Windows 11 encrypted my drive automatically

Fabler2 said:

Bitlocker is in the old control panel. Apparently Device encryption is here in a modern standby machine,


From How to Turn On or Off Device Encryption on Windows 11 - Website for Students ..
and

Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off device encryption on a Windows 11 PC. Device encryption is a Windows feature that enables BitLocker encryption automatically for the Operating System drive and fixed drives. It’s particularly beneficial for everyday users who want to ensure...

www.elevenforum.com

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Yeah, I know where its at and how to use it, I just didn't know about Privacy and Security. I see its there if you're using Modern Standby.

I heard of Modern Standby through this thread, but never got it working on my board. That said, your post peaked my interested in giving it another go. Would like to get it working to see how it all runs under Windows 11.

Learned something. Thanks for sharing

Dru2 said:

Yeah, I know where its at and how to use it, I just didn't know about Privacy and Security. I see its there if you're using Modern Standby.

I heard of Modern Standby through this thread, but never got it working on my board. That said, your post peaked my interested in giving it another go. Would like to get it working to see how it all runs under Windows 11.

Learned something. Thanks for sharing

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If it's anything like the modern standby on my iPhone 7 (only use it for 2 factor authentication and a few calls) then I don't want it near my laptop. After turning off all of the 'features' including iCloud on it the battery lasts 5 days on standby instead of one.

I would imagine that not really shutting down and always in a state of sleep would shorten the overall battery life.

Having slept on it for a second night I think I understand what happened in my case.

1, I upgraded my machine from W10 to W11 and with hindsight the disk icons looked odd, encryption icons probably.
2, Upgraded to Macrium Reflect 8 and ran backups after which the machine wouldn't boot, all partitions were locked.
3, After much searching I found the Bitlocker unlock codes in my MS account and unlocked partitions but they locked again on reboot.
4, Found and located Bitlocker in "services", disabled it, but partitions still locked on reboot requiring 48 digit codes to unlock each one.
5, Downgraded to Macrium Reflect 7, ran backups and restored. Drives were fully unlocked.
6, W11 now reports that it is unencrypted and that encryption is off, disk icons are back to normal.

So..... when I upgraded to W11 encryption was added and unlock codes codes put in my MS account, none of which I noticed. A few days later something caused my partitions to get locked and it took the best part of a day to sort it out. Encryption is now off and I sincerely hope that MS don't decide to screw with my machine and enable it again without notice or warning.

Edit:-
I just checked my wife's similar machine and knowing what I know now, and the drive not having locked, it was easy. Drive was encrypted so knowing where to look I turned off encryption, it took a few minutes to decrypt and as an added safety measure I disabled Bitlocker in "settings", all done in about 15 minutes. As with my machine there was no warning that the drive had been encrypted which is a big omission on the part of MS.

Hi,
11 sure did something to permissions on a small hdd I use for a few images for 10 and now have a couple 11 images on it with reflect

Now I can't access it through computer screen on 7 never had an issue with 10 and 7
Now it only shows up in disk management and free mini tool so I can't even make a folder for another image or delete an existing image
This is win-10 beta all over again with 11 lol

ashleyg said:

Also, There seems to be some inconsistency in reporting whether BitLocker is on or off..

Control Panel: (Shows C: as not activated)

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Thank you for the screenshots. They match exactly what I saw after a clean install of the release version of W11 22000.194 using a usb made by the MCT. It's also what was shown by the OEM install of W10 2004 Pro that this Dell Latitude 5410 came with. This model has Modern Standby.

Modern Standby is a bucket of worms. Try as I may I can't get our machines to stay in standby when plugged into the charger and the Bluetooth mouse is moved. None of the old tricks work.

Fabler2 said:

If it's anything like the modern standby on my iPhone 7 (only use it for 2 factor authentication and a few calls) then I don't want it near my laptop. After turning off all of the 'features' including iCloud on it the battery lasts 5 days on standby instead of one.

I would imagine that not really shutting down and always in a state of sleep would shorten the overall battery life.

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Yeah, that's one a "laptop" using a battery. Mine is a desktop PC plugged into an electrical wall outlet.

