Am I screwed? Bitlocker

Hello. I ran Bitlocker on a boot partition, everything went fine, I recorded the recovery key. When restarting my PC the Windows bootloader went into recovery mode requesting the backup key. I entered it but received a message saying that I had used the wrong key. I've tried every method to decrypt that I am aware of (even command line) but each time I am told I am using the wrong key. In one instance it appeared to accept the key but then immediately went on the a BSOD stating that the drive was unbootable.

Thanks.

Try this using another computer.

I Don't have access to another PC right now, I've just tried following a tutorial using dislocker on Linux but it complains that the header can't be read.

I think I'm FUBAR.

At least everything important has been regularly backed up.

It may be time for a clean install. I never used bitlocker because I have heard issues like yours all over. Good Luck to you.

Could you be mistaking an o for a zero?
You can access that help on a smartphone you know.

I agree that if you have entered a correct key and BitLocker doesn't decrypt then that would indicate there is a disk problem.

I use laptops and since I'm mobile a good bit of the time, BitLocker is a very important part of my security. I also use BitLocker to protect my portable SSD drives that I always have with me. BitLocker uses AES 128-bit and optionally 256-bit encryption, neither of which has ever been cracked, so I have confidence in the security. BitLocker was introduced in 2004, so has passed the test of time. I've never had BitLocker fail.

Hi folks
why would you ever want to use any sort of encryption on a HOME (not corporate) domestic computer -- Cloud storage is really cheap and reliable (these days also at least from providers like Ms and Google - even without offic/365 at like € 1.75 a month for several GB) - with resiliency and almost military strength security, plus local offline storage is cheap enough too -- even 2TB of external NVME SSD can be had for around € 80 and "classic spinners and 2.5 inch older type ssd's for really cheap prices. Just store all really private stuff off he computer and with things like email IMAP etc keeps all email off the local drives anyway.

I think the only use for bitlocker is to stop HOME users on corporate machines copying files which might have sensitive stuff on them from writing to a USB and taking the data home -- otherwise can ANYBODY here please tell me what the point of it is on domestic computers.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

otherwise can ANYBODY here please tell me what the point of it is on domestic computers.

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Let's see, I'd think from everything being seen posted on the Internet that family dynamics could be involved such as divorce proceedings, legal issues within or involving a family, everything a user would want to prevent other users seeing.

Bitlocker would be useful if your computer was stolen! Each to his own but don't scoff if others don't share your opinion! ,,,

kelper said:

Bitlocker would be useful if your computer was stolen! Each to his own but don't scoff if others don't share your opinion! ,,,

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Hi folks

not trying to scoff but just curious -- it just seems to me that a lot of these sorts of products e.g 3rd party Anti Virus software (non corporate) etc were designed for perfectly valid arguments a few years back -- but even 3 or 4 years in computing technology is equivalent to a geological era in both hardware and software now. WD has improved beyond all recognition, cloud storage is cheap, secure and decent external storage devices can be had for almost next to nothing these days, plus the fact that with vhdx files windows backup is a doddle and you can have really small compact windows installations.

If my computer was stolen there's not much if anything on it any user would want -- the thing would probably end up in the bin or just tossed out into the street -- it's of zero value to anyone -- there's no data on it that's worth even the most desperate hacker's time to bother with !!.

It's 2023 now not 2016 !!!!!


Cheers
jimbo

I'm glad I never use BitLocker or secure boot, much less that can go wrong.

BrianInEngland said:

I'm glad I never use BitLocker or secure boot, much less that can go wrong.

Click to expand...

The downside of Windows is that it is made for the masses, has a lot of things available but no control over what those masses choose what and how to use. Could also be part of the reason there's a hundred or more versions of the mostly-free Linux, gives more choices.
www.distrowatch.org

Berton said:

The downside of Windows is that it is made for the masses, has a lot of things available but no control over what those masses choose what and how to use. Could also be part of the reason there's a hundred or more versions of the mostly-free Linux, gives more choices.
www.distrowatch.org

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Zero interest in Linux!

I always keep a bootable Ubuntu thumb drive handy. If I suspect a hardware failure, booting into Linux always shows me the hardware is fine, it's a Windows problem. This has saved me time with touchpad, audio, wifi and other issues.

kelper said:

I always keep a bootable Ubuntu thumb drive handy. If I suspect a hardware failure, booting into Linux always shows me the hardware is fine, it's a Windows problem. This has saved me time with touchpad, audio, wifi and other issues.

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I have a Dell Latitude E6410 Notebook with Linux Mint for portability just for use in demonstrating to clients who show an interest. I also have a rehabbed Intel i7 Desktop with Linux Mint and GPARTED installed along with a connected USB Drive dock for use in manipulating partitions or cleaning of drives that Windows can't handle, one of those is restoring FAT32 on drives, all types, larger than the Windows limit of 32GB, also for cleaning/restoring USB Thumb/Flash drives. The program can handle many more formats of drives including Macintosh.

