Bitlocker Encryption frozen and drive un-accessable

Question

Whilst upgrading from a Dell desktop PC to a new Dell desktop PC. The old PC running Windows 11 had 2 drives: a SSD boot drive and a mechanical HDD full of data I wanted to transfer. I was copying data from the HDD to the new PC across a network using Remote Desktop when it became slow so I removed the old pc's data HDD and installed it into the new PC to copy the files more quickly. The drive appeared Ok and I successfully copied a large amount of data across to the new PC this way and only had about 10% left to manually copy when I shut the PC down at bedtime. The next morning on starting PC it said the drive was corrupted / unreadable. I hadn't had any warning messages or otherwise the night before when closing down. I transferred the HDD back to the original (old PC) at which point it asked for the Bitlocker Recovered Key. I entered this which unlocked the drive but got a message: Encryption of E: by Bitlocker Drive Encryption is paused (95.2% complete)

Resume doesn't work. No kind of access to the drive works, its just says E: is not accessible. The drive structure is corrupted and unreadible

I have tried leaving the drive in both the old and new PCs unlocked for several days but nothing will resume the encryption process and the disk is completely unaccessible. In the Bitlocker Control Panel settings it says Drive E: Bitlocker Encryption Paused. I can't turn Bitlocker off, it just says "The Device is not ready"

Any ideas how I can get my data back?

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

Answer 1

Hello  APH 123，

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

It sounds like you're dealing with a serious issue related to Bitlocker encryption and potential drive corruption. Here's a step-by-step guide to troubleshoot and recover your data. Please follow each step carefully:

Verify Bitlocker Recovery Key

• Ensure you have the correct Bitlocker recovery key. You’ve already mentioned that you’ve entered it once, but double-check that you have the correct key.

Check Drive Health

• Connect the drive to another computer (preferably via an external enclosure) and run a health check using tools like CrystalDiskInfo or similar to see if there are any hardware issues with the HDD.

Attempt to Resume Encryption

• Open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Administrator) and try resuming the Bitlocker encryption process manually using the following command:

  
       manage-bde -resume E: 
  
  

  • If you receive errors, note them down for further troubleshooting.

Try Bitlocker Repair Tool

• Microsoft provides a BitLocker repair tool called repair-bde that can be used to recover data from a corrupted BitLocker-encrypted drive. Here’s how you can use it:

  
       repair-bde E: X: -rp <recoverypassword> -f 
  
  

  Replace E: with the letter of the corrupted drive and X: with the letter of a drive where you want to store the decrypted data. Replace <recoverypassword> with your actual Bitlocker recovery key.

Check Disk for Errors

• Use the chkdsk utility to check and repair file system errors.

  
       chkdsk E: /f 
  
  

  • Note that chkdsk can sometimes result in data loss, so use it with caution.

Utilize Data Recovery Software

• If the above methods don’t work, you might need to resort to data recovery software. Tools such as removed by moderator can be used to attempt to recover data from the corrupted drive.
  • Note that you should avoid writing new data to the drive to minimize the risk of overwriting recoverable data.

Professional Data Recovery Service:

• If the data is very critical and none of the above steps work, consider contacting a professional data recovery service. These services can be expensive but might be able to recover data that software tools cannot.

Recovering data from a corrupted BitLocker-encrypted drive can be complex and risky. Always proceed with caution and, if the data is critical, consider involving professionals early in the process to maximize the chances of recovery. 

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Haijian Shan

Answer 2

Hi Haijian,

Thanks for your reply.

The recovery key is definitely correct - I have entered it lots of times and it unlocks the drive.

Can't run chkdsk, E: is not accessible.

Resume Encryption won't work:

PS C:\Users\Marmot> manage-bde -resume E:

BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.22621

Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

ERROR: An error occurred (code 0x80070015):

The device is not ready.

Recovery seemed to work. I attempted to recover to an external HDD (F:) , it ran for hours, here's the command line:

PS C:\Users\Marmot> repair-bde E: F: -rp 413765-500236-001353-201201-032494-699611-036828-333212 -f

BitLocker Drive Encryption: Repair Tool version 10.0.22621

Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Beginning scan for BitLocker metadata.

Scanning boot sectors for pointer to metadata: 100%

Scanning sector boundaries for metadata: 100%

Finished scanning for BitLocker metadata.

LOG INFO: 0x0000002a

Valid metadata at offset 118925844480 found at scan level 4.

LOG INFO: 0x0000002b

Successfully created repair context.

Beginning decryption.

Decrypting: 100% Complete.

Finished decryption.

ACTION REQUIRED: Run 'chkdsk F: /f' before viewing decrypted data.

I tried chkdsk but got the following error:

PS C:\Users\Marmot> chkdsk f: /f

The type of the file system is NTFS.

Unable to determine volume version and state.  CHKDSK aborted.

The external F: drive doesn't appear to contain any data:

Answer 3

Here's the Disk Management summary