Windows 10: Unlock OS Drive Encrypted by BitLocker in Windows 10

How to: Unlock OS Drive Encrypted by BitLocker in Windows 10

How to Unlock an OS Drive Encrypted by BitLocker in Windows 10


Information BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the operating system and addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned computers.

When you automatically unlock.

If you chose to unlock the OS drive with a password, PIN, or USB flash drive and forgot or lost them, then you can still unlock the OS drive with its BitLocker recovery key.

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to unlock an operating system (OS) drive encrypted by BitLocker in Windows 10.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with USB Flash Drive
• Option Two: Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with Password
• Option Three: Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with PIN
• Option Four: Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with Recovery Key

OPTION ONE [/i] Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with USB Flash Drive
1. Boot the PC.

2. If you don't already have the USB flash drive with the BitLocker startup key on it connected, then connect the USB, and press Enter to reboot and try again. (see screenshot below)



3. If successfully unlocked, you will now be able to sign in to Windows 10. (see screenshots below)










OPTION TWO [/i] Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with Password
1. Boot the PC.

2. Enter the password to unlock this OS drive, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)



3. If successfully unlocked, you will now be able to sign in to Windows 10. (see screenshots below)










OPTION THREE [/i] Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with PIN
1. Boot the PC.

2. Enter the PIN to unlock this OS drive, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)



3. If successfully unlocked, you will now be able to sign in to Windows 10. (see screenshots below)










OPTION FOUR [/i] Unlock BitLocker OS Drive at Startup with Recovery Key
1. Boot the PC.

2. Press the Esc key when you see the BitLocker screen. (see screenshot below)



3. Make note of the first section of numbers (ex: "19A6196C") for the Recovery key ID to help ID the recovery key for this OS drive. (see screenshot below)



4. Go to where you step 3 above. (see screenshot below)



5. Enter the 48-digit recovery key for this drive from step 4 above, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)



6. If successfully unlocked, you will now be able to sign in to Windows 10. (see screenshots below)






That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Find BitLocker Recovery Key in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off BitLocker for Operating System Drive in Windows 10
• How to Unlock a Fixed or Removable BitLocker Drive in Windows
• How to Use BitLocker Repair Tool to Recover Encrypted Drive in Windows
• How to Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 10
• How to Lock BitLocker Encrypted Drive in Windows
• How to Suspend or Resume BitLocker Protection for Drive in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Enhanced PINs for BitLocker Startup in Windows 10
• How to Specify Minimum PIN Length for BitLocker Startup in Windows 10
• How to Change BitLocker Startup PIN in Windows 10
• How to Copy Startup Key of OS Drive Encrypted by BitLocker in Windows

:)

 

HELP: Automatic BitLocker Unlock.

Please help,
Looking for a way( script or maybe some unknown windows command or registry hack) to automatically unlock a non OS BitLocker encrypted drive on Log-In.

My situation: Right now my OS SSD Samsung 840 Evo has a boot password, its not Bios option nor windows eDrive but the third one, the one you need 3rd party software to activate it, had to purchase EMBASSY Security Center to do it.
No issues here, the OS drive is locked and encrypted.

One of My HDD Drives is encrypted with Bitlocker, so every time my PC is booted, I need to enter windows log-in password and then open my computer and enter another password to unlock the drive.
Whats worse is that unlike the SSD that needs unlock password only after full shutdown the Bitlocker needs it every log-in.

Windows has an option to Automaticlly unlock all BitLocker drives on boot, BUT the issue here is that this official option only works if your OS drive is also BitLocker encrypted and then log-in password unlocks everything.

Im looking for maybe a windows Script or some Hidden command to automatically unlock the BitLocker drive.

Even if it Sounds insecure like having the actual password somewhere in the registry, text file or script I dont care because the OS drive is encrypted and passworded.
Also I have a TPM chip I can encrypt any file/folder so even if file is copied from my PC when its fully unlocked the files wont be readable anywhere unless unencrypted before.

If its important im on 8.1 pro 64bit

P.S. If there is no solution for my problem then my only choice is when windows 10 comes out to do a clean install on another Samsung 840 Evo that was previously cleared and eDrive option enabled


Thanks in advance.

