How to use BitLocker Drive Encryption on Windows 10 | Windows Central – BitLocker recovery screen

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This problem can prevent the entry of enhanced PINs. Losing the USB flash drive containing the startup key when startup key authentication has been enabled. For example, a non-compliant implementation may record volatile data such as time in the TPM measurements, causing different measurements on each startup and causing BitLocker to start in recovery mode. The BitLocker TPM initialization process sets the usage authorization value to zero, so another user or process must explicitly have changed this value.

Adding or removing add-in cards such as video or network cards , or upgrading firmware on add-in cards.

Using a BIOS hot key during the boot process to change the boot order to something other than the hard drive. Before you begin recovery, we recommend that you determine what caused recovery. This might help prevent the problem from occurring again in the future. For instance, if you determine that an attacker has modified your computer by obtaining physical access, you can create new security policies for tracking who has physical presence. After the recovery password has been used to recover access to the PC, BitLocker will reseal the encryption key to the current values of the measured components.

For planned scenarios, such as a known hardware or firmware upgrades, you can avoid initiating recovery by temporarily suspending BitLocker protection. Because suspending BitLocker leaves the drive fully encrypted, the administrator can quickly resume BitLocker protection after the planned task has been completed.

Using suspend and resume also reseals the encryption key without requiring the entry of the recovery key. If suspended BitLocker will automatically resume protection when the PC is rebooted, unless a reboot count is specified using the manage-bde command line tool.

If software maintenance requires the computer to be restarted and you are using two-factor authentication, you can enable BitLocker Network Unlock to provide the secondary authentication factor when the computers do not have an on-premises user to provide the additional authentication method. Recovery has been described within the context of unplanned or undesired behavior, but you can also cause recovery as an intended production scenario, in order to manage access control.

For example, when you redeploy desktop or laptop computers to other departments or employees in your enterprise, you can force BitLocker into recovery before the computer is given to a new user. Before you create a thorough BitLocker recovery process, we recommend that you test how the recovery process works for both end users people who call your helpdesk for the recovery password and administrators people who help the end user get the recovery password. The -forcerecovery command of manage-bde is an easy way for you to step through the recovery process before your users encounter a recovery situation.

On the Start screen, type cmd. Recovery triggered by -forcerecovery persists for multiple restarts until a TPM protector is added or protection is suspended by the user. When using Modern Standby devices such as Surface devices , the -forcerecovery option is not recommended because BitLocker will have to be unlocked and disabled manually from the WinRE environment before the OS can boot up again. For more information, see BitLocker Troubleshooting: Continuous reboot loop with BitLocker recovery on a slate device.

When planning the BitLocker recovery process, first consult your organization’s current best practices for recovering sensitive information. For example: How does your enterprise handle lost Windows passwords?

How does your organization perform smart card PIN resets? You can use these best practices and related resources people and tools to help formulate a BitLocker recovery model. MBAM makes BitLocker implementations easier to deploy and manage and allows administrators to provision and monitor encryption for operating system and fixed drives.

MBAM prompts the user before encrypting fixed drives. MBAM also manages recovery keys for fixed and removable drives, making recovery easier to manage.

After a BitLocker recovery has been initiated, users can use a recovery password to unlock access to encrypted data. Consider both self-recovery and recovery password retrieval methods for your organization. Determine a series of steps for post-recovery, including analyzing why the recovery occurred and resetting the recovery password.

In some cases, users might have the recovery password in a printout or a USB flash drive and can perform self-recovery. We recommend that your organization create a policy for self-recovery. If self-recovery includes using a password or recovery key stored on a USB flash drive, the users should be warned not to store the USB flash drive in the same place as the PC, especially during travel, for example if both the PC and the recovery items are in the same bag, then it’s easy for an unauthorized user to access the PC.

