Hi guys,

Recently, for some reason, when I try to open my encrypted log files (using the correct password), an error box informs me "The decrypted file couldn't be opened!" I have never had this problem before. I have tried reinstalling MSG Plus, and changing the password, and nothing helps. It is extremely important that I can get access to these files, especially as they include some logs from a friend of mine who is no longer with us.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Silly question, but is your caps lock on?
are you SURE it's the right password?
otherwise, the logs are not recoverable without the correct password

Yes, I'm absolutely certain that the password is correct and Caps Lock is off, etc. To test, I entered in several wrong passwords (including the correct one with incorrect capitalisation) and it gave me an Incorrect Password error.

Please - there really must be *something* that can be done. It seems this isn't a situation where it can't decrypt the file - it just can't open the decrypted version. There really must be some way of capturing that decrypted output, surely? I can understand them being unrecoverable if the password is incorrect, but that is not the case here. If it truly is impossible, then surely a warning to that effect would be a good idea - if I had known that my logs may become unrecoverable, I would have thought twice about doing it.

This error message only comes up when the default editor for txt files can't be started. This also will happen if you changed the editor with a registry key. In both cases, if you don't have time to search for the problem, I suggest you open the log from another computer to get access to your file.

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Originally posted by Patchou
This error message only comes up when the default editor for txt files can't be started.

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Thanks for your responses guys (Patchou - I am honoured!) I have had a good poke in the Registry and haven't yet found any key which might hold details for default text editor. Next step is to try and open them on another system and see what I can find out.

I'll be sure to post my findings here to help others. Wish me luck!

You don't need to delve into the Registry
Open Explorer, go to Tools -> Folder Options.
On the Types tab, find TXT and set a default program for it
Apply, OK, and you're done.

I have also the same problem as above described. It surfaced recently. I'm not too sure what caused it. I don't think it's a problem with Notepad. I tried what Raceprouk said but it did not help.

And I'm definitely sure it's the right password.

I have made some progress on this matter. I hope this can help others to go further than I have managed so far.

I was flicking through my ZoneAlarm Pro logs and I noticed three alerts for 'OSFirewall'. They were all for Messenger Plus, where ZoneAlarm had blocked it opening notepad as another process.

I disabled OSFirewall and restarted the system. The decrypted file error is now gone. BUT...when opening the file, I now get the error from Notepad (not MSGPlus):

"The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."

It opens a blank notepad window to go with this. My limited research on this subject has turned up a bunch of sutff about hidden streams, but nothing I can make progress with. I'll keep trying and will report with any developments.

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Originally posted by Informator
My limited research on this subject has turned up a bunch of sutff about hidden streams, but nothing I can make progress with.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Nothing hidden about how Plus! opens an encrypted log though:

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Originally posted by Informator
(or whatever you've configured it to open with). I couldn't find an option to change the default text editor. Even when I associated .txt files to another program, it still opened Notepad. If you could tell me how to use another program to view logs, then that would be very helpful in my investigation.

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Originally posted by Informator
Even when I associated .txt files to another program, it still opened Notepad.

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Right! I have further news.

1) Shutting down ZoneAlarm, virus scanners, etc made no difference. Notepad still opened up with the error. Uninstalling and reinstalling MsgPlus similarly made no difference.

2) Changing the LogViewerProgram entry to something like "wordpad "%s"" meant that the logs reverted to "Can't open the decrypted file!" error.

3) But some success! After following your advice Cookie, I had a look in my Temp folder. There was indeed a "blah@blah.com {decrypted].txt" file in there, which opened with no problems at all. When I OK'd the error in the original Notepad window, the file was then removed.

So, the logs are there and are accessible. But at the moment, I can't seem to find a way for them to open in Notepad first time, or why the error is occurring. My system event viewer doesn't show any Notepad errors in it. So if we can work out this last part of the conundrum, my life will be complete

I followed the thread and disable OSFirewall. After disabling OSFirewall, the problem for me was solved.

Informator might have some problem with his Notepad application.

Thanks Informator

-Yuka

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Originally posted by yuka
I followed the thread and disable OSFirewall. After disabling OSFirewall, the problem for me was solved.

Informator might have some problem with his Notepad application.

Thanks Informator

-Yuka

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