WM6.1 encryption

Ok guys this one's for the more behind-the-scenes savvy but ANY help will do.

I recently ordered a replacement phone but ran into encryption issues - phone is Windows Mobile 6.1 - when I tried to view the files on the new phone. See, some of the files were older and therefore did not encrypt (from yet another replacement phone w/encryption disabled) and some were current and were encrypted. I was mainly concerned for the 400+ contacts that would have been a disaster for me if I lost (about 25% are prospective clients) and before I did the factory reset the rep at the store said something to trigger a red flag in my mind about encrypted files. I quickly grabbed the old phone, disabled the encryption, backed up contacts only (PPCPimBackup V2.8_wm2005, excellent freeware, highly recommend for any WM user), and gave the phone back to the rep. So I got to save the meat of the issue but feel like I'm missing some of the bones, you know?

So here I am at home trying to access a few of the backups I ran when I had encryption enabled and can't get into them. I've tried the following:
-connecting via phone cable (usb to mini-usb) and opening it up on my computer but got nothing
-taking the miniSD card straight to the pc (w/SD card adapter) but still no dice
-opened up file properties, completely unassociated it (removed extension), then reassociated to .pib (backup extension) w/little succes; got to access the file but when my phone opened it the format couldn't be read

I'm going to try using a different miniSD card where I'll "move" the files from the old card (encrypted files) to my pc via usb cable (an anomoly occurs here w/Vista; if you transfer encrypted files from the phone to pc via Sync Center they WILL transfer and you WILL be able to see/read them :confused ...go figure) then move those files to the new card via cable again. I'll let you all know the outcome but here's where my question comes in.

Since the files are .menc (when you read them on pc) is there any software currently that'll handle this extension? I haven't found anything out there yet. Also, when viewing the files on my pc I noticed this key-like looking string in hex; could that possibly be the key to decrypt? It's odd to me that it's in the file name itself but every file has the same string.

Any suggestions? TIA!

-Jay