Unlocking Bitlocker

sygnus21 · 15 Apr 2021

Acronis True Image also works well with BitLocker.

RolandJS · 15 Apr 2021

Do ATI and MR store the BitLocker encryption key within the DVD and/or USB boots? Folks making backups or doing restores do not need to enter the BitLocker key every time?

sygnus21 · 15 Apr 2021

RolandJS said:

Do ATI and MR store the BitLocker encryption key within the DVD and/or USB boots? Folks making backups or doing restores do not need to enter the BitLocker key every time?

The encryption key is stored separately and not on the disk being encrypted. You choose where to store the key, but again, it can't be stored on the disk being encrypted.

This is for your protection cause should you lose the key, you can't access the disk. If you have the key on the disk you can't access that's a problem

And you would need the key to restore the disk image.

RolandJS · 15 Apr 2021

sygnus21, I knew such keys cannot be on the disk to be restored, I meant: are BitLocker keys stored within ATI and MR's DVD boots and/or USB flash drive boots?

sygnus21 · 15 Apr 2021

RolandJS said:

sygnus21, I knew such keys cannot be on the disk to be restored, I meant: are BitLocker keys stored within ATI and MR's DVD boots and/or USB flash drive boots?

I'm not a BitLocker expert, but something has to be embedded in order for the key to be recognized otherwise you'd not be able to restore the image. What that something is I don't know. I just know in order to restore the image you'll need a key. Been there, done that.

Short story... I lost a key to one of my encrypted drives and figured I'd just use the image I created. Since the image was created with BitLocker enabled it required the BL key to restore the image. Since I didn't have the key all was lost and I had to reformat the drive, thus losing all the data on it. Bottom line... don't lose the key!!!

RolandJS · 15 Apr 2021

Thanks for sharing! I was testing a 3rd party BitLocker program and it failed to even begin to restore, regardless of the two key methods I saved. I think the failure was that the program was for UEFI/GPT only, and not for BIOS/MBR. BitLocker for Windows 10/8/7 Home & Windows 7 Pro & Windows 8 Core! It says so if I would just learn to read carefully upfront, My Bad.

sygnus21 · 15 Apr 2021

I've never heard of "Hasleo BitLocker". Didn't even know another "BitLocker" existed. I'm only aware of the Microsoft Windows version. And that's were my answers stem from - Windows BitLocker

Also - Turn On or Off BitLocker for Fixed Data Drives in Windows 10

hsehestedt · 15 Apr 2021

I can provide you some more detail on how the backups work...

First, think about what happens when you as a user access an encrypted file. When you access files on the disk, you have already unlocked the volume by then. So when you access a file, BitLocker simply decrypts it on the fly without you ever having to take any kind of action to decrypt it. In other words, the process is completely transparent to you.

The same things happens when a backup program is run. As the backup program is getting data from the disk to backup, BitLocker is decrypting that data and what the backup program is then saving is decrypted data. As a result, it's still a good idea to use the encryption capabilities of your backup software to encrypt the actual backup. If you don't, then that backup will be unprotected.

The reason that I noted earlier that MR goes beyond the usual is because they have the ability to store your BitLocker recovery key in their recovery media. This provides advantages in that they can restore a partition and have it already encrypted with your already existing recovery key. Programs like Acronis cannot do this. When you restore a partition from them, the data will not be encrypted; will need to encrypt it again after recovery and this will result in a new recovery key being generated (note that this only applies to restoring a complete partition image, not to restoring individual files / folders).

Again, I encourage you to read the MR docs if you are interested in more detail.

Just be aware that if you choose to allow MR to store that info on the recovery media, you better store it in a safe place because gaining access to their recovery media would also give the possessor access to the BitLocker recovery key(s).

Let me know if you have more questions.

CannonRebel · 15 Apr 2021

I backup with idrive and EaseUS ToDo, both work fine with Bitlocker. I have backed up and restored my test computer many times, and have yet to run into problems. Although, the backups are restored in a nonencrypted manner, so you will have to encrypt the restored drive, no big deal. Bitlocker is an excellent and easy to use encryption software.