Windows 10: Can't boot after disabling bitlocker on Home. Startup repair rejects password and USB...

Hi, I am helping a family member with their Windows 10 Home Dell laptop because they are having a very strange series of issues.

The laptop came with bitlocker turned on by Dell despite being Windows Home, but I was able to help them decrypt the drive and disable bitlocker via the startup repair command prompt. This was needed because the bios accidentally updated with bitlocker turned on and it needed the recovery key to start. That part should be solved now. C is no longer encrypted.

But now Windows says it failed to boot. Startup repair also now asks for a password, which it didn't before. We've tried the PIN, the hotmail/microsoft password associated with the windows login, and have even reset the password but it still says incorrect password. I want to get into startup repair to run the bootrec commands to fix the boot. This is a newer laptop so it is using UEFI.

Tried using USB bootable recovery media, and it can run bootrec /fixmbr, but not bootrec /fixboot. Fixboot gives an access denied error. I checked diskpart> list vol, list disk, and also mountvol and the USB drive copy of windows command prompt cannot see the SSD in the laptop. It only shows the USB drive itself, which shows as C.

I found this potential solution in another thread, but if diskpart can't find the other partitions on the SSD or the SSD at all then I don't know how to run the command and not sure which letters to put in below:


"bootrec" command sometimes has problems finding proper boot device and windows installation to fix.

Use "bcdboot" command to fix boot bcdboot requires that partitions are specified explicitly!

bcdboot N:\windows /s M:

specifies N: as Windows partition, M: as system partition.

Use "diskpart" or "mountvol" commands to map system partition. See notes for Fix Windows boot for further help."


I'm at my wits end trying to figure out how to fix this so the computer can boot/login. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

:)

 

Bitlocker corrupted my Boot drive during installation


I am running Windows 10 Pro on a HP Proliant ML110 G7 machine, and decided to install bitlocker using a password and USB key. The machine does NOT have a TPM installed.

I first activated it on 2 logical volumes. Then I tried to activate it on my OS boot drive (C, and after the step where I created my password and USB rescue key it said it would reboot to test the keys and then commence with the encryption. It rebooted and then, with the USB key inserted, read the key correctly and proceeded to give me a blue screen saying that my PC was unbootable with the error message "Unmountable_Boot_Volume", and suggested I repair the startup process with a windows installation disc or USB.

I did, but when I boot the PC using a Windows 10 install USB and try to run startup repair it asks me for the password or the USB key or the Number key, and I try them all but say they're wrong, and I know they're correct because when I try to boot directly to the hard drive they are accepted.

Is there anything else I can try? Help.

 

Windows 10 Password for Startup Repair

Hi,

Startup repair keeps on rejecting my windows 10 password and I am very sure it is my correct password as I use it in logging in to microsoft website. I have two step verification on. Does that affect the password? I tried generate app password but still
not working.

 

BitLocker Setup- How Do I Disable the TPM and Use a Password Instead?

I would like to enable BitLocker on my laptop, which has a TPM. However, I want to use a password instead of the TPM to decrypt the drive during pre-boot.

I've tried disabling the TPM (using 'tpm.msc') and then enabling "Require additional authentication at startup" within the Group Policy Editor, but those steps didn't work.

How can I disable the TPM and use a password instead? Alternatively, how can I keep the TPM enabled but also require a password (not a PIN) during pre-boot?

Thanks!