Windows 10: 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 exter

:)

 

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

 

Encrypted External Drive that cannot be opened.

Hi Sana,

It is a good idea to use Bitlocker to protect hard drives. Please provide the following needed information:

1. How do you try to access the drive?

2. Do you get any pop-up message when trying to access the drive?

3. Is this an external hard drive?

You can turn off Bitlocker Drive Encryption by following these steps:

• 
  Login as Administrator to your PC.
  
• 
  Click Start, click Control Panel, click
  Security, and then click BitLocker Drive Encryption.
  
• 
  From the BitLocker Drive Encryption page, find the volume on which you want BitLocker Drive Encryption turned off, and click
  Turn Off BitLocker Drive Encryption.
  
• 
  From the What level of decryption do you want dialog box, click either
  Disable BitLocker Drive Encryption or Decrypt the volume as needed.
  

Regards.

 

File back up to bitlockered external drive

Thanks John.

By trial and error the solution is,

• Set the file back up to the desired external USB drive, Back up using file history.
• Run backup to completion.
• Dismount, (Remove) the drive used.
• Remount (Plug in) the drive used for the file back up (Steps 1&2) and encrypt using Bitlocker.

Note you can only encrypt drives using some versions of Windows (Pro for eg not Home)

• Once the external drive has been encrypted dismount.
• Remount the drive, go to the file back up option, Open, Settings, Backup,
  Back up using file history.
• The drive should now still be visible and has been encrypted.
• Accessing the drive will be dependant on how it was set up in Bitlocker,
  Open with this PC, password, pin code etc.
• Repeat file back up as in the first two steps.

Hope this helps someone else.