Locked Up PC - Wants bitlocker key id for unknown pwd for local user

Question

We have a nice Asus Zen ultra that was setup with a local account. It was upgraded to windows 11. We forgot the pwd but no problem - lets do a system restore holding the shift->restart and selecting a complete system restore (we don't care about loosing the data on the drive). Anyways - a baseline restore doesn't work anymore - its now asking for a bitlocker key id to perform a full system restore - why would it even ask this????

Peeking around, there are solutions but they all seem to be around elevating privileges (which we can't do) and getting the key id (which we can't also do - local account). Is there some way around this craziness?

Answer 1

Hi Derek

If you're attempting to perform a system restore on your Asus Zen ultra running Windows 11, but it's asking for a BitLocker key ID, it's likely because BitLocker encryption is enabled on the system drive. BitLocker is a feature in Windows that encrypts the contents of your hard drive to protect your data.

When you perform a system restore on a BitLocker-protected drive, Windows needs the BitLocker recovery key to unlock and access the encrypted drive. This is a security measure to ensure that only authorized users can restore or access the data on the encrypted drive.

There are a few possible reasons why BitLocker may be enabled on your system:

Automatic encryption: Some computers come with BitLocker enabled by default, especially if they have TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chips built-in. TPM provides hardware-based encryption support.

Manual activation: BitLocker may have been manually enabled on the system drive by a previous user or administrator for security purposes.

If you don't have the BitLocker recovery key, there are a few options you can try:

Check for the recovery key in your Microsoft account: If your Microsoft account is linked to the BitLocker-protected device, you may find the recovery key by logging into your Microsoft account online.

Contact the device manufacturer or administrator: If the computer was provided by an organization or institution, they might have the BitLocker recovery key or be able to assist you in recovering it.

Format and reinstall Windows: If you don't have access to the recovery key and you're willing to lose the data on the drive, you can format the drive and perform a clean installation of Windows. This will remove the BitLocker encryption but also delete all data on the drive.

Please note that formatting the drive will result in the loss of all data, so ensure that you have backups of any important files before proceeding.