Windows 10: Can I unlock Bitlocker without a key?

I've recently swapped my Windows 10 hard disk in my HP Pro 400 desktop with a new SSD drive, and installed Windows 10 Pro because my PC my PC was getting slow. However, when I connect my old hard disk back to backup my file I got the blue Bitlocker Screen. I didn't set any bitlocker on my hard disk, it's not linked to any email addresses and therefore I cannot retrieve the key to unlock my hard disk.Need help...

:)

 

HELP: Automatic BitLocker Unlock.

Thank you sir, ill try your solution.

Windows Auto unlock ONLY works in case you have Bitlocker on your system drive, because if your system drive is not encrypted auto unlocking other drives means loss of security.
But in my case my system drive is Encrypted with hardware encryption that i password unlock during boot. So auto unlocking Bitlocker drives will do fine for me.

 

BitLocker key cannot unlock the disk. Neither can i reinstall cause the drive is blocked

Hi Havard,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently.

I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

• Did you try to unlock the drive using the Bitlocker application in Windows 10?
  
• If yes, did you get any error message while trying that?

I suggest you to follow the methods below and check if that helps:

Method 1:

I would suggest you to try unlocking the drive using the Bitlocker facility available in Windows 10 and check if you are able to unlock it successfully. If you are getting any error message with says “Application not found”, then I would suggest you
to refer the article provided in the link below:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/unlock-bitlocker-protected-drive

Method 2:

I would suggest that you try the steps mentioned in the link below and check if it helps resolve your issue.

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For
added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following link to view the article “How to back up and restore
the registry in Windows” from the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/322756

(Applies to Windows 10)

For more information regarding BitLocker, you may refer the article "BitLocker Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" from this link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831507.aspx

Hope the information helps. Please let us know if the issue persist and we will be happy to assist you further.

 

HELP: Automatic BitLocker Unlock.

more clear
0down voteaccepted
I managed to figure out how to fix this. It doesn't use the native auto-unlock function like I was hoping (rather a script that unlocks using a .BEK file, as I mentioned) but it seems to work just as well.

First, you need to create a .BEK file that can unlock the disk. This is the command I used:

manage-bde -protectors -add d: -rk c:\

Substitute d: with whichever drive you want to auto-unlock. The output will look something like this (take note of the "external key file name"):

BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.10011
Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Key Protectors Added:

Saved to directory c:\

External Key:
ID: {9DDF4900-5E08-479A-8C4C-6ADE2DA00551}
External Key File Name:
9DDF4900-5E08-479A-8C4C-6ADE2DA00551.BEK

Now you need to create the script to unlock the drive. Just create a batch file in the root directory with the following line:

manage-bde -unlock d: -rk C:\[external key filename]

Again, replace d: with the correct drive letter. Replace [external key filename] with the filename you got before.

Finally, you need to tell Windows to run this script at startup, before you log in. (Or at least I needed it to run then, because that's where my desktop, etc. are stored.) Here's how you do that:

• Press Win+R and enter gpedit.msc. (This is only in Pro, but so is BitLocker, so that's not an issue here.)
  
  
• On the left, navigate to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (Startup/Shutdown)
  
  
• Double-click "Startup" on the right
  
  
• Click "Add..." and select the batch file you created before.
  
  
• Click OK and exit Group Policy Editor.
  

Now you can reboot the computer to test it. You should see your drive automatically unlocked