Issue
On a whole disk encrypted a disk with two partitions, the second partition is inaccessible after formatting the primary partition without decrypting the disk.
Warning: Do not re-encrypt the C: Drive as this will result in overwriting the session key and PGPWDE01 file which contains the drive encryption information and makes the disk unrecoverable.
Environment
- 2 partitions on an internal hard disk (C: and D: )
- Both partitions are PGP Whole Disk Encrypted
- The C: partition is formatted without decrypting the drive
Solution
To resolve this issue, you must attached the disk to another computer with PGP Desktop installed. Then use the pgpwde command line interface to decrypt the disk.
Use the following steps:
1. Open a Windows Command Prompt.
2. Change to the following directory C:\Program Files\PGP Corporation\PGP Desktop
3. Type pgpwde –recover -d 1 –passphrase “your passphrase" and press Enter.
(Assuming that the D: drive is the disk number “1”)