Recovery key ID

Hey there Rachel!

My name is Miguel Ángel and I'm an independent advisor, also a Microsoft user just like you! I'll try to help you today with your issue.

Let's start from the base. Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fin.... and see the instructions there.

Do you have your recovery key already? If you don't, it may be in your Microsoft account (check in https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoveryk...).

Once you get your recovery key, you should input the code exactly in the blue screen that you see, in the box. Do you see it? If not, what do you see?

I'll wait for your reply! Don't worry, everything will be okay, Rachel! :)

Hi Miguel! Thank you for your quick response. I do not have my recovery key and I did not set up bitlocker on my device. The bitlocker key to my laptop is not in my Microsoft account. I checked for that already. I have called HP my laptop company and tried to see if it was pre enabled at the factory and they are sending a flash drive to reboot.

I paid a fee to have the laptop set up at staples when I bought it but I didn’t get a usb recovery drive or anything else from staples when I bought it. I did happen to notice the Recovery key ID number under the box where it tells me to enter my recovery key. which it says is supposed to help me identify my recovery key but I don’t know where I should put that code.

I have tried to wipe and reboot the laptop with a flash drive I made with windows 10 on it and it’s not working for me I keep getting stuck where it is telling me to choose a drive to install.

Thank you again for your help.

Rachel Wood

Hey Rachel!

Don't worry about that ID. It's just an identifier and not the recovery key. According to HP, Bitlocker is enabled by default and you're suppossed to create a backup of your recovery (may be a bit too late now), info that I've found here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c06458046....

If you don't have any recovery key in your Microsoft account, we may be running into a bigger issue. Are you sure you're accessing the Microsoft account that is used in that laptop? Access BIOS (read your device's instructions on how to do this, maybe https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/how-to...) and try to find anything TPM related that you can disable or restore.

Do you have important information there? You may need to format your device if you're not successful. I can guide you through that anyhow.

---
Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it. All files have been analysed for malware with VirusTotal, and have shown a positive output, being completely safe to install.

Hi Miguel!

This is the only Microsoft account I have and I had no luck finding the recovery key. Lucky for me since the laptop is practically brand new there is nothing really important saved on it and I think all I have left to do is wipe it clean and reset it.

I did try a few different methods to no avail(I tried to make my own bootable usb flash drives both windows 10 and 11 through the HP website) so far nothing has worked for me. I keep getting stuck in the new setup for windows.

I am currently in the bios setup screen. I attached a picture for reference of what I’m looking at. What tpm settings should I change in the bios setup? Thanks again!

-Rachel

Rachel,

The weirdest thing is that the TPM module is disabled, and still BitLocker is encrypting your device. Weird.

I'd try choosing 'Restore Security settings to Factory Defaults', and see if you can go past BitLocker.

If you still can't, then you'd have to clear TPM but you'd lose the data encrypted by it. However, you would be able to reinstall Windows normally and work again.

Once that's done, I'll give you instructions so you can check, after a new installation, that BitLocker is not enabled and won't be, so this never happens again.

Miguel

I might have disabled that TPM state while I was trying to make progress with this after you mentioned it. However it still isn’t making any changes with my laptop or bitlocker.

When I cleared the TPM and nothing changed. Next I stored security settings to factory defaults and it re enabled TPM state and greyed it out so I couldn’t scroll and select the option.

I even went to save and restart my laptop and tried to reinstall the windows media I created on the usb device and it still won’t work. I get close but I keep getting stuck where it’s telling me to select a driver. I attached a picture of the windows setup screen that I keep getting stuck in. 

-Rachel

Hey there Rachel!

Please, try following the steps here: https://www.repairwin.com/how-to-remove-bitlock.... Go directly to step 2.

We'll have to clean the partition before we can reinstall Windows, so that should help to wipe clean the partitions and do a completely clean install.

Once that's done, give me some feedback on if you've been able to install it or not. We'll disable that BitLocker nightmare right after.

I hope you've had a lovely Wednesday!

---
Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it. All files have been analysed for malware with VirusTotal, and have shown a positive output, being completely safe to install.

Boot with windows bootable pendrive, go to command prompt,. Use diskpart , clean the disk, which deletes all partitions in the disk.

Restart laptop, install windows as usual by creating new partitions.

See below site

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.easeus.com/amp/partition-master/format-bitlocker-encrypted-drive.html

Good morning Miguel, thanks for the link. I tried what it was telling me to do last night before I went to bed. The problem I found is in the command prompt and I didn’t see any other partition to delete. I’ll put in a picture of what I see. The only drive that is appearing on this list is the bootable usb drive. I’ve tried to install a few times and it keeps telling me to select a driver.

When I went into the BIOS screen I clicked through these pages -> UEFI HII configuration - Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology- volume 1 RAID0 (stripe), 238.5GB Normal. At the end of the pages this is what I see. I don’t know what these are maybe this will help you assisting me. Thanks again.

Hey Rachel!

Indeed. It doesn't see the partition of the drive because it's encrypted. Maybe our best option is to use GParted or a Linux Live CD to be able to format the partition.

Go to https://gparted.org/liveusb.php and follow any of the methods (A-D) that are shown there (maybe I'd recommend A or C). Once the USB is ready, turn off your device, plug the USB in the laptop with the encrypted drive and turn it back on.

When booting, choose the first option 'GParted Live (default settings)'. If you're given a warning about keymaps, choose 'Select keymap from arch list' and then select 'qwerty' > 'English' > 'Standard' (if prompted) for your keyboard. If asked, in a command prompt, about what mode you'd prefer, type 0 and press Enter.

In the main screen, find 'GParted' and open it. Go to your system partition which is encrypted, right-click on it and 'Delete'. It should become an unassigned space.

Once it's an unassigned space, you may start again the Windows installation process. Let me know how that goes :)

---
Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it. All files have been analysed for malware with VirusTotal, and have shown a positive output, being completely safe to install.