[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Andy,

Apologies. We really need to continue working on the onboarding process for existing users. We thought it was so simple, and we beta tested for almost 6 months. We’ll improve and clarify the process, I promise! So sorry for the confusion.

In the meantime, here’s how it works:

AxCrypt 1 – Each and every file was encrypted entirely independently. AxCrypt 1 did have the option to ‘remember this password for encryption’, so while it was active you did not have to retype it every time you encrypted a new file.

AxCrypt 2 – Each and every file is still actually encrypted entirely independently with a password. But… We made the ‘remember this password for encryption’ feature mandatory, and associated each AxCrypt session with an e-mail and an online account, which happens to be the same as was used for update notifications for AxCrypt 1.

So, the typically confusing situation is that an existing AxCrypt 1 user upgrades to AxCrypt 2, and is asked for an e-mail, and if the e-mail was used to register the old AxCrypt, asked for the password to that account.

Now, it appears, most people do not remember the password used to register AxCrypt 1 a couple of years ago… ;-) And a lot of users think that the password requested is the “AxCrypt” password used to encrypt their files. This is confusing of course. We realize that now.

Here’s what you should do (until we improve this in the actual sign in/sign up) if you’re not asked to create a new AxCrypt ID, but just prompted for a password after entering the e-mail and your AxCrypt 1 file-password does not work:

1. Go to http://www.axcrypt.net, click the “sign in” menu, and on that page select the “Forgot password” link in the lower right.

2. Follow the instructions to reset the account (AxCrypt ID) password.

3. Set a good and strong password on the account (AxCrypt ID). This *can* but does not *need* to be the same as the old password you used for your files. It might be time to upgrade that password to something better anyway.

4. Ensure you have the latest (2.1.1398 or later) version of AxCrypt installed.

5. Start AxCrypt 2 and sign in with your new password.

6. Open your old AxCrypt 1-files. You’ll probably be prompted (again) for a password. This time it *is* your old AxCrypt 1-password!

7. If you followed step 4, you’ll be prompted to enable auto-conversion of your old files. This will cause them to be re-encrypted with AxCrypt 2, using your new AxCrypt ID-password as you open and use them.

Why did we do these changes?

Mostly because it happened every now and then that users encrypted new files but mistyped the password, and subsequently were unable to access them when they did type it correctly.

The new procedure (once you get past the conversion from 1 to 2 hurdle) is much less typing-error prone.

There are many other reasons as well, but this is one of the major ones.

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Ninveh,

There is some misunderstanding here – the portable version of AxCrypt 2 (the one where the download has an .exe extension) is indeed just that. It does *not* auto-upgrade version 1. The installable version (the ones where the download has a .msi extension) will indeed upgrade version 1, that’s what installers do.

The message you are referring to is likely the following: “You have updated AxCrypt. Unfortunately, your configuration must be reset. After restarting, your preferences and settings will unfortunately be lost. We apologize for the inconvenience. Your encrypted files are still safe and ok.”

This is displayed when you are running a newer version of AxCrypt 2 than before, and in between the way we store the user configuration settings have changed too much. This was due to the fact that during the Beta testing period we did not want to spend time regression testing all kinds of upgrades, so we just said that if they’re incompatible between version we’ll start afresh.

The point here is that AxCrypt 1 has not been auto-upgraded in your system. It’s still there just as it always has been (if it was there, and you did use the portable install-free version of AxCrypt  2).

Most likely you tried out AxCrypt 2 Beta earlier, and the newly downloaded version found the old user configuration files from that, and thus displayed the message.

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

The first exception indicates a broken or incomplete write of an encrypted file.

The second exception indicates an empty file or a file that is simply not an AxCrypt-file. Each AxCrypt-file starts with a fixed sequence of 16 bytes. This error indicates that the file in question does not. That’s unlikely to be due to corruption.

Do try the case with an existing file on a test file, I’m sure you’ll see the ‘save as’ dialog. Hope you have some backups!

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Thanks Robert for the input! Yes, we’ll consider something along those lines. As we really don’t *need* it, it should really not cause issues like this. There are some situations where it’s sort-of needed, at least causing confusion if not active.

Anyway, we’ll continue to work and improve this as we go along. We’ve been in Beta over 6 months, but even so we’re sure to bump into things (like this). That’s why we’re also not going for the ‘major/minor’ release schedule, but rather of a continuous delivery process where we will upgrade once or twice a week so that we can always give you the latest and greatest full release instead of hotfixes, patches and releases.

