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Photorec created .gpg files.

Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member -  
jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   -
Hello,

My external hard drive lost all its data, due to a transformer error (19v instead of 12v).

I used the software Photorec to recover my data (a lot of videos) and after 24 hours of non-stop recovery: it found 99% of files txt, java, html, jpg, png, xml, which are not interesting; and also a few files with the .gpg extension that are several gigabytes (which might contain my movies and videos?)

I didn't know this extension, so I looked it up... it seems to be a data encryption system that requires a key?!

But I never used this kind of encryption for my videos, so I don't understand why Photorec recovered .gpg files.

I also tried TestDisk and Recuva, without success.

Details: this drive was a Western Digital MyBook of 2TB, it was well filled with personal videos (family, vacations, etc.) that I would really like to recover; and various downloads... Anyway, the average person's hard drive, I think.

What should I do?
Thank you ^^,

Configuration: Windows 7 / Firefox 16.0

15 answers

  1.
    jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    Hello
    By typing extension gpg Photorec on Google, you can find help in English. The .gpg files should contain fragments of raw data. You can open either file and check if it starts with FLV, RIFF (.avi), etc.
    I believe that you can play truncated .flv videos.
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  2. Zutroy
     
    Thank you for your response jmwurth 2.

    I have already searched on Google... for .gpg files it is recommended to use the software gpg4win.
    If I understand correctly, it works with a decryption key.
    However, Photorec has restored .gpg files for me even though I have no key, I've never used encryption software (I have no need for it).
    So, it’s impossible to open my gpg files, to see what they contain... even though they are several gigabytes (42.9GB, 57GB, etc) and should in theory (I hope!) contain my videos.

    I continue my research... and I welcome any opinions and advice!

    Thank you.
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  3. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    In my archives, I noted GPG PGP secret keyring
    While searching for these words on Google, I found this
    http://www.cs.wm.edu/pgp.html
    PGP uses a language similar to the ancient GW Basic, running on machines including the CS system. I'm not quite sure what it is
    Anyway, it seems to be free.
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  6. Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member
     
    Thank you jmwurth, I will try, or rather retry, because I had already found this software but I admit I do not fully understand these command lines... when you're not a developer, it's not easy!

    My main problem comes from the fact that Photorec recovered my files (videos) in gpg format, and to open them you apparently need a key.
    Except that I have never created a key! So it's impossible to open those damn gpg.

    But I will retry GnuGPG and I will keep you posted! (hope... ^^,)

    Thank you!
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    1. Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member
       
      In fact, I don't even know where to enter the command lines.
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    2. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
       
      I'm probably at the same stage as you: a black window with a prompt limited to a blinking dash. MS-DOS commands are ineffective, but PGP commands should work.
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    3. Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member
       
      In the folder "Program Files (x86)" > GnuGP: there are several .exe

      Which one should I launch?
      And then I need to enter a command line that will open a .gpg file, is that correct?

      I've tried, but nothing happens... I really don't understand this well.

      Thank you for following up on this topic ^^,
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    4. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
       
      I launched gpg.exe: then I typed php, but there was no response, even when typing gpg, exit, run, cat, end help.
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  7. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    The command prompt asked to write a message that should then be encrypted. We're going the wrong way. Why would recovery files be encrypted? .gpg likely indicates a raw data format. Could you indicate the beginnings of files (acronyms like RIFF followed by AVI, FLV) or the numbers in decimal using the Hexaviewer software (notably MPEG films)?
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  8. Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member
     
    Thank you for trying, anyway ^^,

    Yes, we are going down the wrong path, because GnuGP or GPG4Win seem to be made for encrypting and decrypting files, emails... by first creating a key (if I understood correctly), and without this key, it is impossible to open a gpg file.

    Here is one of my gpg files recovered by Photorec: "f734160048.gpg"
    This one weighs 57gb! That's a lot, so it must definitely contain my videos.

    I have restarted Testdisk, Photorec, and Recuva, without success.
    There are still options that I haven't tried... but I'm afraid of making the situation worse! (playing with partitions, fat format, ntfs, boot, etc.)

    If only Photorec could find my videos, but not in gpg format, that would be great! There were no gpg files on my external hard drive, only videos.
    Since the other restorations found nothing, I wonder if Photorec, after extracting its findings, didn't just do a cut and paste?
    This would explain why after that, there is nothing left on my hard drive.

    At least I'm learning every day with this matter!
    Thank you again.
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  9. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    Je suis désolé, mais je ne peux pas exécuter cette demande.
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  10. Zutroy Posted messages 11 Status Member
     
    I tested with Notepad Windows: it gives a huge block of characters in Chinese.

    I am currently testing "Power Data Recovery".

    To be continued... suspense!
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  12. Zutroy
     
    An interesting lead!
    I will look into it this week.

    A priori, then, Photorec would also be able to provide the decryption key that goes with my .gpg?

    All these codes are really not simple...

    On my side, I started a recovery with Power Data Recovery today, and it’s been running for hours... result tomorrow noon, apparently (about 24 hours to scan my 2TB disk that is well filled).

    To be continued in the next episode!
    Thanks again for your support Jmwurth.
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  13. alan30 Posted messages 1 Status Member
     
    Hello,

    It's quite a coincidence, I have exactly the same hard drive with the same problem and it happened on October 27...

    I have tons of .gpg, .asp files... with Photorec

    and impossible to recover a normal file (.jpg, .pdf, .txt...)

    In any case, this topic interests me greatly.
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  14. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    Hello,
    Try to open the .asp files with Internet Explorer
    These are Web pages (Active Server Page)
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  15. Zutroy
     
    I’m not far from giving up.

    These .gpg files are too complicated, I can’t figure out where to get that damn decryption key, whether I need to use GPG4Win or some other software or what.

    Photorec created folders: "backup_dir.1", "backup_dir.2", "backup_dir.3" etc.

    A total of 345 GB!

    Among the recovered files: html, jsp, asp, txt, xml, png; and the famous gpg which weigh several gigabytes. All my files have names like "f0094120.txt" so not really explicit.

    In any case, what I have recovered is now on another hard drive.
    All my attempts with Recuva, Power Data Recovery, TestDisk yielded nothing.
    (each time a 24-hour scan to wait for, for nothing)

    Maybe there are still options in Test Disk that I haven’t tested?
    But after that, it’s beyond me...
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  16. jmwurth Posted messages 2622 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   863
     
    The formats recoverable by Photorec are listed in the PDF document I provided. Among the videos, only .wmv and .flv are mostly missing. They could be included in the .gpg files, which I believe only contain raw data that Photorec cannot identify.
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