Another policy to consider is having users contact the Helpdesk before or after performing self-recovery so that the root cause can be identified. If the user does not have a recovery password in a printout or on a USB flash drive, the user will need to be able to retrieve the recovery password from an online source. However, this does not happen by default. The following policy settings define the recovery methods that can be used to restore access to a BitLocker-protected drive if an authentication method fails or is unable to be used.

Select the Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS check box if you want to prevent users from enabling BitLocker unless the computer is connected to the domain and the backup of BitLocker recovery information for the drive to AD DS succeeds. If the PCs are part of a workgroup, users should be advised to save their BitLocker recovery password with their Microsoft Account online. Having an online copy of your BitLocker recovery password is recommended to help ensure that you do not lose access to your data in the event that recovery is required.

You can use the following list as a template for creating your own recovery process for recovery password retrieval. You can use the name of the user’s computer to locate the recovery password in AD DS. If the user does not know the name of the computer, ask the user to read the first word of the Drive Label in the BitLocker Drive Encryption Password Entry user interface.

This is the computer name when BitLocker was enabled and is probably the current name of the computer. Verify that the person that is asking for the recovery password is truly the authorized user of that computer. You might also want to verify that the computer with the name the user provided belongs to the user. Because Computer object names are listed in the AD DS global catalog, you should be able to locate the object even if you have a multi-domain forest.

If you’re using TPM 1. The TPM is a hardware component used by computer manufacturers in many modern devices. It works with BitLocker to protect user data and ensure that a computer was not tampered with after the system was shut off. Although this feature can protect the data, it also brings a problem: Users are not allowed to resize Bitlocker partition via Disk Management without decryption.

As we mentioned above, to resize Bitlocker partition in Windows, the first part is to unlock it. Unlock Bitlocker drive via Settings. Step 1. Step 2. Resize partition via Disk Management. To extend partition via Disk Management, there must have unallocated space on the adjacent right of the target partition. Otherwise, the extend option will be greyed out. Step 3. Also, some of its features could only be managed using the command prompt. However, that has changed since and users can encrypt other volumes too.

Starting from Windows 7, one can also use Bitlocker to encrypt external storage devices Bitlocker To Go. Setting up Bitlocker can be a little daunting as you face the fear of locking yourself out of a particular volume. In this article, we will be walking you through the steps to enable Bitlocker encryption on Windows While native, Bitlocker is only available on certain versions of Windows, all of which are listed below:. To check your Windows version and confirm if you have the Bitlocker feature:.

Now, either right-click anywhere on the blank space and select Properties from the context menu or click on System Properties present on the ribbon. Confirm your Windows edition on the following screen. You can also type winver a Run command in the start search bar and press the enter key to check your Windows edition.

The TPM is used by Bitlocker to generate and store the encryption key. In the following window, check the TPM status. On some systems, TPM chips are disabled by default, and the user will need to enable the chip manually. Bitlocker can be enabled using its graphical interface found inside the control panel or executing a few commands in the Command Prompt. Enabling Bitlocker on Windows 10 from either is very simple, but users generally prefer the visual aspect of managing Bitlocker via the Control Panel rather than the command prompt.

Setting up Bitlocker is pretty straight-forward. One only needs to follow the on-screen instructions, choose their preferred method to encrypt a volume, set a strong PIN, safely store the recovery key, and let the computer do its thing.

For a few users, the Bitlocker Drive Encryption will itself be listed as a Control Panel item, and they can directly click on it. Expand the drive you want to enable Bitlocker to click on the Turn on Bitlocker hyperlink. You can also right-click on a drive in File Explorer and select Turn On Bitlocker from the context menu.

If your TPM is already enabled, you will directly be brought to the BitLocker Startup Preferences selection window and can skip to the next step. Otherwise, you will be asked to prepare your computer first. Go through the Bitlocker Drive Encryption startup by clicking on Next. Click on Shutdown when ready to continue. Turn on your computer and follow the instructions that appear on the screen to activate the TPM.

Activating the module is as simple as pressing the requested key. The key will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so carefully read the confirmation message. The computer will most likely shut down again once you activate the TPM; turn on your computer back on.

