How to enable the encryption command on the Shortcut menu (241121)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

This article was previously published under Q241121

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY

This article describes how to add the Encrypt/Decrypt command to the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click a file or folder.

MORE INFORMATION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To add the Encrypt/Decrypt command to the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click a file or folder, use Registry Editor to create a REG_DWORD value that is named EncryptionContextMenu with a data value of 1 in the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

After you make this change, restart the computer.

REFERENCES

For additional information about encryption, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

222054 Encrypting files in Windows 2000

223316 Best practices for the encrypting file system

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	4/27/2004
Keywords:	kbhowto kbui KB241121