Unlocking Bitlocker

Hi all I found this article on here , is this still the most update and easiest method to unlock bitlocker?

I only want to partition a drive so that that data and apps are separate.

If I do partition should I locked both drives after or is bitlocker only for the system drive?

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

TIA Bart

Bart, yes, that tutorial is absolutely still valid.

BitLocker can be used on non-OS drive, not only the OS drive. You would select each partition separately and choose the option to BitLocker each one. Note that you can even encrypt external HDDs, flash drives, etc.

Once you have encrypted the OS partition, if you encrypt any other partitions, you can choose an option to auto-unlock that partition on this system. That way the encryption on those other partitions will be completely transparent to you.

If you have any other questions regarding this, just let me know and I'll be happy to help.

hsehestedt said:

Bart, yes, that tutorial is absolutely still valid.

BitLocker can be used on non-OS drive, not only the OS drive. You would select each partition separately and choose the option to BitLocker each one. Note that you can even encrypt external HDDs, flash drives, etc.

Once you have encrypted the OS partition, if you encrypt any other partitions, you can choose an option to auto-unlock that partition on this system. That way the encryption on those other partitions will be completely transparent to you.

If you have any other questions regarding this, just let me know and I'll be happy to help.

Thanks appreciate it, I've seen bitlocker before but never needed to use it.
In your opinion is it a good exercise to use it?
my friend whose machine I saw it on mainly uses it to remote onto his work pc and work remotely. He doesn't plan to keep much data on it

Personally, I'm a big fan of BitLocker. I use it anywhere where I store private information that I wouldn't want someone else to get a hold of. For example, on my OS drive I have all my e-mail, license keys for my software products, receipts for things I've purchased, medical records, etc. So I protect all that with BitLocker.

I'm not quite certain what you mean by your fried using it to remote onto his work PC. BitLocker is a drive encryption program, it doesn't really have anything to do with remote access. Or, did you mean that he is encryption BECAUSE the machine is available for remote access, to give him that extra security?

EDIT: Just want to add this - If you do use BitLocker, just make absolutely sure you keep a copy of your recovery key(s) in a safe place just in case you ever need them. When you turn on BitLocker it will guide you through saving the recovery key.

hsehestedt said:

Personally, I'm a big fan of BitLocker. I use it anywhere where I store private information that I wouldn't want someone else to get a hold of. For example, on my OS drive I have all my e-mail, license keys for my software products, receipts for things I've purchased, medical records, etc. So I protect all that with BitLocker.

I'm not quite certain what you mean by your fried using it to remote onto his work PC. BitLocker is a drive encryption program, it doesn't really have anything to do with remote access. Or, did you mean that he is encryption BECAUSE the machine is available for remote access, to give him that extra security?

EDIT: Just want to add this - If you do use BitLocker, just make absolutely sure you keep a copy of your recovery key(s) in a safe place just in case you ever need them. When you turn on BitLocker it will guide you through saving the recovery key.

sorry I meant that my friend does not intend to keep any personal data on the machine
he uses this pc to remote desktop onto his work pc in the office
hence is there any benefit and point in encrypting it?
I did want to remove bitlocker in order to partition the drive

Ah, yes, I understand now.

The whole idea of BitLocker is to protect the information on the drive so that someone could not, as an example, remove the drive and connect it to another computer to access data on that drive. If there is nothing that absolutely needs to be secured on that drive / partition, then there is no need for BitLocker.

Does that help?

Thank you that makes perfect sense now

Thanks I'm using macrium which I assume is fine with it?

Macrium Reflect loves BitLocker . In fact, it has special features related to BitLocker that goes beyond merely being able to properly backup BitLocker encrypted partitions. Just search for BitLocker in their knowledge base / user guide. Very impressive.