We will be setting a PIN on our computer.

 
 

 

BitLocker Use BitLocker Drive Encryption Tools to manage BitLocker (Windows 10) | Microsoft Learn – BitLocker deployment comparison chart

 

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature released by Microsoft as a native application in some versions of Windows. Thanks to the security of industrial-grade encryption algorithms, Hasleo BitLocker Anywhere can effectively help you prevent the risk of data leakage. Losing both of them will cause the data to be inaccessible. Home Store Support. Free Trial Version: 8. Free Trial Buy Now. Learn how to decrypt BitLocker encrypted drives. Change Password for BitLocker Encrypted Drives For BitLocker users, it is necessary to periodically change the password, as this can effectively prevent the risk of data leakage.

Learn how to change password for BitLocker encrypted drives. Learn how to export BitLocker recovery key. Buy Now Free Trial. Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Encrypting Drive The encryption process could take a long time to finish depending on the size of the drive, so please be patient to wait. Tech Specification Supported operating systems Windows 11, 10, 8. All rights reserved. Home For home users. Professional For home office and business. Encrypt and Start Windows 7 with Password. Supported operating systems Windows 11, 10, 8.

Disk Space MB and above free space.

 
 

Bitlocker software for windows 10

 
 

TPM 2. Docking or undocking a portable computer. In some instances depending on the computer manufacturer and the BIOS , the docking condition of the portable computer is part of the system measurement and must be consistent to validate the system status and unlock BitLocker. So if a portable computer is connected to its docking station when BitLocker is turned on, then it might also need to be connected to the docking station when it is unlocked.

Conversely, if a portable computer is not connected to its docking station when BitLocker is turned on, then it might need to be disconnected from the docking station when it is unlocked. Changes to the NTFS partition table on the disk including creating, deleting, or resizing a primary partition. Entering the personal identification number PIN incorrectly too many times so that the anti-hammering logic of the TPM is activated. Anti-hammering logic is software or hardware methods that increase the difficulty and cost of a brute force attack on a PIN by not accepting PIN entries until after a certain amount of time has passed.

Adding or removing hardware; for example, inserting a new card in the computer, including some PCMIA wireless cards. Removing, inserting, or completely depleting the charge on a smart battery on a portable computer. Hiding the TPM from the operating system. When implemented, this option can make the TPM hidden from the operating system.

Using a different keyboard that does not correctly enter the PIN or whose keyboard map does not match the keyboard map assumed by the pre-boot environment. This problem can prevent the entry of enhanced PINs. Losing the USB flash drive containing the startup key when startup key authentication has been enabled.

For example, a non-compliant implementation may record volatile data such as time in the TPM measurements, causing different measurements on each startup and causing BitLocker to start in recovery mode. The BitLocker TPM initialization process sets the usage authorization value to zero, so another user or process must explicitly have changed this value. Adding or removing add-in cards such as video or network cards , or upgrading firmware on add-in cards.

Using a BIOS hot key during the boot process to change the boot order to something other than the hard drive. Before you begin recovery, we recommend that you determine what caused recovery. This might help prevent the problem from occurring again in the future. For instance, if you determine that an attacker has modified your computer by obtaining physical access, you can create new security policies for tracking who has physical presence.

After the recovery password has been used to recover access to the PC, BitLocker will reseal the encryption key to the current values of the measured components.

For planned scenarios, such as a known hardware or firmware upgrades, you can avoid initiating recovery by temporarily suspending BitLocker protection. Because suspending BitLocker leaves the drive fully encrypted, the administrator can quickly resume BitLocker protection after the planned task has been completed. Using suspend and resume also reseals the encryption key without requiring the entry of the recovery key. If suspended BitLocker will automatically resume protection when the PC is rebooted, unless a reboot count is specified using the manage-bde command line tool.

If software maintenance requires the computer to be restarted and you are using two-factor authentication, you can enable BitLocker Network Unlock to provide the secondary authentication factor when the computers do not have an on-premises user to provide the additional authentication method.

