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How do I get rid of bitlocker on a drive that I moved ?

Anonymous
2024-02-19T01:47:14+00:00

I recently had to remove a ssd from one pc where I had problems , to another in order to diagnose if its a good drive . No big deal . I've done this countless times over decades .

Problem is today I learned of another annoying and never wanted or asked for feature of this windows 11 .

I cannot access the drive in its new location . Its asking for some stupid bitlocker 48 digit recovery BS !

THE DRIVE WAS NOT SETUP TO BOOT NOR DID IT CONTAIN A COPY OF MICROSOFT WINDOWS . IT is simply a data drive NVMe . The motherboard also contains the boot ( c drive with windows installed ) in addition to this one and another data ssd . Total of 3 m2 drives .

I never wanted this or asked for it . Once again .....as if the forced defective , damage causing updates...... weren't enough of an annoyance already , I have to spend time fixing windows created mess !

The drive has " not fallen into the wrong hands " nor does it contain any nuclear fu**ing secrets !!! It has moved from one box in one room , into another ...very similar looking box in the next room .

Kindly could someone talk me through how to get rid of this nonsense ?

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Security and privacy***

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Devices and deployment | Recovery key

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-03-02T16:42:03+00:00

    This isn't as hard as you might think.

    The bitlocker key is stored in the computer on the TPM.

    Return the drive to the computer from which it came.

    Go to settings (or search for) "manage bitlocker".

    It should show your drive, and that bitlocker is on.

    Click on "Back up your recovery key".

    You can now print out the key and/or save it to a thumb drive.

    You can also decrypt the drive in the "Turn off Bitlocker" option.

    Windows 11 encrypts the drives by default. You can turn that off or on for any drive you use.

    One thing you want to do is to backup the bitlocker key for every drive you have to either paper or to a USB.

    I back mine off to an encrypted USB.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-12-16T20:49:09+00:00

    What if the computer you removed it from has a bad motherboard? Like in my case

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-23T02:05:02+00:00

    Hi RAC4433.

    to remove BitLocker from a drive, you will need to have the recovery key or password. If you do not have the recovery key or password, you will not be able to access the drive.

    If you have the recovery key or password, you can follow these steps to remove BitLocker:

    1. Open File Explorer and right-click on the drive that is encrypted with BitLocker.
    2. Select "Manage BitLocker" from the context menu.
    3. Click on "Turn off BitLocker" and follow the prompts to decrypt the drive.

    If you do not have the recovery key or password, you can try to recover it using the Microsoft account associated with the BitLocker-encrypted drive. If that is not possible, you may need to format the drive to remove BitLocker. However, formatting the drive will erase all data on it, so make sure to back up any important data before proceeding.

    Hope it helps.

    Kind regards,

    Lei

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