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Greg,

It seems that the installation package did not download correctly. Before running it, please check that it is unaltered and complete by verifying it’s digital signature.

In Windows Explorer, right-click the .msi-file, select properties and the ‘Digital Signatures’ tab. Verify that it is OK. If not, download again and verify.

Also, do verify that you are using the right ‘bitness’ – 32-bit for 32-bit Windows and 64-bit for 64-bit.

 

Finally, if you’re upgrading, ensure that you have not run any ‘cleaners’ that delete old installation files and such. They are needed for uninstalls and upgrades.

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello!

First of all, please update your version of AxCrypt! I think you may be experiencing two different issues.

However, I’m very interested to know if you’ve seen the ‘A Task has been cancelled’ error earlier than the last 24 hours?

The following is a copy of the response I’ve used in some other threads here about the issue during the night:

Ok, support is awake (actually we have been since 5 AM UTC this morning, working with analyzing the issue).

Everything should be ok now, but here’s the full disclosure on what happened, and what’s happening.

At around midnight UTC this night something went south with our main server. We do not yet know the exact mechanism, but we have found no indication that it was the result of an external agency or attack.

Now, AxCrypt does not need to talk to our servers once initialized on a device. So, why did this cause problems for you?

One user figured it out – it worked if you disconnect from Internet during sign in.

AxCrypt does not need the servers, but tries to connect. What happened with our server was that it went into twilight mode, neither dead nor alive. It responded to requests, but never completed the response leaving the client hanging.

AxCrypt does not properly handle this situation of answer-but-no-response. That’s a bug. We’ll fix it. We’ll also add an explicit offline mode, so you don’t need to mess with the Internet connection.

Finally, we’ll be investigating and working on the server side issue until it no longer can happen again.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience, and perhaps some scary moments.

Best regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello everyone!

Ok, support is awake (actually we have been since 5 AM UTC this morning, working with analyzing the issue).

Everything should be ok now, but here’s the full disclosure on what happened, and what’s happening.

At around midnight UTC this night something went south with our main server. We do not yet know the exact mechanism, but we have found no indication that it was the result of an external agency or attack.

Now, AxCrypt does not need to talk to our servers once initialized on a device. So, why did this cause problems for you?

One user figured it out – it worked if you disconnect from Internet during sign in.

AxCrypt does not need the servers, but tries to connect. What happened with our server was that it went into twilight mode, neither dead nor alive. It responded to requests, but never completed the response leaving the client hanging.

AxCrypt does not properly handle this situation of answer-but-no-response. That’s a bug. We’ll fix it. We’ll also add an explicit offline mode, so you don’t need to mess with the Internet connection.

Finally, we’ll be investigating and working on the server side issue until it no longer can happen again.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience, and perhaps some scary moments.

Best regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello everyone!

Ok, support is awake (actually we have been since 5 AM UTC this morning, working with analyzing the issue).

Everything should be ok now, but here’s the full disclosure on what happened, and what’s happening.

At around midnight UTC this night something went south with our main server. We do not yet know the exact mechanism, but we have found no indication that it was the result of an external agency or attack.

Now, AxCrypt does not need to talk to our servers once initialized on a device. So, why did this cause problems for you?

One user figured it out – it worked if you disconnect from Internet during sign in.

AxCrypt does not need the servers, but tries to connect. What happened with our server was that it went into twilight mode, neither dead nor alive. It responded to requests, but never completed the response leaving the client hanging.

AxCrypt does not properly handle this situation of answer-but-no-response. That’s a bug. We’ll fix it. We’ll also add an explicit offline mode, so you don’t need to mess with the Internet connection.

Finally, we’ll be investigating and working on the server side issue until it no longer can happen again.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience, and perhaps some scary moments.

Best regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

First of all – actually 2.1.1398 is the most recent version. It addresses an issue with how files are handled, but typically you’d see an error message if you had that problem, and it’s been very uncommon.

I’m a bit surprised about your descriptions – we’ve really not had any reports like yours. There has of course been issues, but typically they will result in an error message. I would really appreciate an snapshot report as I described above. It helps understanding what has happened.

I’ve not seen or heard of any problems with file-name collisions or special names. Collisions are supposed to be handled gracefully, either by renaming automatically, or by asking the user depending on the situation. I just tried the scenario with an existing clear text – a dialog is shown asking you to ‘save as’. Perhaps you did not notice this dialog?