Recovery has been described within the context of unplanned or undesired behavior, but you can also cause recovery as an intended production scenario, in order to manage access control. For example, when you redeploy desktop or laptop computers to other departments or employees in your enterprise, you can force BitLocker into recovery before the computer is given to a new user.

Before you create a thorough BitLocker recovery process, we recommend that you test how the recovery process works for both end users people who call your helpdesk for the recovery password and administrators people who help the end user get the recovery password. The -forcerecovery command of manage-bde is an easy way for you to step through the recovery process before your users encounter a recovery situation.

On the Start screen, type cmd. Recovery triggered by -forcerecovery persists for multiple restarts until a TPM protector is added or protection is suspended by the user. When using Modern Standby devices such as Surface devices , the -forcerecovery option is not recommended because BitLocker will have to be unlocked and disabled manually from the WinRE environment before the OS can boot up again.

For more information, see BitLocker Troubleshooting: Continuous reboot loop with BitLocker recovery on a slate device. When planning the BitLocker recovery process, first consult your organization’s current best practices for recovering sensitive information.

For example: How does your enterprise handle lost Windows passwords? BitLocker partition refers to the partition that’s locked by Bitlocker encryption tech which is a full-volume encryption capability that comes standard with Microsoft Windows versions beginning with Windows Vista. It interacts with the operating system and solves the risks of data theft or exposure caused by lost, stolen, or improperly retired devices. If you’re using TPM 1.

The TPM is a hardware component used by computer manufacturers in many modern devices. It works with BitLocker to protect user data and ensure that a computer was not tampered with after the system was shut off. Although this feature can protect the data, it also brings a problem: Users are not allowed to resize Bitlocker partition via Disk Management without decryption.

As we mentioned above, to resize Bitlocker partition in Windows, the first part is to unlock it. Unlock Bitlocker drive via Settings. Step 1. Home Store Support. Free Trial Version: 8. Free Trial Buy Now. Learn how to decrypt BitLocker encrypted drives. Change Password for BitLocker Encrypted Drives For BitLocker users, it is necessary to periodically change the password, as this can effectively prevent the risk of data leakage.

While native, Bitlocker is only available on certain versions of Windows, all of which are listed below:. To check your Windows version and confirm if you have the Bitlocker feature:. Now, either right-click anywhere on the blank space and select Properties from the context menu or click on System Properties present on the ribbon. Confirm your Windows edition on the following screen. You can also type winver a Run command in the start search bar and press the enter key to check your Windows edition.

The TPM is used by Bitlocker to generate and store the encryption key. In the following window, check the TPM status. On some systems, TPM chips are disabled by default, and the user will need to enable the chip manually. Bitlocker can be enabled using its graphical interface found inside the control panel or executing a few commands in the Command Prompt. Enabling Bitlocker on Windows 10 from either is very simple, but users generally prefer the visual aspect of managing Bitlocker via the Control Panel rather than the command prompt.

Setting up Bitlocker is pretty straight-forward. One only needs to follow the on-screen instructions, choose their preferred method to encrypt a volume, set a strong PIN, safely store the recovery key, and let the computer do its thing.

For a few users, the Bitlocker Drive Encryption will itself be listed as a Control Panel item, and they can directly click on it. Expand the drive you want to enable Bitlocker to click on the Turn on Bitlocker hyperlink.

You can also right-click on a drive in File Explorer and select Turn On Bitlocker from the context menu. If your TPM is already enabled, you will directly be brought to the BitLocker Startup Preferences selection window and can skip to the next step. Otherwise, you will be asked to prepare your computer first.

Go through the Bitlocker Drive Encryption startup by clicking on Next. Click on Shutdown when ready to continue. Turn on your computer and follow the instructions that appear on the screen to activate the TPM. Activating the module is as simple as pressing the requested key. The key will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so carefully read the confirmation message.