Anyway, I just want to see how all this (Modern Standby and BitLocker) integrates into Windows 11.

Dru2 said:

Yeah, that's one a "laptop" using a battery. Mine is a desktop PC plugged into an electrical wall outlet.

Anyway, I just want to see how all this (Modern Standby and BitLocker) integrates into Windows 11.

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I should think that modern standby is only available to laptops and tablets with puny UEFIs.

ashleyg said:

Interesting topic - just trying to understand it all and have some questions so I can decide what action to take if any...
(I'm not ready for BitLocker yet but Device Encryption seems to be a subset of it and may be a bit more manageable?)

Win 11 Pro v21H2 b,22000.258 is happily running on my 'unsupported' Gen 7 Laptop after a clean install using the MC Bootable USB process to a Local Account.

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After reading the feedback here and researching things on the web, I've decided that I'm not yet ready for Device Encryption (let alone BitLocker) and so I turned the option OFF and it has un-encrypted my Drive. Went without a hitch - I do intend to make use of Device Encryption or BitLocker but not at this stage - especially when I'm trying to come up to speed on the new OS.

This Device Encryption was as best I can figure automatically enabled when I clean installed my system to Win 11. It did not interact with me at any time during the install that I recall and so was totally unexpected.

My settings now appear as I would expect (compared with those in my earlier post).:

This is interesting, it seems from the Bitlocker key upload date to our MS accounts that Bitlocker was enabled when we bought and first ran our current machines, with Windows 10 in January, and have been living for the best part of a year in blissful ignorance that we had encrypted drives on our machines and were sitting on ticking time bombs.

Hi,
As long as you don't get locked out of your ms email account you'll be fine.

tonyw said:

This is interesting, it seems from the Bitlocker key upload date to our MS accounts that Bitlocker was enabled when we bought and first ran our current machines, with Windows 10 in January, and have been living for the best part of a year in blissful ignorance that we had encrypted drives on our machines and were sitting on ticking time bombs.

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Imagine my surprise and concern then. My clean install of 11 Pro that had bitlocker encrypted my drives without asking was done with a local account only. With no MS account and no record anywhere of the key I could really have been sitting on an accident waiting to happen.

Hi,
Yep crap happens
MS asks vague questions lol

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
As long as you don't get locked out of your ms email account you'll be fine.

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As long as you identify the problem when your PC won't boot. I was close to doing a factory reset, but I stuck with it and using my wife's machine eventually found the answer. Anyone without a 2nd machine and the ability to fault find would have had to take it to a repair shop or try a factory reset.

Fabler2 said:

I should think that modern standby is only available to laptops and tablets with puny UEFIs.

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Perhaps. I know many (me, Brink) can't get it working our desktop boards because S0 isn't supported...

Hi,
Well win-10 gave so many Get more out of win-10 popups would you be surprised when win-11 asks the same thing and you select learn more and 11 activates all security features which includes bitlocker ?
I personally wouldn't
I found out ctrl+alt+delete and select log off kills that screen lol

Dru2 said:

Perhaps. I know many (me, Brink) can't get it working our desktop boards because S0 isn't supported...

View attachment 10032

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We can't get anything else because SO is supported. All forms of standby other than SO are listed as unavailable.

Dru2 said:

Perhaps. I know many (me, Brink) can't get it working our desktop boards because S0 isn't supported...

Click to expand...

tonyw said:

We can't get anything else because SO is supported. All forms of standby other than SO are listed as unavailable.

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1) I'm going to assume you're saying your board/system only allows S0 and nothing else?

2) And is this a laptop or desktop?

Dru2 said:

1) I'm going to assume you're saying your board/system only allows S0 and nothing else?

2) And is this a laptop or desktop?

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Mine's a laptop and allows S0 and nothing else.

tonyw said:

Mine's a laptop and allows S0 and nothing else.

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Ok, that explains a lot as laptops come from the factory/vendor with the BIOS set for security and battery performance out the box.

Thanks. And yeah, I think I'll pass on modern standby being seeing my desktop doesn't support it anyway.

Thanks.