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#1
Can I shut down my PC while BitLocker is encrypting?
What would happen if my computer shuts down while BitLocker is encrypting my data partition drive?
It takes ages!
I am running Windows 10 Pro
Thank you very much in advance
Can I shut down my PC while BitLocker is encrypting?
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New #2
Most any activity that is reading and writing data to the HDD can cause problems if not shut down before shutting the computer down. Most folks with similar activity to what you are doing will start it at a time they'll be away from the computer and just let it run. Shutting the computer down stops HDD activity and by extension any program using it. Suddenly stopping the computer in the middle of a process can cause data corruption and therefore loss.
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New #3
What @Berton said is not correct.
If you want to shut down your PC go ahead. The encryption process will continue next boot.
sourceWhat happens if the computer is turned off during encryption or decryption?
If the computer is turned off or goes into hibernation, the BitLocker encryption and decryption process will resume where it stopped the next time Windows starts. This is true even if the power is suddenly unavailable.
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New #6
Hi,
No, I did not truth be told. Good to see it's pretty foolproof then.Did you read the quote from MS above? "..even if the power is suddenly unavailable.."
Cheers,
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New #7
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New #8
Done
Thank you very much for your answers.
I decided to wait until Bitlocker finished.
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New #9
Hi guys. Old thread, I know, but, I have a system here, that the BItlocker was somehow turned on, unbeknownst to the owner. It was encrypted and waiting for a login to an MS account to generate the key.
I found it in this state, verified the owner did not want Bitlocker on, and I turned the encryption off.
It was starting to decrypt the drive when the power went out. This is a desktop, without a BackUPS. The system went down. It is back up, and the OS appears to be working. I am in process of running DISM commands (check health, scan health, etc.) and sfc /scannow. The only errors I have found are the "known" hash mismatches for Defender.
All the data and the OS are on this one single 1TB spinner drive.
Question: The "decrypt" is hung - not responding; sitting at the same point as when the power went out out. How do I reset it or get it to start again?
Thanks for your help!
EDIT: After an hour or so of just thrashing the drive, it appears to be working again, and decrypting the drive. Let's hope this works! I've no idea where a key would be found if it doesn't!
EDIT #2: It worked, so I can verify that even a power outage will not affect the Bitlocker function.Last edited by simrick; 08 Nov 2019 at 18:33.
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New #10
My pc is decrypting but it has gotten stuck in one spot.
I am hoping someone can respond to this post. My Dell inspiron had bit locker turned on but we never turned it on. I didn't even know what bit locker was until it asked me for the key one day this past January. After useless conversations with Dell who said they couldn't help, I gave up and my computer has sat for a year locked. Yesterday, I decided to see if anyone else had this issue and gratefully found a solution. My computer after 12 months came back to life and no data had been lost.
Unfortunately, I decided to decrypt it this morning to prevent this from happening again and now the decrypt is frozen in one spot for the past 3 hours. It looks like it is stuck. What do I do? My computer is too slow because I have a power source problem. The battery does not charge. The adapter cord has to remain plugged to keep the computer from dying and this may be slowing down the computer. Now I don't know what to do. If I unplug it, it will stop everything in mid motion and I am afraid I won't get my laptop working again. Is there a way to see if this is actually doing anything or if it is stuck? It looks like SIMRICK had the same issue. How did you get it working?
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