 

BitLocker: turn on auto-unlock without encrypting OS Drive (SSD)

I have the following configuration:

C (OS Drive) - SSD (128Gb)

D (Data Drive) - Normal Disk (1Tb)

D is encrypted using BitLocker but C is not encrypted.

I want to turn on auto-unlock on D, but get the following message: "The operating system drive is not protected by BitLocker Drive Encryption." - is there a way around this? I would ideally not want to encrypt my SSD.

I've moved my page file to D, but since the drive must be manually unlocked I get page file errors.

Thanks!

 

Failure to unlock BitLocker encrypted HD after new windows 10 installation

Hello Kostas,

Thank you for bringing up your query on Microsoft Community.

We sincerely regret for the inconvenience caused.

You can use BitLocker Drive Encryption to help protect your
operating system drive (the drive where Windows is installed), a
fixed data drive (such as an internal hard drive), or a
removable data drive (such as a USB flash drive).

The way you unlock an encrypted drive depends on two things:

• What kind of drive it is.
• What kind of unlock method you chose when you set up BitLocker on the drive.
  

I suggest you to refer to the following article and check if it helps.

Unlock a BitLocker-protected drive

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

(Applies to Windows 10 as well).

Hope it helps.

Let us know the status, we are glad to assist you further.

 

Can't unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive

I have a Bitlocker encrypted external HDD without any OS installed in it. I plugged it to pc with usb then i unlocked my drive on Win10 with my password as usual then i was copying the data from my unlocked
Bitlocker encrypted drive to another non-encrypted drive. Then power cut suddenly. After that i can't access my Bitlocker encrypted drive anymore.

-When i try to unlock that drive from Windows Explorer pop-up says "Encryption on this drive is not compatible with your Windows. Try to unlock it with newer version of Windows." without password and recoverypassword/recoverykey
input options. But my Win10 is fully updated (1703)

-Tried Win7 popup came without asking any password "Failed to unlock the drive. No protector keys found in this drive."

-I also tried manage-bde -bitlockerdrive -protectors -get the output is "ERROR: No key protectors found". But drive seems like encrypted already.

-I tried repair-bde with 48 digits recovery password for recovering data to another HDD. Recovery done without any errors. Then did "chkdsk
outputdrive: /f" it says "File system is NTFS. The first NTFS boot sector is unreadable or corrupt. Reading second NTFS boot sector instead. Unable to determine volume version and state. CHKDSK aborted." The disk shown as RAW and i can't access it.

-After that i also tried thirdparty recovery tools for recovering data on the drive that created after repair-bde (decrypted RAW one). I recovered all my files without any corruption. But all of them shown
as RAW files and had randomized names without folder structure. Somehow repair-bde can't transfer folder structure. I tried thirdparty recovery tools on unaccessable Bitlocker encrypted drive. It listed all my files with correct file names and folders. So
folder structure on encrypted drive is not corrupted i think but i can't recover them because they are encrypted and i can't open any file. I need folder structure, my files are too dispersed. What is the solution ? Thanks.

 

BitLocker Encrypted Hard Drive to MAC

Hi,



Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. I regret the inconvenience caused to you. Let me help you.



I suggest you to perform below mentioned steps to disable BitLocker.

To disable BitLocker I would suggest you try the following steps and see if it helps.

• 
  Press Windows key + X and click on
  Control Panel.
  
• 
  Change View by from Category
  to Large Icons/Small Icons.
  
• 
  Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption and click on
  Turn BitLocker Off.
  
• 
  Follow on screen instructions. Click on Decrypt the Drive
  when the message appears.
  

I would suggest you click on the link below and refer the following article.

Scenario 12: Turning Off BitLocker Drive Encryption (Windows 7)

Scenario 12: Turning Off BitLocker Drive Encryption (Windows 7)

(You can refer the steps in the above link as they are applicable for Windows 10 as well)



Check if it helps.



I hope the information helps. Please keep us posted on the issue. We will be happy to assist you accordingly.

Thank you.