BitLocker questions

I'm thinking of using BitLocker, but I need to know a few things first.

1. I use two partitions, one for the OS (and installed programs) and another for Documents.

2. I know that I'll have to format the OS drive and re-install Windows at some point in the future (leaving the D:\ drive encrypted). Will I still be able to mount the second partition (D:\) after re-installing Windows into C:\?

3. I do NOT intent to use a USB stick and I DO NOT have a TMP module. The only thing protecting my data will be my passphrase.

I have this concern because a friend of mine said he "lost ownership of the D drive" (encrypted) after formatting the C drive (which was also encrypted).

So if I format C:\ I lose ownership of D:\ and cannot access it anymore? That's odd, because the MBR will be intact, and headers of the D partition as well. The hardware will also not change, so I don't see why I'd lose ownership of D:\ just by formatting C:\.

bro67 said:

As I stated before, because Encryption programs set a bit for the key on the drive that the files are encrypted, you will lose access to them.

Which is OK because I don't mind losing the data at C:\ (the partition the will be formatted). I will not touch the D partition, I won't format it, it will be intact because I'll format only the C: partition.

If formatting the C partition means I can't access the data at the D partiton (even though the D partition will be intact) then this is a serious design flaw on BitLocker.

bro67 said:

Before formatting any drive, you have to unencrypt the files. This is a subject that has been around since encryption started to be used back in the CP/M and early DOS days.

There seems to be a confusion here. I'm going to be working with two partitions on the same HD, and I will only format the first partition (the "C drive"). I'm not going to do FDE, I will encrypt the partitions separately. I don't mind losing data on C (the first partition) because backups of importante files will be stored in D (the second partition, which will be encrypted and will NOT be toutched by the formatting process). I've been doing this for 10 years on Linux and previous versions of Windows with TrueCrypt/VeraCrytpt and it always works, the partitions are encrypted independently of each other.
Now, obviously, if I ever format the D partition (which is not the case), I expect to lose the data on it.

If formatting the C partition means I can't access the data at the D partiton (even though the D partition will be intact) then this is a serious design flaw on BitLocker.

Each drive has a Bitlocker Recovery key that you can print, or save to another disk. You must use this key if the structure of your disk changes, or as you mention, you reformat the primary disk. When you mount the drive in the new OS, it will be "locked" and you can use the recovery key to unlock it.

Mystere said:

Each drive has a Bitlocker Recovery key that you can print, or save to another disk. You must use this key if the structure of your disk changes, or as you mention, you reformat the primary disk. When you mount the drive in the new OS, it will be "locked" and you can use the recovery key to unlock it.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for :)