Can Someone that understands encryption explain it?


  1. GracieAllen
    Posts : 353
    Windows 10 Professional
       New #1

    Can Someone that understands encryption explain it?


    I have 2 systems, 1 Windows 10 Pro system, 1 Windows 10 Home system.
    I want to encrypt a flash drive one EITHER system and open it on EITHER system.

    On the Windows 10 Pro system I can open File Explorer, hit "Manage" and Bitlocker is there.
    On the Windows 10 Home system, there's no Bitlocker. BUT, if I encrypt the flash drive on the Pro system I CAN open it on the Home system...
    BUT, everything I've ready says if I want to encrypt a flash drive on the Windows 10 Home system I use something called "Device Encryption". And that I can get to it by opening the Quick Action, going to "Update & Security" and the bottom line of the list one the left will be "Device Encryption"... I've got nothing. Nothing on the Win 10 Home system, nothing on the Win 10 Pro system. I've looked at a half dozen sites and read more than I ever wanted to know about turning it on, and so far NOTHING has turned on "Device encryption" on the Win 10 Home system...

    It can't be this difficult, which usually means I'm missing something simple and obvious... Can SOMEBODY tell me how to simply take a flash drive, encrypt whatever's on it using either Home or Pro, and read it on either Home or Pro?
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  3. Brink
    Posts : 71,746
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       New #2

    Hello Gracie,

    Device Encryption would only be available if your system meets the requirements below.



    In your situation, you will need to encrypt the USB in Windows 10 Pro to be able to unlock in any edition of Windows.

    Turn On or Off BitLocker for Removable Data Drives in Windows 10
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  4. CannonRebel
    Posts : 289
    Windows 10 Pro 21H2
       New #3

    Bitlocker is only available with Windows 10 Pro, not Home. With that said, Home can read a Bitlocker drive with the proper password, but not encrypt it.
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  6. GracieAllen
    Posts : 353
    Windows 10 Professional
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    The laptop that's running Windows 10 Home is an Alienware 17R3 that just had Windows 10 reinstalled a couple weeks ago. I'll have to wait' 'til I can pry it from the domestic associate's hands to check, but

    I found that same information, but don't ALL Windows 10 systems have TPM and have it on in the UEFI/BIOS settings?
    As for "Modern Standby", NEITHER of my laptops bring up the display in 500ms OR ANYTHING near THAT. The new laptop is a Dell 7740 with Windows 10 Pro and it takes several seconds from wakeup to display, and it has Bitlocker that works fine.

    The OTHER laptop (Windows 10 Home) ALSO takes several seconds to open the display after waking... So are NEITHER of the laptops equipped with "Modern Standby"?

    How do I check the motherboard firmware for UEFI rather tha Legacy BIOS? Is there some obvious thing in the BIOS that SAYS "UEFI" or "Legacy"?

    Does the statement that I will need to encrypt the USB in Win 10 Pro to unlock in any edition mean I CAN'T use the device encryption that should be on the Win 10 Home laptop?

    I was under the impression that Device encryption has been around since Windows 8 or some such. There are many articles out there screaming that flash drives are constantly getting lost and should be encrypted if there's anything important on them. And, of course, making it sound trivial to do for the umpteen Windows Home users out there who must have their whole financial lives on their flash drives... Has MS really made it this convoluted?
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  7. CannonRebel
    Posts : 289
    Windows 10 Pro 21H2
       New #5

    You shouldn't need to worry about all that other stuff if you're only encrypting a flash drive. Simple insert the drive on your Pro machine, open Bitlocker, you will see the drive in Bitlocker asking if you want to turn on Bitlocker for that drive.
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  8. Brink
    Posts : 71,746
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       New #6

    Gracie,

    You can use the tutorial below to see if your PC supports Modern Standby or not.

    How to Check if Modern Standby is Supported in Windows 10

    If you turn on BitLocker for the USB on your Windows 10 Pro PC, you will be able to use and unlock it on any Windows PC. This will not affect being able to use Device Encryption on your Windows 10 Home PC's OS drive if it meets the requirements for Device Encryption.
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  9. sygnus21
    Posts : 5,899
    Win 11 Pro (x64) 22H2
       New #7

    GracieAllen said:
    I was under the impression that Device encryption has been around since Windows 8 or some such. There are many articles out there screaming that flash drives are constantly getting lost and should be encrypted if there's anything important on them. And, of course, making it sound trivial to do for the umpteen Windows Home users out there who must have their whole financial lives on their flash drives... Has MS really made it this convoluted?
    I can't say I'm 100 percent sure what laptops use but modern day laptops they will usually have a TPM chip embedded on the board and drive encryption enabled. Both my 2014 Asus laptop, and my 2017 Lenovo laptop have their drives encrypted out the box.

    For desktops, especially custom built where you purchase a motherboard if you want a form of TPM, you'd either buy a TPM chip and install it yourself (simple plug and play, been there done that). Or, depending on motherboard, you could use the board's version of TPM (keeping things simple) which is implemented in the boards firmware via a UEFI/BIOS setting called Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT). PTT specifically supports Microsoft's BitLocker.

    This article explains what it is and how to enable it. Anyway this is the method I now use to enable BitLocker on my systems since I dumped my TPM module after it was reported to have a security hole.

    And for the record, though Microsoft has set a standard and would like to see it enforced, they can't make system builders do it. And it doesn't necessarily apply to home builders who may not even be aware their board supports such a feature. And on Gigabyte boards, PTT is disabled by default. Can't speak for other board manufactures.
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  10. GracieAllen
    Posts : 353
    Windows 10 Professional
    Thread Starter
       New #8

    I've got three Windows systems, all running Windows 10 (1 desktop Pro, 1, 3-week-old laptop running Pro, and one a couple years old running Home). I did the powercfg check and NONE of them do "Modern Standby". I checked some more articles and it appears the number of systems that do is incredibly small...

    I can encrypt on the Pro systems, it just means every time the domestic associate wants to encrypt a drive she'll have to bring it in and do it on one of the Win 10 Pro systems...

    Not a big deal...

    Thanks for the help y'all!
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  12. Brink
    Posts : 71,746
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       New #9

    Glad we could help.
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