Bitlocker Setup failed to copy startup files.

Gustavo 0 Reputation points
2024-01-16T12:33:29.78+00:00

When trying to launch BitLocker on a machine with Windows 11 pro - 23h2. This message comes back: Preparing the disk drive for BitLocker BitLocker's configuration failed to copy boot file. You may need to manually prepare the drive for BitLocker. And it does not follow its activation. In gpedit.msc > Administrative Templates > Comp. From Windows > Device Encryption. BitLocker Disk > Un. Op System I enabled "Allow Secure Boot for integrity validation" and "Require additional authentication at boot". In the bios, TPM 2.0 and all security options are active and both the image and bios were configured in UEFI. The windows that were installed is an image, made from capture with dism, and sysprep was carried out to generalize the windows. I uninstalled the antivirus from the computer, and the entire process was done with the administrator account. Thanks for the help!

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  1. Hania Lian 21,196 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-01-18T02:58:34.1666667+00:00

    Hello, Thank you for posting in Q&A forum. There is a known conflict with the Deny write access to fixed drives not protected by BitLocker Group Policy setting located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\BitLocker Drive Encryption\Fixed Data Drives. When this policy setting is enabled, if you attempted to merge an existing drive into the system drive, the tool will fail to copy the required boot file onto the target drive to create the system drive. The following error message is displayed: BitLocker setup failed to copy boot files. You may need to manually prepare your drive for BitLocker. Meanwhile you can also manually prepare your drive for BitLocker by following below Microsoft Documentation: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/description-of-the-bitlocker-drive-preparation-tool-3a4bb87b-6f72-733f-b448-c2b45412445a Best Regards, Hania Lian

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