Windows 10: Bitlocker's Destroyed My Hard Drive

Discus and support Bitlocker's Destroyed My Hard Drive in AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security to solve the problem; I decided to encrypt my external hard drive, started it, but then it got stuck at 84.3% for three days now. I tried several times to pause and even... Discussion in 'AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security' started by Heritage Adedamola, Jul 11, 2020.

  1. Bitlocker's Destroyed My Hard Drive


    I decided to encrypt my external hard drive, started it, but then it got stuck at 84.3% for three days now. I tried several times to pause and even turn off the encryption, but when I do, the Bitlocker Manager hangs. My Hard Disk was still accessible so I browsed through it and deleted some strange files I saw in it because I was almost out of space; I deleted a file "pagesys" and another "swapsys" and I don't know if they are related to Bitlocker. Now I can no longer access it, and even when I manage to, the system lags, windows explorer shows "not responding" and restarts several times. Please what can I do? I have many important files on the disk and that was why I wanted to keep it locked. Please I need help.

    :)
     
    Heritage Adedamola, Jul 11, 2020
    #1

  2. BitLocker Encrypted Hard Drive to MAC

    Hi,



    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. I regret the inconvenience caused to you. Let me help you.



    I suggest you to perform below mentioned steps to disable BitLocker.

    To disable BitLocker I would suggest you try the following steps and see if it helps.


    • Press Windows key + X and click on
      Control Panel.

    • Change View by from Category
      to Large Icons/Small Icons.

    • Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption and click on
      Turn BitLocker Off.

    • Follow on screen instructions. Click on Decrypt the Drive
      when the message appears.
    I would suggest you click on the link below and refer the following article.

    Scenario 12: Turning Off BitLocker Drive Encryption (Windows 7)

    Scenario 12: Turning Off BitLocker Drive Encryption (Windows 7)

    (You can refer the steps in the above link as they are applicable for Windows 10 as well)



    Check if it helps.



    I hope the information helps. Please keep us posted on the issue. We will be happy to assist you accordingly.

    Thank you.
     
    Aswin_Anand, Jul 11, 2020
    #2
  3. John Ado Win User
    Unlocking Hard drive

    Hi Marty,

    To help you with this, follow the troubleshooting steps in this
    link
    . Refer to the three methods.

    To answer your questions:

    • We can try to enable BitLocker to encrypt your hard drive and then decrypt it later.
    • BitLocker is what we recommend. You may use third-party software at your discretion.

    Let us know how it goes.

    Regards.
     
    John Ado, Jul 11, 2020
    #3
  4. Aaron_Sum Win User

    Bitlocker's Destroyed My Hard Drive

    How can I access/change my Bitlocker password for my external hard drive?

    Hi AveryDavis,

    Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.

    Is this an external hard drive or an internal hard drive into which the Windows 10 is installed in?

    I can understand how important the hard drive is for you. If the hard drive was encrypted with a BitLocker, it can only be opened with the BitLocker key. This is because the hard drive will be encrypted with respect to the BitLocker and cannot be accessed
    on a different system without the key.

    If you have not set the BitLocker key, the' Secure Boot' settings may be toggled to 'Disabled', which may be causing this issue. You can check that from the steps below.

    1. Power the device 'Off' and then back 'On'.
    2. You should be able to find a message on the boot screen just before the manufacturer logo appears. You may need to press the ‘F1’, ‘F2’, or ‘Delete’ button, this is usually indicated on the boot screen.
    3. Enter the BIOS settings, look for a tab called 'BOOT' and select that page.
    4. Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, this page could be 'BOOT', 'ADVANCED', 'STARTUP', etc.
    5. Look for a setting for the 'UEFI Secure Boot'. Each BIOS could have a different name for this. These are the keywords to look for: 'UEFI', 'Secure Boot', 'Legacy Boot'.
    6. Toggle the 'Secure Boot' setting to 'Enabled' and attempt to boot the machine.

    However, if the BitLocker is set and the password is not known, you can refer this article on ‘Find
    my BitLocker recovery key
    ’. If you do not have the BitLocker password or the recovery key, the only option would be to proceed with formatting the hard drive to access it and if Windows was installed on this drive, a reinstallation of Windows.

    Note: Formatting the hard drive will delete all its contents.

    Hope it helps.

    Aaron Summith

    Microsoft Community – Moderator
     
    Aaron_Sum, Jul 11, 2020
    #4
Thema:

Bitlocker's Destroyed My Hard Drive

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