What is a .MENC file?
I recently returned from vacation with a boatload of pictures and several videos that I’d taken on my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone (an AT&T Tilt with an HTC ROM, to be precise).
Today I decided it was time to yank the pictures and vids from the phone and put them on my Media Center. The easiest way I’ve found to do that is to pull the card from the phone, plop it in a card reader, and slap it in the computer. When I did so I had a few pictures in the folder and a bunch of files that looked like they had picture names, but had an extension of .menc.
So, what’s a .menc file type? This article sums it up: http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2007/03/26/windows-mobile-6-storage-card-encryption-faq.aspx
Ah, so it’s Windows Mobile 6’s way of encrypting files on storage cards in attempt to thwart access by persons without the PIN/Password configured. Okay, that sounds like a good thing. How does it work?
Go to your System Control Panel and tap on the Encryption icon, if the checkbox is checked every file you create on the storage card is encrypted; if it’s not checked files created on the storage card are not encrypted.
- Simple, right? Kinda.
- What about the files on the card before you enable encryption, do they get encrypted? Nope.
- What about files that were created on the card while encryption was enabled, but now you’ve disabled encryption, are they still encrypted? Yup.
- But I don’t want them encrypted anymore, how do I unencrypt them? Copy/paste (either to another location on the card, or to your pc via ActiveSync or the Vista equivalent).
- I hard-reset my device, now I can’t access my encrypted files, is there a way I can access them? Nope. They’re gone.
- How do I tell if the files are encrypted? You don’t, not while it’s in the device, unless you’ve got an app that can read extended file attributes; or on a desktop pc because they have a .menc extension — which is probably why you’re here.
- That seems pretty dumb, isn’t there a better way to do it? If you have a better idea email this guy: Scott Yost
Posted in Encryption, Experimentation, Windows Mobile, technology
June 29th, 2008 at 22:34
I still do not understand what you are talking about but I appreciate your comments.
September 6th, 2008 at 14:10
recovery menc file
October 11th, 2008 at 15:37
Please help me recover menc files. My pda suffered an accidental hard reset and now I can´t open the files in my memeory card
October 13th, 2008 at 08:17
@John,
Based on everything I’ve read, you’re out of luck. The files are encrypted with a key that’s generated the first time the device boots. The MENC files are encrypted based on that key. Once you hard-reset you’ve lost the key that was used to encrypt them, and a new key was generated on the next boot (which is why you cannot access them now).
Your best option at this point is to restore from backup.
If you find another way to recover your files, please let us know!
- http://www.JoeLevi.com