I happened to be looking around my Lenovo laptop which a little less than a month ago I finally updated to Windows 11. I decided to check to see if BitLocker had been enabled. It was not before the update. I found that encryption had been turned on, but it was waiting for activation. Can I just turn it off?
JohnD
The info provided sounds like the copy of Windows you are using has not been activated or the activation Key is invalid. Click on settings, system, scroll down to About, scroll down to "Product key and activation" to get more information about your system. The reason for your error is that un-licensed copies of Windows do not have bitlocker activated until after Windows activation.
To manage bitlocker, just open the window file manager, then click on a drive letter, probably drive letter C: Then give it a rleft-click, followed with a right-click, and then read the menu items. Click manage bitlocker, and from there, if enabled, you can see (in small letters, Turn Bitlocker Off) If not enabled, you will see enable bitlocker.
John, I strongly recommend that you keep it on. You won't know it's there. Why? If I stole your laptop, maybe I couldn't log into windows without your password, but I can remove the storage drive and read it in another PC--- but not when the storage drive is encrypted with bitlocker. So, I would rather know my personal information is safe than not. By the way, you can also encrypt external storage devices, so if stolen the drive cannot be read.
www.elevenforum.com
