What's the auction house's policy on refunds .... ? (Said with tongue in cheek, but this might fall in the category of faulty goods. Might be worth following up. Let's hope it's not one that's fallen off the back of a truck, and the auction house may be able to trace the owner to remove this security ....)
As a last resort, in the bios, try to clear the TPM (which can control bitlocker keys). At best, it might allow you to progress further in booting from USB ( as you do not have access to the bitlocker key, the data on the hard disk would be irrecoverable anyway ), and at worst, you might still need to go chase the auction house !
pn: Personally not 100% sure whether clearing BIOS would also clear TPM in all cases, but as a sort of last resort its worth a try.
I'm a bit confused. Since the data left on PC is not yours, and thus you have no need of it, why not simply reset the PC or wipe the drive and be done with it.
The bottom line is you're not getting around the security feature without the BitLocker key, thus the drive will have to be wiped. Period. Since the data isn't yours anyway that shouldn't be an issue, unless....
@das10, you can not bypass a BitLocker drive via BIOS tinkering or trying to "clear the TPM". That would probably just result in making it that much more difficult to access the drive (not that it matters in this case).
Good luck.
I'm not sure that I am interpreting this directly, but see:
How to Boot From a USB Drive - ThinkPad - US
If I take this literally, you may be able to get the F12 boot menu to appear if you use it while restarting the laptop, rather than from a cold boot. Can you restart from the screen where you are asked for a bitlocker key?
I wonder whether it has anything to do with fast boot? If you can turn that off in the BIOS, I'd suggest that.
I hope that the laptop isn't a "bargain" because its original owner didn't part with it willingly.
If the drive is BitLocked there's NO access to the drive. That means you can't enter the drive to do anything. The drive is locked. The only way to access the drive is provide a BitLocker key, BitLocker password, or.... wipe the drive and all it's contents. The image in post #10 says it all.
Unfortunately I've been down that path - Drive Encryption dangers: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
I don't care about the data. Just need a clean wipe but it won't let me boot from USB or le me go to Windows Repair Mode( which gets stuck with Bit Locker)
Had a thought and already set Boot from Quick to Diagnostic while ago
I think you must have missed my original post, I put everything clearly to avoid all these sub questions. I know the driver is locked and I don't want any data recovered. Just need to do a clean wipe with a new installation.
2 ways to do it.
1) Boot from Win 10 Bootable drive (Which not picking up when selected from Boot Menu or put it as a 1st boot priority)
2) Go to Win Recovery --> Troubleshoot --> either repair from usb or go CMD and do a clean disk and Install Win 10. (Win Recovery which I cannot get due to lock with Bit Locker )
Can you guys suggest anything else?
I see you're not reading the thread as that post was directed at bobkn's reply.
Anyway you should be able to reset the PC by downloading and following the owner's manual. Also NavyLCDR posted a suggestion in post #2. The other option is to remove the drive, slave it into another system and format it.
Good luck.
Huh? My post didn't say anything about accessing the encrypted drive. Just go to the screen where the key is requested, and then restart. I'm not certain that it is possible to restart from that screen, rather than forcing a shutdown, but I thought it was worth suggesting.
I probably should have quoted rather than just posting the link. I'll do that now.
- Attach the USB device to the system via any available USB port.
- Press and hold the Power Button for few seconds to turn off the system completely.
Note: For Windows 8/8.1/10, restart the system before using the following steps.- Power on the system. Press F12 immediately as the Thinkpad logo appears.
- There should be a pop-up menu with a list of choices. Select the USB drive using the arrow key and press Enter.
The Note was the main point. I've never had to do anything like that to boot from a USB drive, but I presume that it's there for a reason. I'm not sure how to interpret it, but my guess is that F12 might work if the laptop is restarted, rather than cold booted. Won't take much effort to try it.
You guys are taking things personal. I was simply replying to what was written. Not passing judgement.
I'm just trying to help the best way I can while providing a bit of background. Sorry if I offended anyone.
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