Solved Is there a reason why I would not turn on BitLocker on a removeable data drive?

stuart253 · Oct 4, 2024

Hello,

My machine is a Dell XPS 8960 running Windows 11 Pro.

After noticing that one of the data drives had BitLocker turned off, I turned it back on.

I also notice that my removable drives have it turned off.

Is there any reason why I should leave it off on my removable data drives?

Thanks in advance

Stu

Anibor_11 · Oct 4, 2024

I have used virtual disks (vhdx) encrypted with BitLocker in UFDs for years.

cereberus · Oct 4, 2024

stuart253 said:
Hello,

My machine is a Dell XPS 8960 running Windows 11 Pro.

After noticing that one of the data drives had BitLocker turned off, I turned it back on.

I also notice that my removable drives have it turned off.

View attachment 111167
Is there any reason why I should leave it off on my removable data drives?

Thanks in advance

Stu

There is no single reason to do it or not.

It is purely a judgement call.

If usb drives has important/critical documents e.g. legal documents, then using bitlocker makes sense.

If it is just inane selfies from down the pub, you would only need to bitlock it if the pictures were so embarrasing, you would "die" if they got spread on internet.

If you are obsessive about privacy - then bitlock it.

If data is not critical, the bitlocking is a PITA, needing password to access your data.

Personally, I do not bother but never store passwords type stuff on a usb drive.

In the end, it is down to you to assess and classify your data.

antspants · Oct 4, 2024

cereberus said:
If it is just inane selfies from down the pub, you would only need to bitlock it if the pictures were so embarrasing, you would "die" if they got spread on internet.

hsehestedt · Oct 4, 2024

I use BitLocker on literally every machine I own including most external drives and thumb drives.

The rule of thumb that I have is simple: If a drive contains any hint of data I would be upset to have stolen, it gets encrypted. If it nothing private like movies, music, etc. then I don't encrypt that drive.

stuart253 · Oct 4, 2024

Thanks to all who have responded.

Since nothing on my externals drives is critical and I am not too paranoid, just slightly....,I will not activate BitLocker on them.

Thanks again

TraderGary · Oct 4, 2024

Note that if you are a BitLocker user, as I am, that you can set BitLocker on portable drives to automatically unlock when they are attached to your computer. There is a checkbox to set when you enter your password to unlock the drive. After checking that box, BitLocker is then totally transparent, and the drive behaves like a normal drive as soon as you attach it.

My data is very important to me. I've used BitLocker since 2007.

hsehestedt · Oct 4, 2024

TraderGary said:
Note that if you are a BitLocker user, as I am, that you can set BitLocker on portable drives to automatically unlock when they are attached to your computer. There is a checkbox to set when you enter your password to unlock the drive. After checking that box, BitLocker is then totally transparent, and the drive behaves like a normal drive as soon as you attach it.

Good point, but just to clarify one aspect of this: You can only automatically unlock a data drive if the Windows OS drive is BitLocker encrypted.

Also, the autounlock needs to be enabled separately on each system that you want it to autounlock on.

Thorshammer342 · Oct 9, 2024

If you're using it for backups, you wouldn't want a drive that is locked because you dont have the recovery key anymore. Lock it in a safe. Nothing beats real security.

antspants · Oct 9, 2024

Thorshammer342 said:
If you're using it for backups, you wouldn't want a drive that is locked because you dont have the recovery key anymore.

Hey? Why?

TraderGary said:
Note that if you are a BitLocker user, as I am, that you can set BitLocker on portable drives to automatically unlock when they are attached to your computer. There is a checkbox to set when you enter your password to unlock the drive. After checking that box, BitLocker is then totally transparent, and the drive behaves like a normal drive as soon as you attach it.

TraderGary · Oct 9, 2024

Thorshammer342 said:
If you're using it for backups, you wouldn't want a drive that is locked because you dont have the recovery key anymore. Lock it in a safe. Nothing beats real security.

When you use BitLocker To Go encryption on a backup drive, you have many different ways to unlock the drive.
1. The BitLocker key stored in your Microsoft Account
2. The BitLocker key stored in your choice of locations.
3. The Password set in the drive when you encrypted it.
4. A hardware key you have purchased such as Yubikey.
5. You've chosen the option to auto-unlock when attached to the main BitLocker Drive.

Since I store my BitLocker keys in my Microsoft Account, I can use any one of options 1, 3, or 5. The convenience of option 5 has served me well for many years.

I keep all my data and photos in the OneDrive folder of my C: drive. I make daily Macrium Reflect images of my C: drive on two Samsung T9 4TB Portable SSD Drives, each rotating 7 images.

I'm very mobile and travel a lot with my laptop and Samsung SSD backups. Security is vitally important to me and that's why I use BitLocker.

Thorshammer342 · Oct 10, 2024

TraderGary said:
When you use BitLocker To Go encryption on a backup drive, you have many different ways to unlock the drive.
1. The BitLocker key stored in your Microsoft Account
2. The BitLocker key stored in your choice of locations.
3. The Password set in the drive when you encrypted it.
4. A hardware key you have purchased such as Yubikey.
5. You've chosen the option to auto-unlock when attached to the main BitLocker Drive.

Since I store my BitLocker keys in my Microsoft Account, I can use any one of options 1, 3, or 5. The convenience of option 5 has served me well for many years.

I keep all my data and photos in the OneDrive folder of my C: drive. I make daily Macrium Reflect images of my C: drive on two Samsung T9 4TB Portable SSD Drives, each rotating 7 images.

I'm very mobile and travel a lot with my laptop and Samsung SSD backups. Security is vitally important to me and that's why I use BitLocker.

Yes, I know there are ways to recover the encrypted drive. I just mean in an "If all else fails" scenario for some reason. Microsoft account can be deactivated for a number of reasons, and backup files could be stored on physical media which have failed. Or the backup files could be stored on a file system which has become corrupt. Print that key on a piece of paper.

And if youre backing up over 10GB of data, good luck finding cloud storage which you dont have to pay through the nose for.

hsehestedt · Oct 10, 2024

I wrote a small program for myself to encrypt my recovery key. The idea is that it uses a simple method using a key that I keep in my head. That way I can decrypt the key on the fly in my head. But I can put the encrypted key on a label and slap it on the machine out in the open with no fear that anyone can do anything with it.

Technically, you don't need a program to do that, it just makes it faster and removes the human error element.

The point is that you could do this manually as well. As an example, suppose I have a partial key like this:

57645-01842

A key I keep in my head is 0423. Note: In real life key can be any length you want.

Now add them like this, one digit at a time, repeating the key you have in your head as often as needed. If result is greater than ten, simply drop the tens column:

57645-01842
04330 42304
--------------
51975 43146

Now I put the "51975 43146" on a label and attach it to my machine. 100% safe even though it is out in the open.

To decrypt do a subtraction of the same key from your encrypted key.

Solved Is there a reason why I would not turn on BitLocker on a removeable data drive?

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