In modern versions of Windows, there are two standard ways to protect data by encryption - through a special BitLocker component of the operating system or using the encryption file system EFS. The first option is available only to users of some versions of Windows 7, and the second is used in all releases of this Windows line.
Necessary
Windows OS
Instructions
Step 1
If you are using Windows 7 operating system BitLocker to encrypt data on your drive, use one of the Control Panel applets to disable it. Before starting it, install the disk or connect the flash drive if we are talking about disabling the encryption of any removable media. Then start the "Control Panel" by selecting the appropriate item in the OS main menu and go to the "System and Security" section. Find the BitLocker Drive Encryption link in the long list and click it.
Step 2
The opened applet window contains a list of computer storage media divided into two sections. The top section refers to hard drives, while the bottom section is sub-titled BitLocker To Go and includes a list of removable media. The drive icon in each line of the list is labeled "On" or "Off" to indicate whether or not BitLocker encrypts this media.
Step 3
To temporarily stop BitLocker, click on the "Pause protection" link in the row of the required drive and confirm the command in the dialog box that appears. To completely disable protection, click on the "Disable BitLocker" link and then click on "Decrypt Drive" to enable the data to be used after disabling this feature.
Step 4
If the special file system EFS was used to encrypt data, you need to disable it in the properties of the file or folder. To do this, start the Windows file manager - right-click on the "Start" button and select "Open Explorer" in the context menu.
Step 5
Navigate to the folder that contains the file you want and right-click it. In the context menu, select the "Properties" item, and when the window with the settings opens, click the "Other" button.
Step 6
In the new Advanced Attributes window, uncheck the Encrypt content for protection box and click OK. In the file properties window, also click on the OK button, and file encryption will be disabled.
