PC bricked after using AVG Clear (Bitlocker Recovery screen)

Porthos · Mar 3, 2023

Where to look for your BitLocker recovery key - Microsoft Support

Get tips for finding your BitLocker recovery key.

support.microsoft.com

Dru2 · Mar 4, 2023

pparks1 said:
you cannot just run this down to Best Buy and have them bypass bitlocker and have access. If they could, bitlocker is useless.

Some people seem to (falsely) believe it is that easy.

BitLocker is designed make it impossible to access a drive without a key. It is NOT designed for ease of access cause someone lost their key. And the only "professional" help" you're likely to get is how to reformat the drive (erasing all the data) so that it can be used again.

As I said, been there, done that. If you lose your key, you will end up reformatting to drive. This is by design as it ensure your data doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Yes, nothing is impossible, but this one is highly improbable. And if you did find someone with the skills, can you afford their services?

And yes, as pointed out by both @Hazel123 and @Porthos, you should be able to find your key in your Microsoft Account.... provided you told BitLocker to save it there. Or.... that you are even using a Microsoft Account when you logged into the PC.

Porthos · Mar 4, 2023

Dru2 said:
that you are even using a Microsoft Account when you logged into the PC.

Too many either have someone else set up the computer for them with someone else's info or used fake into long enough to create a new admin local account and delete the MS account.
People's aversion to an MS account has consequences at times.

Dru2 · Mar 4, 2023

Porthos said:
Too many either have someone else set up the computer for them with someone else's info or used fake into long enough to create a new admin local account and delete the MS account.

I'm not even going to venture to guess what may have happened. I'm just saying don't lose your BitLocker key.

Porthos said:
People's aversion to an MS account has consequences at times.

The other problem is listening to the so-called "PC experts" / conspiracy theorists who opine "Microsoft just wants to spy on you" noise.

Spartan · Mar 4, 2023

Dru2 said:
If you've lost your BitLocker key, you are done. Not even Microsoft can help here. Been there, done that!!!

As for seeking "professional assistance".... They'd have a better chance of hitting the lottery 3 times in a row than hacking BitLocker.

This, the first thing I do when I install Windows is to ensure Bitlocker is off and if it did start encrypting a disk automatically, I would immediately run the decrypt command:

manage-bde c: -off

Dru2 · Mar 4, 2023

Spartan said:
This, the first thing I do when I install Windows is to ensure Bitlocker is off and if it did start encrypting a disk automatically, I would immediately run the decrypt command:

manage-bde c: -off

I build my own desktop PCs so whether to BitLocker or not is completely up to me. Currently not using it on my desktop, but most definitely using it on my laptop.