trying again

This isn’t a critical issue, but I haven’t given up, yet. Where are old encryption keys kept; and what is the best way to recover them, after reformatting? I was able to recover most folders and files, so I suspect the info is still there; but I have tried six or seven normal procedures, and haven’t gotten anywhere on finding it; it’s buried in the old layer underneath the new strings and shortcuts. I hit “specific answer” this time, which is supposed to redirect me to old threads.