Bitlocker

Winuser · 13 Mar 2020

My niece has a Dell laptop running Windows 10 Home. A few weeks ago when she tried to use it she got a screen asking for her for a Bitlocker Recovery Key. My questions are Does Dell include a version of Bitlocker on a home version of Windows 10 or is it possible she downloaded something that locked her out of her laptop? I tried to access her files using Kyhi rescue media and it still asked for a Recovery Key. I'm using a Macrium Image made the day I first setup the laptop so at least she didn't loose everything. I'm really curious about how Bitlocker not only got installed but got turned on.

Brink · 13 Mar 2020

Hello mate,

This would most likely be the Device Encryption feature below since this is a Home edition of Windows 10, and supports modern standby.. It's basically still uses BitLocker though.

It will be turned on by default.

How to Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 10

Winuser · 13 Mar 2020

Brink said:

Hello mate,

This would most likely be the Device Encryption feature below since this is a Home edition of Windows 10, and supports modern standby.. It's basically still uses BitLocker though.

It will be turned on by default.

How to Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 10

I just checked and the laptop doesn't show that option. The laptop is downloading a lot of updates so I'll see if I can find it after all the updates get installed. The image put the laptop back to 1803 Build 17134.829.

jumanji · 15 Mar 2020

Hi @Winuser

Device encryption feature is present in all editions of Windows 10 (version 1511 and later), including the Home edition. However the hardware ( your PC) should meet the following requirements. 1.Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2 with support for Modern Standby. 2. TPM must be enabled. 3.Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware style. Also you must be using a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows 10 in order to turn on and use the Device encryption.

How to check whether your PC meets the prerequisites for Device encryption:

With these inputs try to analyse what could have happened in this case.

Whatever, the Recovery key would be available in the User's Microsoft Account - the one who set it up using his/her Microsoft account for Windows login that enabled automatic device encryption.. If for some reason the encrypted drive becomes inaccessible, you have to use the recovery key to gain access to your drive.

( My Dell Inspiron meets the prerequisites. When I first set it up using Microsoft id as login the whole system drive got encrypted. I downloaded the Recovery Key saved in the PC. The key was also available in my Microsoft Account which can be downloaded from any PC when you login into that Microsoft account. Once Device encryption is set, it can be turned off and on as you like. Each time the Device encryption is turned on, you may have to save the new Recovery Key or obtain it from your Microsoft Account. The Microsoft account even keeps the old keys. Most imaging programs will not backup an encrypted drive. You may have to turn off Device encryption if you want to back up your system drive.)