What is Encryption File System (EFS)?
Encryption is defined as: A method of enhancing the security of data contained in a message or file. This strong level of security is done by scrambling or coding the contents where it can only be read by someone who has the proper encryption key to unscramble the data. In Windows Vista, EFS is a built-in feature that allows you to store the data on your hard drive in an encrypted format. Each Windows Vista installation carries its own encryption key unique to that installation. The one drawback of this I have heard is that if you ever need to perform a repair installation of Windows, any encrypted data that was on your system before the repair installation is now going to be lost forever because you will now have a different encryption key unique to the new installation. So be sure to return all encrypted data back to its original state before you perform a repair installation of Windows. The key features of EFS are: • Easily encrypt data using the check boxes in the files or folders
