Configure hardware BitLocker with startup PIN?

Question

Is it possible to use a startup PIN with hardware BitLocker?

By hardware BitLocker I am referring to BitLocker managing a drive's built-in encryption key. For example, for a TCG Opal 2.0 SSD.

Or is a startup PIN only an option for software BitLocker?

Thanks.

***moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Security and privacy***

Answer 1

Hi Michael G999,

The startup PIN is a feature of BitLocker and is not dependent on whether the encryption key is managed by hardware or software. However, the availability of the startup PIN feature may depend on the specific hardware and firmware of the device being used. If the device supports a startup PIN, you can configure it in the BitLocker settings for that device. To do this, you can follow these steps:

1. Open the BitLocker Drive Encryption control panel.
2. Select the drive you want to configure.
3. Click "Turn on BitLocker".
4. Choose the option to "Require a startup PIN with TPM".
5. Follow the prompts to set up the PIN.

Note that not all hardware devices support a startup PIN with BitLocker. If your device does not support this feature, you will not see the option to require a startup PIN in the BitLocker settings.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Lei

Answer 2

Thank you, Lei. I succeeded in setting up hardware BitLocker with a startup PIN on a Crucial MX500 SATA drive. I now realize the difficulties I experienced setting this up on a Samsung 870 Evo had to do with setting up hardware BitLocker and were not related to adding a startup PIN. The Samsung drive may require an extra step, temporarily blocking assignment of a GUID to the drive, a step I hope to try soon.

Answer 3

Hello Lei,

I have just purchased a Surface Laptop 7 and enabled Bitlocker. I now want to configure a startup PIN for Bootlocker.

I have followed this MVPs advice to do so here. (I had to set "Require Startup PIN with TPM" though when editing the group policy.

This then does give the option in Manage Bitlocker to create a startup PIN.

But then it fails with this error: "ERROR: An error occurred (code 0x803100b5): No pre-boot keyboard detected. The user may not be able to provide required input to unlock the volume."

How can I enable a startup PIN please?

Answer 4

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