Bitlocker query

Hopefully somebody can advise about a query for which I haven't been able to find an answer.

I currently use Bitdefender Filevault to store private information. This has a lot of benefits. In particular I can open any vault on any computer on which Bitdefender Total Security is installed. I have it installed on three machines. Unfortunately I've recently discovered by accident that Bitdefender is phasing out Filevaults. They didn't actually notify their users. As far as I can tell the service will just stop. It is not included for new customers as I found out recently after a friend installed Bitdefender after me saying how pleased I was with it.. They have however provided a mechanism for exporting the contents of a vault to a location you specify on your computer.

As Bitlocker comes installed with Win 10 Pro 64 I'm researching how I might use it. I know I can encrypt a partition and I know how to create a new partition on my Operating system drive. However it is the information I don't know that is concerning me.

I have no doubt that Bitlocker and other options can provide good security but the considerations are much wider than that.

For instance I've just discovered that for Bitlocker to work your motherboard needs to have a TPM device installed. In my case it is a separately purchased plug in module which I can obtain.

So my first question is should the motherboard fail and need replacing or the the TPM module be stolen for instance, will I lose the ability to retrieve the data from a backup?

I've also looked at Folderlock 7 and Stegianos 22 and they are equally vague about any such situations. Like a lot of advertising, they are pretty good at the hype but short on the details required to make a proper long term decision.

Does anybody know how Veracrypt compares when it comes to some form of disaster recovery?

Thanks in anticipation.

Mexicanpete, You do not need to have a TPM in order to use BitLocker. A TPM makes things a lot easier for you, however.

As an alternative, a BitLocker encrypted drive can be unlocked using other mechanisms that include a password, a physical thumb drive with appropriate info on it, or a key card.

If you use a TPM and it dies you can still gain access to your data via a recovery key that is created when you encrypt the drive and which Windows will prompt you to save. You can type in that key or it can be saved to a thumb drive and read by Windows.

I'm not very familiar with the other products you reference so I cannot comment on those.

Here is a good tutorial to get you started:

Turn On or Off BitLocker for Operating System Drive in Windows 10

If you have more questions, do ask. I use BitLocker on all my systems (some without TPM) so I should be able to answer your questions since I've used it pretty extensively.

I don´t know what a Bitdefender Filevault is, but assuming it is some kind of encrypted container, you can use VeraCrypt containers ["volumes"], no need to encrypt whole partitions. I have used them for years, I have done thousands of operations, no problems at all. I keep backups, just in case.

The big selling points for me with BitLocker:

1) The whole disk encryption. I can't live without that

2) You can take an encrypted disk to any machine that runs Windows and have access to that disk with no third party software needed.

Thanks to everybody. Amazing generosity I need a bit of time to study the Bitlocker tutorials.

Canonrebel I've located where to buy a discounted version of Steganos Safe 21 for 5 pcs. They don't specify the duration of the licence. Is it annual? and if so is the renewal at the full price which presumably suffers an annual increase?

Thanks

Peter

I have just purchased Steganos 21 at what I thought was a good price basically as a safety measure that would at least buy me a year to sort out the best solution for me (which could well be this program once I've explored it).

On my receipt it clearly states that there are no time limits. Like you I didn't find any other reference to time for version 21 but did note the 1 year time limit for version 22.

If any other forum member knows definitively the licence period for Stegano 21, the post would be very much appreciated. Suddenly loosing access to your encrypted folder would be VERY inconvenient.

I don't know about previous versions of Steganos, but even on version 22 with the expiring license, you don't loose access to your data:

What happens when my license expires? – Steganos Help Center