Re-establish keys

[Robert J. Hansen]

> My public key is on the MIT PGP server.    I know my passphrase.   So
> how do I reestablish my keys on the newly reformatted hard drive, in
> order to decrypt my files?

You don't.

It is computationally infeasible to recover a private key from only a  
public key.  The key server has half your keypair.  To derive the  
other half would require radical breakthroughs in mathematics and  
computer science, and/or access to time and energy on a truly cosmic  
scale.

--
Robert J. Hansen <rjh at sixdemonbag.org>

"Most people are never thought about after they're gone.  'I wonder
where Rob got the plutonium?' is better than most get." -- Phil Munson