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Finding Bitlocker recovery code

I have an HP EliteBook 840 G2, Windows 10 home. I want to update BIOS but I saw the warning about Bitlocker and that I should have a recovery code because BIOS has to turn off bitlocker to install. In my Microsoft Account it says "BitLocker ON" but I go to find the code and get this message from my Microsoft account: "You don't have any BitLocker recovery keys uploaded to your Microsoft account." 

I did run CMD as an admin and got the following with the -status command.

FOLKS, THE BOTTOM LINE QUESTIONS ARE:

- DO I HAVE BITLOCKER TURNED ON? (BELOW, IT SHOWS NO CODES)

- HOW DO I GET THE UNLOCK CODE???? 

Hi, thanks for posting your question to the community! My name is David an independent advisor and I am here to help you.

Answering your question, if your laptop came with Windows 10 Home from the factory, isn't possible that you have activated Bitlokcer, because this feature is not available in that edition of Windows.

* It is possible that the PC brought Bitlocker activated.

1. I share the ways to find the Bitlocker recovery key:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/453047...


2. If you cannot obtain it in any of the ways mentioned above, I recommend that you contact the vendor or manufacturer of the PC.


Let me know if the shared information has been useful or if you still need more help, I will be waiting for your answer.

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The laptop originally had Windows 7 Pro (an old office machine) for which I purchased and upgraded to Windows 10 Home. I am pretty sure the drive was wiped to enable the install of 10 onto the machine. Where does BitLocker reside? Is it in a prom or nvram that doesn't get wiped even with a complete install of a new OS? 

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IF Bitlocker did remain on the machine, is there a way to turn it off so I can update my BIOS (and any other upgrades?)

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David, one more question (thank you so much for your initial reply)

Did more digging and went into Control Panel-Security and while I do not see a specific "Bitlocker Encryption" option I did see "Device Encryption" and when I click on "Back up your recovery key" I find I can save this text to a USB stick:

BitLocker Recovery Key 0A00F0F4-D175-4C8F-83BE-1406899204B0

IS THIS MY BITLOCKER KEY??? It's only 36 characters long (if you include the dashes) and I thought the Bitlocker key was 48 characters long.

I also looked at the Computer Management app and see my 237GB OS disk partition shows it has BitLocker. Yet I cannot access the code (unless the above "recovery key is actually it)

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Okay okay okay...

When I looked at the file I saved to my USB stick, I saw a proper 48 digit recovery string.

Then I went into CMD prompt as an Administrator and typed:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>manage-bde -unlock c: -RecoveryPassword 058410-439186-150953-161865-574299-711733-132594-358182

This was what I saw when I hit RETURN:

BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.19041

Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

ERROR: The volume is already unlocked.

This would appear to conflict with the Computer Management App which, as you can see, says the OSDisk c: IS BitLocker Encrypted.

So I'm back to my original question  - does my PC have Bitlocker enabled? If so, how do I turn it off? Or, since I appear to have my Bitlocker recovery code, just go ahead and update my BIOS (which turns off Bitlocker which I would have to re-enable which I can only do with the code)

Thanks

David

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Bad news, I'm pretty sure... back into Settings I found my "Device ID" which is in the screen grab below. Previously I had gone into Control Panel-Security and while I did not see a specific "Bitlocker Encryption" option I did see "Device Encryption" and when I clicked on "Back up your recovery key" 

BitLocker Drive Encryption recovery key 

To verify that this is the correct recovery key, compare the start of the following identifier with the identifier value displayed on your PC.

Identifier:

0A00F0F4-D175-4C8F-83BE-1406899204B0

This IDENTIFIER DOES NOT MATCH the one in the screen grab below.

Yet... when I entered the 48-digit recovery password found in the text file and enetred in CMD mode, it did not return an error saying it was the wrong code.

So I'm (obviously) totally confused. Can I have TWO Bitlocker codes?

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I just tried and I can turn off BitLocker, and disable it from starting.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS IF I DISABLE BITLOCKER?

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Hi! Thanks for keeping in touch.

According to what you tell me, you upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, you did not do a clean installation of the operating system or formatting the storage drive.

When doing a to new operating system migration many features are preserved. Apparently the encryption of the drive was preserved.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/securi...

The only ways to access the Bitlocker Recovery key are the ones indicated above. There is no way to disable encryption if you don't have it.

The only way to remove Bitlocker without the recovery key is by formatting the storage drive. But keep in mind that with this you will lose everything that is stored in it.

I'm sorry, I don't have any more tools to help you with your problem.

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Last updated June 23, 2024 Views 913 Applies to: