Windows 10: Why not just use BitLocker to wipe a drive?

I have some old external and internal hard drives as well as an SSD I need to wipe before giving away.There are a lot of software solutions out there to wipe a drive clean single or multipass writes, military grade algorithms, etc. but they can take anywhere from hours to days to run.My specific question: Why not just use BitLocker on Windows 10 Pro to encrypt the entire hard drive and then reformat the drive? If anything is left behind after encrypting then reformatting, isn't anything that might be found be encrypted and unrecoverable anyway?Seems BitLocker approach is so much faster and e

:)

 

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.

 

Need to turn off Bitlocker to install Windows 10

Hi,

We suggest doing the following steps again to resolve the issue. To complete the procedure, make sure that you have the following information:

• You must be able to provide administrative credentials.
• The drive must be BitLocker-protected.

To suspend BitLocker Drive Encryption on an operating system drive, please follow the steps below:

• Click Start, click Control Panel, click
  System and Security, and then click BitLocker Drive Encryption.
• Click Suspend Protection for the operating system drive.
• A message is displayed, informing you that your data will not be protected while BitLocker is suspended and asking if you want to suspend BitLocker Drive Encryption.
  
• Click Yes to continue and suspend BitLocker on the drive.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Win 10 - Bitlocker Boot Drive - Safe to Wipe?

Hi Mike,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

With the issue description, I understand that you have a query regarding formatting a bit locker boot drive
on your Windows 10 machine before selling it.
I will certainly help you with the query.

I would like to inform you that yes the Bit locker drive is absolutely safe to wipe if it belongs to you and if you have the valid BitLocker password. You could temporarily turn off the Bit Locker Drive Encryption by following the
below steps:

Search for BitLocker Drive Encryption from the Start search and click Turn Off BitLocker, and then click Disable BitLocker Drive Encryption.

But ensure that you have safeguarded all of your data by backing it up on some external drive or PC.

Hope this information is helpful. Please write back to us if you need any further assistance, we'll be glad to assist you.