The two error messages at the end are not good though. They indicate file corruption. This is typically irreversible. The first one is hard to say, it may also be that you have renamed a file that is not an AxCrypt-file. It should display the name of the file of course, that is a bug. Did you restart the computer or something while the encryption was running? The second message seems indeed like a file that was only partially encrypted and then the computer or AxCrypt crashed. In either case, there should be backup-copies available in the folder (named .bak). Otherwise, I sincerely hope you have backups, although I have the uncomfortable feeling the answer is no.

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Harry!

Thanks for the feedback, although of course I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad first meeting with of AxCrypt 2.

We are entirely dependent on feedback like yours to improve the product, and which we did for a Beta period of almost 6 months with thousands of users. Nevertheless, new things pop up even now! For example, I do agree the ‘set password dialog’ should be more clear in stating the requirements. However, this is the first time I’ve heard of anyone not seeing the standard Windows error indicator icon! We’ll try address that as well.

Let me comment on your issues one by one.

1. Dialog to set a password. Thank you we’ll improve that. You can follow progress in our issue tracker.
2. No progress bar. There is, but I think I know what has happened. It’s a recently noted problem when encrypting/decrypting many files from Windows Explorer is very slow. The progress bar works – but this is before it even starts to work. We have a priority ticket on that too, but it’s in a private repository so I can’t post the link. Sorry. For now, I think drag and drop or using the toolbar buttons or menu selection will be faster and more reliable.
3. The problems with crashes here worry me the most. We’ve not received *any* similar reports. I’m also concerned when you say ‘system files’ – are you attempting to encrypt such?

Especially with #3 above in mind, I’d like to know what version you’re using. And, if I could bother you with a snapshot report after such a crash I’d appreciate it. Enable Debug mode under File | Options | Debug. Then in the Debug menu choose the Snapshot Report and follow the instructions.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello John!

Please update to the most recent version. If that does not help, or you already have, send a screen shot of what’s not working or explain further.

Also, I respectfully ask that you please do not send the same question via different channels as you did with this one. This will make us respond slower, not faster, since we’ll be wasting time handling the same issue multiple times.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Thank you Sputnik for you reasoned comments.

I am very much listening to the debate of V1 vs. V2, and I will work as well as I can to improve the experience for existing V1 users. I’ve already done quite a bit, but more can be done.

It surprises me a little bit about the ‘self decrypting’ files function. In my experience it just doesn’t work in practice. Does anyone here actually have a scenario where there’s any benefit or it actually works? Just about 100% of current e-mail servers and clients will block executables. I really think the standalone version is more than a substitute for the self decrypting feature. That being said, if there’s a real demand and it actually works, it’s not that hard to implement using the standalone version.

The offline functionality will probably be implemented in one way or another, but I really like the sign in metaphor where we associated the password with an identifier, even if offline. This reduces the risk of losing data due to mistyped passwords, and that’s a really good thing I think.

Version 1.7.3156 will indeed be useful for a long time, and please remember – effectively it’s been left on it’s own for about 2,5 years already.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Thanks Laurel,

You ask many good questions that we need to be much clearer in our communication about – so they don’t need to be asked!

1 – What happens when the 30 day Premium period ends? Nothing, really. Premium features are no longer accessible, you revert automatically to the free version. No need for new downloads or anything. AxCrypt mostly works as usual, but without the perks of Premium.

2 – What happens with 256-bit encrypted files when the Premium period ends? Nothing, really. Of course you can still open them! We’ll never lock you out of your data because of a discontinued subscription. They will open normally, and remain 256-bit until modified and re-encrypted, in which case they will use 128-bit encryption instead.

3 – What happens with passwords saved in the Password Manager when the Premium period ends? Nothing, really. Of course you can still read them! We’ll never lock you out of your data because of a discontinued subscription. However, you can no longer update, add or delete new passwords. (You didn’t ask, but this was a good place to answer the question anyway!)

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

Thanks for your input – keep it coming!

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Thank Laurel for the response!

I’m also happy to see that the forums are working as they should, as a source of information, opinions and criticisms of AxCrypt.

To that end, and since it fits nicely in the subject topic, I was just reminded of the “10 Immutable Laws of security.”.

They are good laws to follow!

[Author]

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