Windows 10: Bitlocker encrypted an external drive and I no longer have that laptop

Purchased a new HP Pavilion 17.3" FHD IPS Laptop. Within 2 weeks the motherboard died. I exchanged it, and now I no longer have the Bitlocker key. I have an external drive that has encrypted data and taxes on it. How to I recover the data I need to solve this by the end of Q3, At the time I was not aware that bitlocker was active.Edition Windows 10 Version 22H2Installed on 5/‎3/‎2024OS build 19045.4780Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19060.1000.0Device name DESKTOP-OFFICEProcessor 11th Gen IntelR CoreTM i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz 2.42 GHzInstalled RAM 32.0 GB 31.6 GB usableDev

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External USB HDD drive bitlocker encrypted without a key

Hello CatchyWater7200,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. We're sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

I am aware that you're having trouble accessing your external USB disk drive that has been encrypted by BitLocker. I am here to help. Allow me to ask a question.

• Would you mind sharing what exactly the message shows when ask for the USB key?
  

Your drive appears to have been encrypted using BitLocker, a function that guards your data against illegal access. For access to the drive, BitLocker requires a password or recovery key. Since you don't have a BitLocker USB key, you can try using the BitLocker recovery key to unlock the drive. Here are the steps to do that:

1. Connect the external USB disk drive to your Surface Pro 6.
   
2. When prompted to enter the BitLocker key, click on "More options". Or you can enter "Esc" key or the Windows key to continue.
   
3. Click on "Enter recovery key".
   
4. Enter the BitLocker recovery key that you found on your Microsoft account.
   
5. Click on "Unlock".
   

If the above steps don't work, you can try disabling BitLocker on the external USB disk drive. Here are the steps to do that:

1. Connect the external USB disk drive to your Surface Pro 6.
   
2. Open File Explorer and right-click on the external USB disk drive.
   
3. Click on "Manage BitLocker".
   
4. Click on "Turn off BitLocker".
   
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to disable BitLocker on the external USB disk drive.
   

Please note that disabling BitLocker will remove the encryption from the external USB disk drive and make it less secure. Therefore, it's recommended to re-enable BitLocker once you've accessed your files and photos.

Let me know how it goes.

Kind regards,

Lavenia

 

Bitlocker encryption on external drive

Hello, I need support regarding Bitlocker. I have activated the Bitlocker encryption on my external drive and it stopped responding at 89%. The encryption process simply freezes and it freezes my whole laptop. All I can do is enforce restarting my laptop to be able to access my desktop files only. Please anyone who can help me stop the bitlocker without loosing my data on my external drive will be highly appreciated. Please note that I am struggling with this issue since 2 weeks and my external drive is still connected to my laptop ever since as I am worried I might loose my work on this external drive. Many thanks

 

Bitlocker encrypted external drive without user authorization

I primarily use a 2TB external hdd on my dell xps laptop.

The laptop is on a Windows 10 home edition OS, with bitlocker turned on by default (possibly by the local distributor of the laptop) on the C drive. I have left it on and made no changes to it.

When i plug in the external hdd into the laptop, it works fine, with no indication that it is encrypted or locked. The bitlocker settings page on the laptop does not show that the drive is encrypted and i can just plug-and-play the hdd with no problems.

But on my desktop PC (or any other PC other than the dell laptop), the same external hdd shows that it is encrypted by bitlocker and requires a 48-digit recovery key, which i do not
have. I have checked on my microsoft account where the recovery key for the laptop is saved, but only the recovery key (with the key ID) for the C drive of the laptop is found, not the external drive.

As i understand, bitlocker-to-go - which encrypts external removable drives - is a feature only available on windows 10 pro. My desktop PC, which i use occasionally with the hdd, is
windows 10 pro. But my laptop is windows 10 home and would not have that feature available to it.

Is it possible that since the laptop C drive is bitlocker encrypted, it somehow extended its encryption to the removable external drive? Because the external drive works perfectly
when connected to the laptop, with no indication that it is bitlocker locked. But if thats the case, why does the laptop 48 digit recovery key didnt work on the external drive? Would it help for me to turn off bitlocker on the laptop and let it decrypt the
C drive? But if i do this, do i leave the external drive connected while it is decrypting the C drive?

I knew the drive is encrypted by bitlocker as the prompt window to unlock the drive states 'Bitlocker #alphabet'