Bitlocker Question

Oh wait... i think its {current}



That is what shows as the identifier under Windows Boot Loader... which i assume is windows boot manager right? So instead of identifier... replace it with {current}?

 

@Drew1 no. Replace it with the {bloody-long-alphanumeric-thing}.

 

Windows boot manager

Identifier {bootmgr}


Windows boot loader

Identifier {current}


Resume from hibernate

Identifier xxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxx-xxx-xxxxxxxxx



So its the last one right?

 

ok.

 

@Drew1 yes, what is written after the word "identifier". Don't forget the brackets.

 

I had to type this a few times and its really frustrating because its a very long number/letters.


But do not type in identifier right?


Also there is no period at the end?

 

I typed it once and it shows as an error... I assume its because i put a Period at the end? On the link you gave me, there is a period but the one you posted... there isn't?

 

Okay it shows the operation completed successfully.


Now turn on bitlocker right?

 

@Drew1 Yes.

 

Same error message...

 

@Drew1 we'll try again next time, then, since I'll be unavailable for a while. Your problem is caused by cloning the old drive instead of clean installing Windows on new SSD. It may be resolved by other actions, or you may need to perform a clean Windows install to make Bitlocker work.

 

Now the other person on the other forum that helped me with bitlocker last time as well just told me... someone had the same error after cloning the drive and ended up having to do a clean reinstall for it to work...


Do you think I will also have to do this as well?


Oh man.. if this is true, im going to be so frustrated. Because i bought a new 1tb samsung 970 evo because i heard the cloning process would be easy from old my ssd to this one... which was... and ppl said there would be zero issue using bitlocker on it. I mentioned before I did the clone, i turned off bitlocker with the old ssd first before doing the cloning process.


Do you think im screwed now?


I really don't want to do a clean install. I bought the expensive samsung 970 evo mainly because ppl said clone is simple which it was and no issue with bitlocker when you turn it on... and now this...

 

Okay thanks. Do you know about how long you will be away for around? I assume you mean like a week or even longer? This is so frustrating for me because I traveled back to the US few weeks ago to get all this stuff fixed... then when i head outside the US... which is very soon... well my plan was to have my laptop set before I leave the US. Now i will be most likely outside the US and fixing this problem there.


Do you think there is probably a way to fix this issue? I mean how can you clone an ssd and then you can't use bitlocker? That is ridiculous if true.

 

@Drew1 I will probably be available later today. Maybe drop you a few more options to address the error, but no guarantee it will work.

 

Okay I will be on the forum waiting to see your posts or posts from anyone that can help with this. I mean... that is ridiculous if one can't turn on bitlocker because they cloned an old ssd to a new ssd. Im wondering what could be the cause of it and is it even common.

 

@Drew1 in elevated command prompt, type this:

Code:

Type diskpart
Type Select Disk 0
type list volume

And post the output on forum.

Next, type this:

Code:

sfc /scannow

After it's done, type this

Code:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

And wait for it to complete.

First command gives info about your partitions which may help me or others fix your issue.

Second and third are to fix problems with your Windows distribution, if there are any.

 

The output... its basically like my disk management picture right?


It shows

Volume # Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
Volume 0 Recovery NTFS Partition 450MB Healthy
Volume 1 C NTFS Partition 930MB Healthy Boot
Volume 2 FAT32 Partition 100MB Healthy System

 

I entered the other 2 things... are those scans? Because it doesn't scan anything... just words pop up...

 

I googled and saw this posted


https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2034549-bitlocker-will-not-enable-after-clone-drive-to-ssd



Found fix:



Open Command Prompt as Administrator

Type diskpart
Type Select Disk 0
type list volume

A list will appear, note what volume is the System (FAT32) Partition Usually 100MB

Exit diskpart

Run Command Prompt as Administrator

Type the following (Note the volume number changes depending on the outcome of the diskpart command - replace # with number)

bcdedit -set {bootmgr} device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume#
bcdedit -set {memdiag} device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume#

Close command prompt and run Bitlocker setup again



Is this similar to the one you found?

 

Okay I will check back online later today as its getting late. But if anyone here has feedback or advice on it, i appreciate it.

 

@Drew1

In elevated command prompt, run:

Code:

bcdedit -set {bootmgr} device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2
bcdedit -set {memdiag} device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2

After that, try encrypting the drive with Bitlocker again.

 

Do i enter the line once at a time and enter or both and then enter?

I entered the first line and got unknown command error.

 

Also harddiskvolume2?


I had thought it was 0?


Also when you say elevated command prompt, you mean right click it and run as admin right? I was confused why articles kept saying elevated... and not just command prompt.

 

I tried it both ways... error. Am i typing it wrong?

 

It doesn't go through...

 

Once.

According to your diskpart output, it is 2.

Yes.

 

Yes, you are typing it wrong. You put space between "-" and "set", which ruins the command. Just copy from my post instead of typing yourself, and all will be fine.

 

Just noticed that. Okay i typed in each one of those lines by itself and operation successfully.


When I turn on bitlocker now message shows


Starting bitlocker

The system cannot find the file specified

 

@Drew1

In elevated command prompt:

Code:

cd C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\
ren ReAgent.xml ReAgent.old

Then try starting the encryption again.

 

https://superuser.com/questions/1172548/cannot-re-enable-bitlocker


I saw the details in the link above which is the same as what you mention



You want me to type both of those lines? Or just the first line?


In that article it says this... which i assume is same as what you are telling me to do...

