Understanding bitlocker conversion status

Got a new computer and was thinking backing up encryption key would be a good idea, but a little investigation, I guess the default is that the drive is not encrypted. But what does conversion status mean below? Control panel status shows "waiting for activation" with an option to turn on bitlocker. But that status is a little contradictory, isn't it?

Also, is it true that if it is turned on, that's when a key is generated? Does it present a key at that time to save? My PC runs only on a Local Account so it won't end up in my MS account. (unless it requires MS sign in... I wouldn't think so though).

Volume C: [OS]
[OS Volume]

Size: 364.60 GB
BitLocker Version: 2.0
Conversion Status: Used Space Only Encrypted
Percentage Encrypted: 100.0%
Encryption Method: XTS-AES 128
Protection Status: Protection Off
Lock Status: Unlocked
Identification Field: Unknown
Key Protectors:
Numerical Password

Volume W: [MYDATA]
[Data Volume]

Size: 439.45 GB
BitLocker Version: 2.0
Conversion Status: Used Space Only Encrypted
Percentage Encrypted: 100.0%
Encryption Method: XTS-AES 128
Protection Status: Protection Off
Lock Status: Unlocked
Identification Field: Unknown
Automatic Unlock: Disabled
Key Protectors: None Found

hershey4 said:

But what does conversion status mean below?

Click to expand...

It means all the space with the data is already encrypted. But since the Protection is "Off", Bitlocker stores the decryption key openly on the drive. You just need to turn the protection on (and back up the key).

echo2446 said:

It means all the space with the data is already encrypted. But since the Protection is "Off", Bitlocker stores the decryption key openly on the drive. You just need to turn the protection on (and back up the key).

Click to expand...

So if you get a nasty OS failure or malware or a disk failure that sabotage the OS so you losing system folders/files.. the data is then unreachable as its encrypted if the key was on that space that got destroyed.... In theory

So if you dont want bitlocker, it sounds as you need to first enable it and then disable it again so it decrypt the data.

The "BitLocker waiting for activation" status means your drive is partially encrypted by Windows, but no recovery key or key protector has been backed up. To fix it, either fully complete the encryption process or disable it completely to remove the warning.

If one uses Windows Home, automatic Device Encryption requires a Microsoft account to back up the recovery key.

ISince you have Windows Pro you can manually enable standard BitLocker and save the recovery key locally to a USB flash drive or a text file without linking a Microsoft account. If one does not use a Microsoft account, I strongly recommend keeping record of the key in multiple places because if it is lost, you're out of luck. Your only alternative would be a clean install.

Before you start messing with anything, be sure you have implemented a sound backup strategy. Data security must always come first.

"Used space only" denotes the method used to encrypt the drive. In other words, when the drive was encrypted, the option to encrypt only used space was used rather than encrypting every byte of the drive whether there was data there or not. When the drive is encrypted, you can choose to encrypt only the data in the drive (the used space in the drive) or to encrypt the whole drive. When would you use each option?

Say you have a brand-new drive that never had any data on it. In that case, it's a no-brainer. Encrypting the unused areas of the disk buys you nothing, so used space only encryption is the choice to make.

However, if you have a drive that previously had data on it that was not encrypted and you want to make absolutely sure that even the deleted data is not recoverable, then you would encrypt the entire drive to ensure that previously deleted data is now encrypted and not recoverable. If you had data on the drive previously that does not need to be safeguarded, then you can simply encrypt the used space only.

Naturally, encrypting used space only will be a lot faster than encrypting the whole drive.

Note that other than making sure that all previously present data was encrypted, there is zero advantage to encrypting the whole drive.