Windows 10: In-place decryption of a BitLocker file system from a recovery CD

How does one do in-place decryption of a BitLocker filesystem from a recovery CD? In principle, it must be possible to do this. When I boot the system, I am not asked to type in a decryption key; therefore, the BitLocker decryption key must be already on the disk somewhere. There is a systemrescue CD that boots into a Linux system with numerous utilities; one of them -- "dislocker" is its name, if I recall correctly -- offers to decrypt a BitLocker fs and copy the decrypted fs somewhere else. I don't want that; I want to do in-place decryption. This is possible after you log in (I know, because I have done it in the past, although I don't right now recall exactly how); I just need to know how to do it from a recovery CD. I have "Bob Omd's Modified Win10PE recovery disk" (which does not fit on a CD, so I put it on a DVD), but when I try, after booting it, to decrypt the C: device, it asks for a 48-bit number, which in my case I have not got, and which should not be needed. I have not tried Trinity, although I have used it in the past, because I believe it is old and does not support UEFI (please correct me if I am wrong) and in any event I do not recall that it has any BitLocker capabilities. I have not tried HirenBootCd because it too (despite its name) does not fit on a CD, and DVDs are scarce resources, so at this point I wanted to ask you for your advice. Thank you in advance for any and all replies. jay at m5 dot chicago dot il dot us

:)

 

recovery bitlocker blue screen

Hi Rick,

Please follow the suggestions below and check if you are able to boot to your desktop.

• Places to look for your BitLocker key:
  • On a printout you saved. Look in places you keep important papers.
    
  • Saved on a USB flash drive. Plug the USB flash drive into your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file.
  • In your Microsoft account. To get your recovery key, go to
    BitLocker Recovery Keys.

• Or ask someone for help:
  • Ask someone with administrator privileges on the same PC to unlock it with their key.
  • If your PC is connected to a domain (usually a work or school computer), ask a system administrator for your recovery key

Hope this helps in resolving the bitlocker recovery keys. Keep us posted on the bitlocker recovery key issues. We are happy to help!

 

bitlocker recovery

Unless you have the bitlocker recovery file you will not be able to decrypt the files. Bitlocker is crack-proof. This is why people use it. If there was a backdoor then bitlocker would become useless.

 

[HELP] Bitlocker decryption stuck at 82.1% (No disk activity)

I have been decrypting bitlocker on my USB disc drive for the past two days, and I recently noticed that it had been at "82.1% Completed" for hours. Task manager now shows 0% disc activity for the drive, whereas before it was 100% (for the past two days).

Drive: 4TB (USB HDD drive) Bitlocker (full) encrypted, auto-unlock enabled. Recovery key working.

Main usage: Backups

Unique information on the drive: 1TB of data not backed up anywhere else

Windows version: 10 Pro 64-bit 1909

Bitlocker version: 2.0

USB port: 3.0

What I have tried:

1a. Pausing and resuming BitLocker

1b. Rebooting the machine and trying again

1c. Booting into safe mode and trying again

1d. Booting into recovery mode (X:\ administrator command prompt) and using "manage-bde"

1e. Disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS and trying again

1f. Enabling CSM in the BIOS and trying again

1e. Using "manage-bde" to pause, resume, start encrypting and then start decrypting again (on steps 1b, 1c, and 1d).

1f. Connecting the drive to another Windows 10 Pro 64-bit computer and trying steps 1a and 1e.

1g. Running "chkdsk" in an administrator command prompt, and via the GUI version in drive properties, both said no errors were found.

1h. Attempting to use "repair-bde F: G: -rp [Full recovery password, that has been tested and is working] -Force", however I don't have another drive that is 4TB capacity (the "G" drive is a 32GB USB stick). Output:

Bitlocker Drive Encryption: Repair Tool version 10.0.18362

Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

LOG ERROR: 0xc000003d

Needs at least 3815318 MB of free space for repair.

ERROR: Not enough free space on output volume to perform repair.

What I have observed:

1. 30-60% disc activity on the drive for about a second on steps 1a, 1b, 1c,

2. 100% disc activity on the drive when using "manage-bde -on F:" (re-encrypting the drive)

3. 100% disc activity on the drive when using "manage-bde -off F:" (decrypting the drive again) AFTER step 2, but only until (I assume) BitLocker gets to the same place where it was stuck before, as disc activity drops to 0%. This leads me to believe that
BitLocker may be getting stuck in a particular place or on a particular file.

4.

I still have full access to the drive and can read/write perfectly fine. Have successfully viewed files, added files and removed files (for testing). I can read/write perfectly fine on both Windows machines I tested on.

TLDR: Bitlocker decryption of a 4TB USB HDD stuck at 82.1% with 0% disc activity for hours. No errors found on the drive, files still fully accessible.

I have already contacted an "IT Pro/Admin" from Microsoft Support who guided me with steps 1e and 1f, but BitLocker still appears to not be doing a lot.

I have also looked at the BitLocker event logs, but nothing about errors is displayed, simply status messages such as "BitLocker decryption was started for volume F:." and "The BitLocker protected volume F: was unlocked. Protector GUID: {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
Identification GUID: {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}"

If you have any ideas or suggestions for fully decrypting the drive, please let me know.