FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Help! I encrypted a folder and it disappeared! Where is my folder now?

The folder has been turned into an encrypted, password-protected folder. It's now a file with .crypt extension and a green, bag-like, icon. To turn it back to the original folder, right click on it and choose "Folder Crypt / Decrypt" menu item.

I lost the password. Is there a way to recover my original data?

No, unfortunately there is not. This is a rather strong consequence to the fact that Folder Crypt is one of the very few products on the market that apply a true bit per bit encoding of data, and no fake or lightweight encryption. With Folder Crypt no backdoor is available. The encryption you apply with Folder Crypt is serious, not reversible encryption. That is why every time you encrypt data with Folder Crypt a reminder will pop up warning you to make a backup copy of your data before you begin the encryption process.

Is FolderCrypt free? May I have it for free?

FolderCrypt is NOT free software. If you are satisfied with the free trial of our software, please buy it after your evaluation period. But you may also have it for free, using our TrialPay partner service. Click here to know more about it.

Why do you say that Folder Crypt applies 'serious' encryption? Are other tools 'non-serious'?

We say that because we do not offer a 'I lost my password' recovery option. The majority of other tools, just have a method, or a process, to recover data even if the original encryption password has been lost. The problem is that if this is an option for the software, then that software has a 'backdoor'. A backdoor is a hole in the encryption algorithm that allow someone to recover data without knowing the right password. This is considered a precious option by the casual user: he thinks it will be useful in case he lose his password. But a backdoor can always (and rather easily) be exploited by a hacker when he reverse engineers the encrypted data (or the program which encrypted the data). So, while initially the presence of a 'recover my data without the password' option can be considered a plus, in the reality it is a security hole.

Does FolderCrypt save the password or the hash code of the password somewhere?

No. To know if the supplied password is correct, FolderCrypt decrypts the .crypt file with the hash code of the given password. The corresponding decrypted file must meet a particular specification format - if this is not the case, the user is prompted to insert a new password. The password input by the user is not confronted with any stored password: it is simply applied.

During Folder Crypt setup I was asked if I want to NGEN the application. What does that mean? Is it safe to run NGEN?

As the majority of .NET Framework applications, Folder Crypt startup time is relatively slow. This is due to the fact that the code is compiled and optimized on the fly by the CLR - the .NET runtime environment. 'Ngen' is a Microsoft program that allows to run the compiler on a .NET program to generate native machine code that is cached to disk. This normally improves runtime performances. Running Ngen has no consuequences on the assemblies: you can try it, and if you are not satisfied with the performances, you can undo the Ngen operations. Normally it is not needed to run NGEN: you can do it if you want to improve startup time of the application. Take into account that an NGENned application takes more space on disk. To know more about that, please read this interesting article from Microsoft.

I run Folder Crypt setup program on a 64 bit operating system - Vista, 7 or Server 2008 - and I get an error saying that "REGISTER_SHELLEXT_ON64" action failed.

You are running an operating system with User Access Control (UAC) turned on. To correctly install Folder Crypt you have to right-click on the setup icon and select "Run as administrator" option. If you already installed Folder Crypt, uninstall it first.

During encryption process something went wrong and I lost my data. Can I recover it?

It depends on when and why the error occurred. Statistically this can happen due to a system error (hard disk failure, power supply failure) or a Operating System denial, due to lack of permissions. In the first case, you can rely on a backup copy of your data. In the second case, you can undo or redo the operations logging out the user without permissions and logging in with an "administrator" user. We strongly recommend to make a backup copy of your data before encrypting any file with Folder Crypt.

During the decryption process something went wrong. Folder Crypt extracted some but not all of the data that were present on the original folder. What can I do?

This is usually due to a bad transmission (via ftp, http or file copy on a different support such as CDROM or ZIP) of the encrypted file. Copying again the encrypted file (.crypt) usually solves the issue. If you are relying on just one copy of the encrypted data, you can isolate the error on the very encrypted file affected, thus extracting all the other encrypted files. To do so, open the encrypted archive (.crypt) without decrypting it - making a backup copy before doing this operation is advisable. The list of encrypted files appears. Decrypt the archive, selecting "Preserve the encrypted archive". Look in the operations' log which file produced the error.
Close. Now re-open the encrypted archive: select all the files that appear before the corrupted file in the list, right click and select "Extract to...". Then select all the files after the corrupted file in the list and select "Extract to...". You are now capable to recover all files except the corrupted one.


During the setup phase, NGEN operations lock. What can I do? Is it safer to just close the window and go on?

The NGEN operations appear to lock some systems, and the issue is currently solved by Microsoft (see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;839462). It is safe to close the NGEN window and proceeding with the setup operations. You can investigate to know if the application has been NGEN'ed or not. To do so, just open your windows system directory, change to system directory (ie: C:\Windows or C:\WINNT) and then to

If "Folder Crypt" appears on the list, your application has been correctly NGEN'ed. If not, just uninstall Folder Crypt and run Folder Crypt setup again.

How can I remove NGEN installed images from my PC?

The NGEN images are automatically removed when Folder Crypt is uninstalled. If you just want to unNGEN the application, uninstall and the re-install the application without the NGEN option.

I try to run Folder Crypt but nothing happens. What is happening?

The reason of this behaviour is that probably you have another opened Folder Crypt instance (window). You cannot run two instances of Folder Crypt in parallel. Quit the other Folder Crypt window and retry.

I encrypted a single file and it disappeared. Where is it now?

The file has been converted in a .crypt encrypted archive. The name of the encrypted archive is the same as the parent directory in which it was saved. For instance, if the file 'pippo.txt' is in 'c:\temp\mydocuments', now the file in inside an encrypted archive named 'mydocuments.crypt' in the directory: 'c:\temp\mydocuments'. If you encrypt a file on your desktop, the archive will be named 'Desktop'.

I encrypted a folder and now my Folder Crypt trial version is expired. Am I forced to buy the product if I want my folder back?

Of course not. Decryption of encrypted folders is always permitted, even after that the evaluation period expires.

I saw a menu entry "Activate online". What does it mean? Should I activate my copy of Folder Crypt?

To fight piracy, we decided to implement copy activation on our software. In order to be fully functional, Folder Crypt must be purchased and activated. If you select "Buy Now" from the Help menu, the activation will be done automatically. Instead, if you purchase Folder Crypt from the Web you must activate yopur copy by just selecting "Activate Online" and inserting the name and serial number you received upon purchase confirmation.

May I activate FolderCrypt on the same machine more than one time?

Surely. FolderCrypt activation is based on the hardware of your PC. You may re-install and activate it on the same machine as many times as you need.

May I activate the same serial number on different machines?

It depends on how many licenses you purchased. One license allows you one or more installations on the same machine (PC). If you need to install Folder Crypt on other machines, you need to purchase more licenses. A serial number can hold one or more licenses. If the serial number holds one license, then it can be activated on just one machine.