Exporting Your EFS Key

Encrypting the File System (EFS) Key

If you use the Windows 2000 EFS (Encrypting File System) to protect your files, you may wish to back the key up by exporting it to a file.

Remember, if the key is lost or corrupted, any files encrypted with that key will be unrecoverable.

To export a private key:

1. Log in as administrator.
2. Start the Local Security Policies tool by clicking Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Local Security Policies. You can also do this from the Start | Run command by typing secpol.msc and click OK.
3. Under Public Key Policies, click Encrypted Data Recovery Agents.
4. In the right-hand pane, right-click the key you want to export, and choose Export from the All Tasks menu.
5. This will start the Certificate Export Wizard, which will prompt you for some options, a password, and a location for the export file.

   Keep the file in a safe place, and don’t loose the password!

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