help you to encrypt your sensitive data in the vault. You cannot create a password on entire drive.
Yes but we only copied files to the SanDisk Cruzer drive and never ran the private vault. The SanDisk encrypted the files even though we never ran the executable. I only ran that after we were unable to open any files up after the simple copy.
Does just simply copying a file to this SanDisk Cruzer automatically encrypt it? If so, what are the steps to decrypt?
It seems insane that it would work this way. We just want to copy files back and forth without the risk of losing them to this software.
A SanDisk USB drive, even after a straightforward transfer or copy. As a result of abrupt removal, file corruption, or concealed file properties, you may find that some files are missing, displaying “0 bytes,” or the disk seems empty.
To recover lost data from your SanDisk USB drive, you must first cease using it immediately to prevent the erased contents from being overwritten. Next, connect it to your PC and use File Explorer’s “Show hidden files” option to see if the files are hidden. Use a trustworthy data recovery software that can safely retrieve lost, damaged, or erased files by thoroughly scanning the USB if the problem continues. Lastly, create a safe backup of your restored data.
It is likely that your sister’s SanDisk USB drive has been automatically encrypted using SanDisk’s SecureAccess software. If your issue is not resolved, follow the steps below to see if they can help you recover the files:
Check if SecureAccess was used:
When you run SanDiskSecureAccessV3.1.exe, it launches the SecureAccess software. Open SanDiskSecureAccessV3.1.exe again on the PC with the USB inserted. If prompted, enter the universal password she gave you. Once the password is entered correctly, you should be able to access and copy the files to your computer.
If you’re still unable to recover the files using SecureAccess, you may need to turn to data recovery software to recover lost files from the USB drive. Related: USB Data Recovery: How to Recover Data from USB Flash Drive?
If the laptop is gone and there are no certificate backups, those files are done. EFS encryption can’t be cracked without the certificates. You’ve got two options: get the laptop back from e-waste before it’s destroyed, or find a .pfx or .p12 certificate file she backed up - doubt that exists if she didn’t know she was encrypting anything. If neither works, the files are locked permanently. The copies you made won’t do anything without the keys from that laptop.
