strange windows behaviour regarding bitlocker

Question

I bought a new laptop about 9 months ago from Dell. It was windows 10 home edition which I then upgraded to windows 10 professional edition. I got all the latest updates for windows. In a windows vista ariticle it says that you must disable bitlocker when doing bios updates. I do all my driver and bios updates thru the dell update program. I looked today and saw that bitlocker was on for my c drive. I never switched bitlocker on and windows never prompted me to do so. I have done a couple of bios updates and it was never necessary for me to disable bitlocker. Is it still necessary with windows 10 to disable bitlocker for bios updates? Why is my bitlocker on when I never instructed my windows to do so? I don't even know what my recovery key is. Should I contact dell support?

Answer 1

Hi,

Is it still necessary with windows 10 to disable bitlocker for bios updates?

It is recommended to turn off Bitlocker if major changes were made to Bios, if BitLocker is not suspended, the next time you reboot the system it will not recognize the BitLocker key. You will then be prompted to enter the recovery key to progress and the system will ask for this on each reboot. If the recovery key is unknown this can result in data loss or unnecessary operating system re-install.
Reference: https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-sg/sln153694/updating-the-bios-on-dell-systems-with-bitlocker-enabled?lang=en

Why is my bitlocker on when I never instructed my windows to do so?

BitLocker automatic device encryption uses BitLocker drive encryption technology to automatically encrypt internal drives after the user completes the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) on Modern Standby or HSTI-compliant hardware.
Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-bitlocker#bitlocker-automatic-device-encryption

I don't even know what my recovery key is.

The recovery key is automatically saved to your Microsoft Account when the device is encrypted and can be retrieved from https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey
Please refer to this instruction: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/finding-your-bitlocker-recovery-key-in-windows-10-6b71ad27-0b89-ea08-f143-056f5ab347d6

Also, more detailed information about Bitlocker on Dell devices:
https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-sg/sln299056/automatic-windows-device-encryption-bitlocker-on-dell-systems?lang=en

Please note: Information posted in the given link is hosted by a third party. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy and effectiveness of information

Best regards.

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