PGP netshare - TC looses folder config policy

[silentautumn]

Hello,

Does anyone in this forum have any PGP (the program you buy, not GPG...) experience?

Well, PGP has a neat feature called "netshare". You define a windows shared directory to be a "netshare" and add users that may access it. All files in the "netshare" are encrypted but every one of its users can access them with his/her individual PGP key (the interface just asks for the pass phrase). All other users can see the shared directory but cannot access the files within.

As an authorized user, any file you add to this shared directory automatically becomes encrypted. On the other hand, when you drag-n-drop files out of the "netshare" (e.g. to your desktop) they remain encrypted. If you want to decrypt them permanently, for further distribution or email, you have to manually access a right-click menu with the "Remove from netshare" option. PGP asks for your pass phrase and then decrypts them with your PGP key.

Well, here is the problem I've been having with total commander:
If (as I said) you drag and drop the files out of the "netshare" they behave correctly. This is using windows explorer and works OK.

If however you use Total Commander for this transfer the copied files, somehow, become corrupted in the part of PGP information they should be bearing. Therefore in their final destination directories look as if they are not encrypted when in fact they are! And single files although they look encrypted, they cannot be “Removed from netshare” …

We have contacted PGP on that and they said that TC may have a bug in this section. Specifically they answered:

"PGP NetShare is designed to work with standard file semantics and we'd expect this to continue to work with other products".

And later:
"What is happening is the folder config policy isn't copied so the folder doesn't know it has encrypted data and thus, can't do 'remove' the folder but each file is still protected".

So, is this a bug in Total Commander? Am I doing something wrong? Or should PGP be blamed?

If it helps I can also send screenshots or a short video

Many thanks,

Georgios

[ghisler(Author)]

You can try to use compatibility mode for copying: Configuration - Options - Copy/Delete. Enter a * for all drives. Total Commander then uses CopyFileEx for copying. I hope that CopyFileEx does work with PGP. If not, please compain to them again.

[silentautumn]

Hello and thank you for taking the time to review this report. Unfortunately I've just tested and didn't work.

Do you think that the Windows function "CopyFileEx" can resolve the problem? Does this provide 100% compatibility with Win Explorer copy functions? Any more information I could use to resolve the problem?

Sorry for asking so much but these are questions I will probably be asked by PGP...

Many thanks anyway,

Georgios

[ghisler(Author)]

Unfortunately I don't know the internals of Explorer, I don't have its sources. But all people who had problems with special drives so far (which worked with Explorer) could get it working with the compatibility mode.

Your last resort is to try to use the Explorer copy method also in Total Commander: Ctrl+C Tab Ctrl+V (Copy+Paste).