Learn Win XP Professional in 15 Minutes a Week: Compression and the Encrypted File System Page 3

When
you effect changes to the folder and all of the files subfolders contained
within, all of the files will be come decrypted.

[NOTES
FROM THE FIELD] – If there is a file
within the folder that is to be uncompressed that is in an encrypted state, it
will stay encrypted as the encrypted attribute of that file is not affected by
the clearing of the compression attributes of the other files around it and the
fold it’s in.

You can select to view compressed and encrypted files in different colors so
that you know the state of the file by quickly looking at it.

[NOTES
FROM THE FIELD] – In the example above,
the folders denoted in blue lettering are compressed and the ones in green
lettering are encrypted. This can be set by going in to the Windows Explorer
and choosing Tools and then Folder Options.

On
the View tab of the pop up box is where you would select the Show encrypted of
compressed NTFS files in color checkbox to enable this feature.

If
you copy an attribute set encrypted file to a FAT16 or a FAT32 partition or to
a floppy disk, it will lose its encryption attribute.

Strangely
enough, when you perform this same action under Windows 2000 you will not
receive this message. You will simply be able to perform your action without
the warning.

The
overall rules for encryption are as follows (and they are different than
compression):

• When moving or copying a
  file within the same NTFS volume an
  encrypted file will not inherit the encryption state of the target folder
  when that folder is unencrypted. When you copy or move an encrypted file
  to an unencrypted folder, the file is still encrypted. If you have enabled
  a folder to encrypt files and you move or copy an unencrypted file to it,
  it will become encrypted at that point.
• When copying or moving a
  file or folder from one NTFS volume to another an encrypted file will not inherit the encryption state of the
  target folder when that folder is unencrypted. When you copy or move an encrypted
  file to an unencrypted folder, the file is still encrypted. If you have
  enabled a folder to encrypt files and you move or copy an unencrypted file
  to it, across partitions, it will become encrypted at that point.
• Moving or copying a file
  or folder to a FAT16 or FAT32 volume – Windows
  XP Professional supports attribute driven encryption only on the NTFS file
  system, so when you move or copy an encrypted NTFS file or folder to a FAT
  volume, (12, 16 or 32) the encryption attribute will be lost.
• Moving or copying a
  compressed file or folder to a floppy disk or other removable media – Windows XP Professional supports attribute
  driven encryption only on the NTFS file system, so when you move or copy an
  encrypted NTFS file or folder to most types of removable media, the
  encryption attribute will be lost because most forms of removable media do
  not support the NTFS file system.