BadAnalysis said:

Hello. I ran Bitlocker on a boot partition, everything went fine, I recorded the recovery key. When restarting my PC the Windows bootloader went into recovery mode requesting the backup key. I entered it but received a message saying that I had used the wrong key. I've tried every method to decrypt that I am aware of (even command line) but each time I am told I am using the wrong key. In one instance it appeared to accept the key but then immediately went on the a BSOD stating that the drive was unbootable.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

When you did the bitlocker encryption, didn't it ask you to save your recovery key somewhere? You said you recorded the recovery key, was that something that you wrote down?

If you can get your file copy of the key opened somewhere, i'd look for things like the letter o and the number 0. Or the letter l and the number 1. Usually when I am unsure, I take it notepad, blow up the font really big, and then paste it in, and type it again directly underneath to ensure that you have the write characters.

jimbo45 said:

Hi folks
why would you ever want to use any sort of encryption on a HOME (not corporate) domestic computer -- Cloud storage is really cheap and reliable (these days also at least from providers like Ms and Google - even without offic/365 at like € 1.75 a month for several GB) - with resiliency and almost military strength security, plus local offline storage is cheap enough too -- even 2TB of external NVME SSD can be had for around € 80 and "classic spinners and 2.5 inch older type ssd's for really cheap prices. Just store all really private stuff off he computer and with things like email IMAP etc keeps all email off the local drives anyway.

I think the only use for bitlocker is to stop HOME users on corporate machines copying files which might have sensitive stuff on them from writing to a USB and taking the data home -- otherwise can ANYBODY here please tell me what the point of it is on domestic computers.

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Bitlocker doesn't stop a corporate employee from copying a file from a bitlocker drive to a USB key when the drive is booted up and unlocked. Once you are logged in and the drive is unlocked, the file itself is not in an encrypted state. You can copy it to any drive, any storage device, any cloud provider and it's 100% unencrypted. In fact, if a person steals your computer, and is able to guess your password, the data is all unencrypted and available. What Bitlocker does provide is that if your computer or drive is stolen, you cannot easily put it into another computer and simply pull the data off it, you would need to know the decryption key to unlock the computer.

I personally don't use Bitlocker at home. I've considered it, but always felt the potential cons outweighed the benefits. However, I can completely understand why somebody else might have more concerns about their data and want their drives encrypted. Especially if it's a laptop that they tote around with them that they could accidentally leave behind that gets stolen.

Berton said:

The downside of Windows is that it is made for the masses, has a lot of things available but no control over what those masses choose what and how to use. Could also be part of the reason there's a hundred or more versions of the mostly-free Linux, gives more choices.
www.distrowatch.org

Click to expand...

The reason for the tons of Linux distros is that it's completely customizable, and you can easily put together your own distro to meet your own individual needs. Nobody in the free software world wants to be locked down to a specific way to do things. And people also cannot universally agree on what is the best way to do things. Hence, the zillions of options we have.

Unfortunately, it does make the Linux ecosystem way more daunting for the average joe to jump into. I've worked professionally with Linux since around 1998, and have various certs and such in Linux. I find it fantastic (at work), but for my home use, generally speaking....I'm completely fine with Windows and Mac OS. It's not that I couldn't use Linux at home, it's just that I have chosen to not do so.

jimbo45 said:

otherwise can ANYBODY here please tell me what the point of it is on domestic computers.

Click to expand...

The Post immediately above yours already told you.

BadAnalysis said:

Hello. I ran Bitlocker on a boot partition, everything went fine, I recorded the recovery key. When restarting my PC the Windows bootloader went into recovery mode requesting the backup key. I entered it but received a message saying that I had used the wrong key. I've tried every method to decrypt that I am aware of (even command line) but each time I am told I am using the wrong key. In one instance it appeared to accept the key but then immediately went on the a BSOD stating that the drive was unbootable.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Last year I had a similar problem but on the complete drive, not a partition. Sry I can't remember how I solved but I did it thru the BIOS. Can you get into the BIOS ?

Edit: Forgot to add, lot of info on the 'net. Let Google be your friend.

Josey Wales said:

It may be time for a clean install. I never used bitlocker because I have heard issues like yours all over. Good Luck to you.

Click to expand...

I never use it either.

jimbo45 said:

why would you ever want to use any sort of encryption on a HOME (not corporate) domestic computer --

Click to expand...

I use it for security. If somebody runs off with my PC they can't get into anything private. As for cloud storage, it is certainly worth it to use for either backups or multi-location use, but I'm referring to protecting a whole drive rather than wanting portable data.