[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Calissdon,

First – please do not hijack one thread subject with a different subject. It makes it hard to follow and answer.

The Free and the Premium is the same software, but with Premium some extra features are available. See http://www.axcrypt.net/pricing/ for a feature comparison list.

 

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Great!

I should mention that this issue occurs because of another, in my mind, bad behavior with EditPad. Once the file is opened in the editor, it does not keep it open in anyway. That makes it possible for anything to happen with the file without EditPad having a say. I personally think that all software working with a file should hold at least a write lock on it.

Anyway, I’m happy this worked out. Thanks for the report, it’s only when we get reports that we can fix the issues, we can’t find everything ourselves. There are just too many situations that can happen…

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

There are some sporadic reports of this situation. We believe it to be an issue with proxys that require authentication. We are still investigating.

Then of course local PC firewalls will often pop-up an information box when a new program attempts to access Internet.

Peter, if you exit AxCrypt after an unsuccessful attempt, and then with Windows Explorer go to %localappdata%\axcrypt and e-mail me the file SnapshotReport.txt to svante dot seleborg at axcrypt dot net I’d appreciate it.

You can also open it in Notepad, and you’ll probably get an idea of what the problem is from the more extended error information there.

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello!

The most likely reason is that you’re missing .NET 4.5. There might be other things missing or out of date as well. Windows XP was officially retired over 2 years ago I’m afraid. Microsoft does not support Windows XP, nor do we officially.

That being said, I know that it’s possible to run AxCrypt on XP, but you may need some updates in addition to the .NET framework.

Nevertheless, I really, really, recommend you to upgrade your operating system!

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello!

No reply necessary, but I’d still like to add one thing.

If you have Premium, you can share with any number of others, and they can work with the documents you have shared the key for. They just can’t create a new document and share with you without Premium.

Thanks for all the input!

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Greg!

Yes, right now it’s just the selected folder. Technically it’s really simple to implement recursive semantics, the problem is that we’ve tried this before and unfortunately some users get into trouble because they do not quite realize the consequences…

We’re working on ways to enable this functionality without the risks.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello!

Currently you can indeed import/export public keys with the Free version. Not sure how long we’ll retain that functionality. Not because we want to squeeze folks for their money, but because it offers too many ways to get into trouble. These features are there right now mostly because they were used during development. Most likely we’ll retain them but in an ‘Advanced’ mode preceded by various disclaimers and mostly for situations where Internet access is not possible at all.

With Premium, you obtain the public key using the recipient’s e-mail address and the simple “Key Sharing” dialog. Pretty foolproof and simple, is the idea. Also, with this feature you can actually do this before the recipient has even signed up, as we’ll generate a key pair and encrypt it temporarily with a server-based machine-key until the recipient completes the signup process and sets his or her personal password.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello again Duncan,

I just noticed that the path to the file is a UNC path. Is the actual file on a network?

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Duncan,

Thanks for all the details. I’ve tried really hard during the day to reproduce your problem, unfortunately without success. I.e. I’m successful in using AxCrypt as it’s intended without the problems you are having.

I’m surprised about your question concerning conversion – from version 2.1.1392, AxCrypt will suggest that you enable auto-conversion mode in which situation all your documents will be automatically converted to the new format as you use them.

Have you not seen this? You can also find this option under File | Options.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the detailed reasoning. I can certainly understand and respect your position.

We may well do something similar to what you suggest in the future, right now we’re a bit constrained for development resources so we’ll have to pick one model and run with it for a while.

You ask about how to use the Free version directly, without the Premium? That should really be a non-issue though. Once the 30-day trial runs out the software reverts to Free mode and you can continue to encrypt and decrypt as always. Any documents encrypted in Premium mode will always be decryptable in Free mode, no worries.

Once again, thank you!

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello MerleOne,

Sorry, no, we have not yet updated the iOS app to the new level. This will be done in the coming months. The existing iOS app (which is also pulled from the app store, so it can’t be downloaded currently) cannot decrypt documents encrypted with AxCrypt 2.

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

You are correct. This is one of the major reasons we have adopted the ‘sign in’ metaphor. When you register you get what we call an ‘AxCrypt ID’. In fact this is a RSA-4096 key pair generated on the server. The public key is available from the server via a public REST API. The private key is kept in an AxCrypt-encrypted form, using the sign in password, on the server for backup.

Actual file encryption is done by generating a strong pseudo-random 128 or 256 bit (if the user has Premium) session key, unique for every file and file encryption. This key is then encrypted iteratively (wrapped) using the sign in password, the sign in public key, and any other persons public key that the file key should be shared with. The set of public keys used are also embedded in the file, so it can be re-encrypted without further server interaction.

In order to do server lookups of other persons public keys, Premium is required. Anyone with AxCrypt, Free or Premium, can always decrypt and work with encrypted files, regardless of the encryption strength or if it uses key sharing. We’ll never lock anyone out of their data because Premium has expired.

I hope this explains! We’ll be publishing full specifications of the file format, and the protocols used. The API is already public, but we have not yet made documentation available. It’s use can of course be inferred from the source code, or simply to use the open source library is the easiest way though. The only reason we’ve not yet published text documentation is just time constraints, and that we’d like to keep the capability to evolve it a little longer.

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

I’m sorry, but it’s not quite clear what you mean. Please attach a screen shot of the situation if you please. Also, please specify what version of AxCrypt you’re using.

Do remember that you are not supposed to enter the password every time with AxCrypt 2. As long as you remain at your computer and have entered the password once, it is remembered and you stay signed in. However, this differs a bit from how it works in AxCrypt 1.x, that’s why it’s good to know just what version you’re using. We recommend that you use the most recent version of AxCrypt, available at http://www.axcrypt.net/ .

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

The password is sticky as long as you remain in a session. If you sign out of Windows or end AxCrypt, then the password needs to be re-entered.

If you have the checkboxes you have version 1.x. Version 2 looks and works differently, and makes this part easier. Try it out!

Regards,

Svante

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

There’s a new version out that I hope addresses your issue (2.1.1393). Please try it out and let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Svante

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