First, EFS requires one of the following operating systems – which unfortunately may immediately eliminate many users:
- All versions of Windows Server
- Windows 2000, XP Professional
- Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate
- Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate
Locate the folder or files in Windows Explorer that you wish to have EFS applied on. Right-click and choose Properties.
Click Advanced within the Attributes section.
Check the option Encrypt contents to secure data then click OK.
Returning to the folder properties dialog above, click Apply and confirm that you do in fact wish to change the file attributes. You likely want the change applied to this folder, subfolders and files.
Returning to Windows Explorer you will see that all files that have EFS applied will be displayed in green. Otherwise, this is the only indication or impact do your normal work-flow. Even with the files being decrypted and encrypted on the fly, the overall perceived speed impact is really unnoticeable to most.
If later on you decide EFS just isn’t for you, the process above can be repeated and instead un-check the EFS option to reverse the process.
A strong word of caution – EFS is directly tied to the username and password of the user which means any changes to your account, like a password change, will affect your ability to access the encrypted files!