1. Open an elevated command prompt (search, cmd, right click and 'Run as administrator')
2. Go to C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\
3. Rename the file ReAgent.xml:
   
   ren ReAgent.xml ReAgent.old
   
   
4. Start Bitlocker
   
   

 

@Drew1 you need to type first line (to navigate to correct location), then type second line (to actually rename the file).

 

Hey so to make sure... right now it shows as usual in command prompt


C:\Windows\System32>


So right after the >, type that first line and click enter right? I'm confused at this because when i look at the first line, it look almost same as the default line except missing the RECOVERY word only...

 

Now type that 2nd line and enter right?

 

Hey man! It Worked.


Right now it ask me choose how i want to unlock my drive at startup


Enter a pin recommended
flash drive
let bitlocker auto unlock the drive

 

I entered my pin... now it ask for how i want to back up my recovery key, i choose save to a file... but when i do this it seem to be error?

Do i need to save it to a usb stick? When it does save, it show save and name is bitlocker key - whole bunch of numbers... isn't that my recovery key so shouldn't it not be named that?

I thought i could save it to my laptop first right? Previously i saved it to laptop and usb stick... but i need to save it to usb first?

 

Okay so it doesn't allow me to save it to PC... then when i try to save it to documents or desktop, it says it can't save to an encrypted drive?


Options are


Save to microsoft account
save to file
print recovery key


But I can't save to file because of that message above?


I checked the tenforums tutorial on this and that one shows an option to save to a USB stick but mine doesn't? Last time when I did this, im not sure if it had that option or not. But i recall saving recovery key to my laptop and also a usb stick... forgot which one was first.


But how do i save the recovery key then since i keep getting that error i mentioned in the beginning with the

Okay so it doesn't allow me to save it to PC... then when i try to save it to documents or desktop, it says it can't save to an encrypted drive?

 

Okay i saved it to my usb stick that isn't encrypted... did this by saving to file and clicking on usb drive.


What about the next option? This seems to be the last thing it ask before I encrypt it.


Windows 10 version 1511 introduces a new disk encryption mode XTS-AES. This mode provides additional integrity support but not compatible with old version of windows.


If this is removeable drive that you going to use an older of windows, you should use compatible mode.


If its fixed drive or if this device will be only used on devices running at least windows 10 version 1511 or later, you should choose the new encryption mode



New encryption mode best for fixed devices on this device
Compatible mode best for drives that can be moved from this device



On the tutorial, says compatible mode. But my laptop is windows 10 and at least 1511 I believe. So which do i choose here?




On another forum, someone said because I have windows 10... and I also see my version is 2004.... that means i should choose the 1st option of new encryption mode?


But does it matter since i cloned the old sata samsung ssd into this one?

 

Hey starlight... I got bitlocker to work... thanks again.

 

Yes, Bitlocker doesn't allow you to save your encryption key to the internal drive of encrypted machine. You either save it to some external drive (including, but not limited to USB stick), or print it to PDF. Never save the key to Microsoft account!

It's drive identifier, your recovery key is inside the file.

That, or print to PDF.

Only ever choose new encryption mode. Forget about old compatible mode, it is completely useless nowadays.

You're welcome. Glad it worked out in the end!

 

Thanks... yea i got bitlocker to work again.


By the way, this is related so I will ask this. I did a test of memory with the Windows Memory Diagostic. Have you done this ever? Well i did it and it took more than an hour... I did that to check if my new 32gb ram is good as i bought it weeks ago... well after it was done... when my laptop restarted, it immediately went to the ask me my bitlocker recovery key??? Do you know why that happened? I was shocked and didn't do anything for a bit... then suddenly laptop turned off. When i turned it back on... it then ask me for my bitlocker pin as normal and then im back to my desktop. I will put the windows 10 password soon.


But do you have a clue why it would ask me for my bitlocker recovery key? It freaked me out because i saved it to a usb drive so I do have it... but i need to connect it to another computer in order to access it.

 

No.

No.

I can only guess that it may have something to do with how exactly the test works. Do you have the same problem under normal circumstances?

 

Because your pc re-started Troubleshoot RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

"the diagnostic tool cannot run from within Windows; you must restart your computer and allow the tool to run before Windows loads"

 

This was my first time doing this memory test... never done it ever.

 

@Drew1 I mean now, when you boot normally without any memory tests, is everything OK? Does the Bitlocker ask for PIN, not for recovery key?

 

After it ask me for bitlocker recovery key after it restarted... then shut down... then i turned on laptop... it ask me for my bitlocker pin... i havent turned off my laptop after that. So I will know the next time i start up my laptop...

 

My assumption is it should ask me for my bitlocker pin like normal from now on....


but now if i do that memory test again... i think it might ask for me the bitlocker recovery key... some reason i think that will happen.


So you suggest i just write down my recovery key on paper for now right? Then do the memory test again and see what happens? Issue is the memory test takes more than 1 hour which is pretty long. But i should still check to see if my ram is okay or not right? The other issue is i will be heading out the Us soon again so i have very little time if any to order new ram and send this one back. But if it recognizes it... no big deal then? Again, it was when we did those command prompt yesterday, where i saw bad memory in the {memdiag} which had me concerned. I never thought about my ram once i replaced it with the 32gb since it recognzied it.

 

@Drew1 I suggest you run prime95 to test RAM, instead of other tests. As for storing bitlocker keys - if you use a flash drive, encrypt it with a long&strong password.