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Environment: Windows 7, but applies to other EFS-compatible Windows versions

I have a file that is encrypted using standard Windows EFS encryption. When I copy that file to a USB drive using Total Commander or Explorer, the file stays encrypted at the destination.

Such encrypted file is inaccessible on any other Windows PC where my USB drive gets plugged in. I could import my personal certificates on that PC, but that's about the last thing I would like to do.

I would like the copying process automatically decrypt my file when the file is copied to a removable drive. Is there a way to tell Windows to do that?

A brute-force way to decrypt the file on-the-fly would be to switch to FAT as a file system on my USB drive, but I don't want to do that either.

Thanks in advance for any hints!

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To decrypt the file when its copied to your USB media, disable encryption on the USB media. It can still use NTFS (which is what I assume you're using).

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Yes, I use NTFS. Can the EFS encryption really be disabled on per-drive basis? What would be the way to do it? I haven't been able to find any. And btw, the destination folder is not set to have encrypted content (through Properties). – vladimir Sep 14 '10 at 6:50
You're correct. I was thinking of the option that get's checked when a partition is formatted that enables file encryption for the drive. It implies that it can also be disabled (or, more accurately, not enabled). What you can do is copy from the encrypted drive/folder to a folder on the USB media that has the encryption flag cleared. This will cause the files to be decrypted on the fly. – BillP3rd Sep 15 '10 at 1:52
Copying from an encrypted HDD folder to a USB drive folder that does not have the encryption flag set is exactly the case I'm having the issue with. That does not work, the file gets copied to the USB drive's folder without being decrypted. – vladimir Sep 15 '10 at 11:46
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