Windows 10: Had to rebuild my computer but my extra internal drives were bitlocked and I don't have my...

My computer needed to be rebuilt due to issues with the hardware, but my extra internal drives are locked, and I do not have the recovery passwords for the drives. I have the ID keys but no recovery passwords. Here is the information I have regarding the key ID's, but no recovery password:ID: {EB7B383C-5D48-47DB-AFFD-CFFBDE6EBA72} External Key File Name: EB7B383C-5D48-47DB-AFFD-CFFBDE6EBA72.BEK Numerical Password: ID: {52BB993C-7B8D-4EF6-89C4-5F604993CF1C} ____________________________________________________ ID: {32DA9C2D-AD8A-44A5-941C-ACD896FE37F7} External Key File Name: 32DA9C2D-AD8A-44A

:)

 

Planning to upgrade and rebuild

Folks, I need help in planning to upgrade and rebuild my current system to Windows 10 Pro. My current system is as follows:

• Windows 8.1 Pro desktop computer with an internal HDD (it came with Windows 8.1 from the factory, I upgraded it to Windows 8.1 Pro)
• Storage Spaces with 2 identical external USB HDDs in a mirror configuration, they are used for File History
• BitLocker drive encryption enabled on the desktop computer and on Storage Spaces/File History

I know that if I simply click on the GWX icon in the system tray, I will get an in-place (and free) upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Do I have to do that anyway to get the digital entitlement to Windows 10 Pro on my Microsoft account? In any case, I want to go
beyond that and completely rebuild the system to Windows 10 Pro, i.e.

• fully reformat the internal HDD (not just a quick reformat) and do a BitLocker drive encryption of the reformatted internal HDD with the old BitLocker key (Can I do that?)
• re-install all apps and programs on the internal HDD (I have all the install CDs/DVDs and licenses) and re-do all the configurations/settings
• scan my Storage Spaces/File History with an AV (Can I do that with another, clean computer? I have clean Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 computers that I could use. Will it work when I merely turn off BitLocker without removing the old BitLocker password?
  Any other precautions that I should take?)
• restore all my files from the Storage Spaces/File History of the pre-upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro computer back on the internal HDD of the now post-upgraded Windows 10 Pro computer (Can I do that? How do I test and make sure that I can restore my files
  from an earlier OS version, Windows 8.1 Pro, to a newer OS version, Windows 10 Pro ?)
• turn BitLocker back on on the Storage Spaces/File History with the old BitLocker USB key (Will the auto-unlock feature that worked in the pre-upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro system still work in the post-upgraded Windows 10 Pro system?)

As you can see, I want to completely rebuild the Windows 10 Pro system from ground up (I will certainly make a system image backup of the Windows 8.1 Pro computer in case the project fails) Obviously, I want to make sure that I don't lose my data, nor my
Windows license, nor my BitLocker. (Yes, I am a bit paranoid, but I am also willing to make the extra effort)



I am a bit concerned that BitLocker complicates the project. I would appreciate any advice and help on how to best plan this upgrade and rebuild project step by step (or even part advice on some of the steps)

 

BitLocker encryption on Internal SSD drives?

Looking for an answer and getting the right answer are two different things.

And I can't speak for "other" encryption tools, but YOU CAN encrypt a drive with BitLocker that already has data on it without issue. Going with personal experience; and I'm not the only one. Anyway....

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...quirements-faq (under "How does BitLocker work")

Nothing suggests the drive needs to be data free to use BitLocker nor are there suggestions to do so. Regardless do what makes you feel comfortable.

Good luck *Smile

 

Planning to upgrade and rebuild

Thanks for the comments, but the project is much, much broader.

After doing further research, I think the project has to be chopped up into smaller, more manageable steps. Basically, do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro first, then make sure that the system works as expected, and only then do a clean upgrade to Windows
10 Pro. The planning steps are (currently) as follows, with open questions identified.

Step 1: Do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. This will give me the digital entitlement for Windows 10 Pro, even if I subsequently do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. Open questions for step 1:

• Do I need to suspend BitLocker on the internal HDD and turn off BitLocker on Storage Spaces/File History prior to the in-place upgrade? Or what BitLocker-related precautions should I take? I like to retain the BitLocker USB key if possible (?)
• Can I keep the Storage Spaces/File History attached for the in-place upgrade or do I need to detach the Storage Spaces/File History for the in-place upgrade?
  
• As a refresher, for Storage Spaces, I use 2 identical external USB HDDs in a mirror configuration, which is used for File History. I call this Storage Spaces/File History

Step 2: Live with the in-place upgrade for at least a week or two, to make sure that the entire Windows 10 Pro system works as expected, including:

• internal HDD with BitLocker drive encryption enabled
• Storage Spaces/File History with BitLocker drive encryption and auto-unlock enabled
• System boots with the same (if possible?) BitLocker USB key

Step 3: Turn off BitLocker system-wide (on the internal HDD and on Storage Spaces/File History) prior to the clean install of Windows 10 Pro. Turning off BitLocker system-wide seems to be the least troublesome option in preparation for the clean install
of Windows Pro, although this may (?) require a new key in the BitLocker USB key after the clean install of Windows 10 Pro.

Step 4: Do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro, no product key should be required as the digital entitlement has been secured in step 1. Open questions for step 4:

• Do a full reformat (not just a quick reformat) of the internal HDD first, as I do not want to rely merely on deleting partitions during the re-install procedure (Do I need a third party app to do a full reformat or will a native Windows utility do
  the job?)
• Create the ISO file and do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. I believe I need to detach Storage Spaces/File History during the clean install of Windows 10 Pro (?)

Step 5: Re-install all my apps, re-do the configurations/settings.

Step 6: Re-attach Storage Spaces/File History and restore all my files.

Step 7: Turn on BitLocker system-wide with a new key (?) in the BitLocker USB key, including auto-unlock of Storage Spaces/File History.

The clean installed Windows 10 Pro system should now work with BitLocker enabled.

I keep researching the open questions in the above as well as the issues marked with question marks. Any help appreciated