Encrypting a folder on Server 2008

This looks like a similar case to this discussion

From the description, this certificate should be a self-signed one. You can verify this in the certificate console: The name under Issued To is as same the one under Issued By if it is a self-signed certificate

we can still decrypt files even though the EFS certificate is expired, because EFS stores existing private keys. As a result, I suspect that issue results from one of the following causes:
 
·         The private key corresponds to the certificate is damaged or deleted.
·         The thumbprint listed in Users Who Can Access This File does not match any thumbprints for the user’s certificates.
 
If any of the above factor is true, I am afraid that we may not be able to recover the data.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/3820fcc9-1fff-4c69-8f28-a54c935aaf60/i-cant-create-install-a-recovery-certificate-for-encrypted-files-help-needed?forum=itprovistasecurity

You can also use efsinfo to view thumbprints to help match up the certificates that are RA. You need to have
a RA export their recovery certificate and private key to a .pfx file.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243026

By default, the Administrator account has this certificate and is configured as the data recovery agent. If you are running your computers in a Windows domain, then the default Recovery Agent will be the Administrator account on the first domain controller you installed in your Windows domain. Kindly also see the best practices
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/223316

Dear btan,

Thank you for your reply, yes, I believe it is the same sort of issue.  I have read the threads, and am doing the same exact thing, but the results do not seem to be the same.
Since I am trying to encrypt a folder on our file server, I decided to test this out on my private PC first, so not to mess up the server with errors.
Please correct me if I am going about this the wrong way:
1.  I generate the recovery certificate on my PC and save them on a USB drive. (cipher creates .CER and .PFX files with no error.)
2.  Then I install these, by going through certificate import wizard.  Again, no error.
3.  I go to encrypt a test folder in my Document folder, and when I apply, I get "An error occurred applying attributes to the file:  c:\Users\xxx\yyyy    Recovery policy configured for this system contains invalid recovery certificate."

What am I doing wrong?

Dear btan,
Thank you for pointing out the steps!