<p>Is it possible to query the Crystal CMS database and get meaningful data back?  The data appears to be encrypted.</p>

<p>I am running Business Objects Crystal Report Server version 11.5</p>

I had a similar problem on my workstation at the office.  It sounds like you need to reinstall (that's what worked for me). This is a known bug according BussinessObjects (I had to call them and use our maintenance support).  Hopefully you can find more information by searching for, 'Crystal Business query corruption' instead of calling them if the reinstall doesn't work for you.
They told me the data is not encrypted, but occasionally components don't install correctly and the queries come back in a binary form that is all garbled.
Good luck!