How to get past Bitlocker?

Question

I am turning on my surface pro and comes up with Bitlocker. I have found my Recovery Key and enter it, and it states ‘Diagnosing PC’.

However the next screen says ‘Your PC did not start correctly’ and gives me a multitude of options. I have tried most of these and they all take me back to the same Bitlocker Home screen. The main one which I haven’t tried is doing a full reset of my PC. Is this required to get past this?

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Based on the description, I understand your question is related to Bitlocker.

If every operation all come back to Bitlocker recovery page, it is possible that the BitLocker is not unlocked successfully.

Try refer to the following path to check if the BitLocker recovery key is correct, because this is a personal information and will not be collected by Microsoft, so please kindly try to find carefully if the key was saved in below places:

1. In your Microsoft account: Sign in to your Microsoft account on another device to find your recovery key: If the device was set up or BitLocker protection was activated by another user, the recovery key may be in that user’s Microsoft account.
2. On a printout you saved: Your recovery key may be on a printout that was saved when BitLocker was activated. Look where you keep important papers related to your computer.
3. On a USB flash drive: Plug the USB flash drive into your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file.
4. In an Azure Active Directory account: If your device was ever signed in to an organization using a work or school email account, your recovery key may be stored in that organization's Azure AD account associated with your device.

If you are unable to locate a required BitLocker recovery key, I am afraid you cannot access that drive.

Have a nice day. 

Best Regards,

Molly

Answer 2

Hello Mbrown21.314，

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Here's some steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue, attempting to avoid a full reset if possible:

Troubleshooting Steps

1. Boot into Safe Mode:

• On the "Your PC did not start correctly" screen, select “Advanced options”.
• Go to “Troubleshoot” > “Advanced options” > “Startup Settings” > “Restart”.
• After the restart, choose option 4 or 5 to boot into Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking.
• If it successfully boots into Safe Mode, you can troubleshoot further or back up data.

2. System Restore:

• If you have any restore points, you might be able to revert the system to a previous state.
• From the Advanced options menu, select “System Restore” and follow the instructions.

3. Command Prompt:

-You can try checking and repairing the disk:

chkdsk C: /f /r

4. Startup Repair:

• From the Advanced options menu, select “Startup Repair” to let Windows try to automatically fix the boot issue.

5. Disable BitLocker:

• If you can access Command Prompt, you might attempt to suspend or disable BitLocker:

manage-bde -status

manage-bde -protectors -disable C:

Data and System Backup

• If you are able to boot into Safe Mode or access your drive through Command Prompt, consider backing up your data to an external drive or cloud storage.

Final Steps: Reset or Reinstall Windows

• If none of the above methods work, resetting your PC might be required:
• Reset This PC:
• Go to “Troubleshoot” > “Reset this PC".
• Choose whether to keep your files or remove everything. Keeping your files might be a less drastic option if you need to preserve data.
• Reinstall Windows:
• If you're doing a complete reset, ensure you have a backup of all important data.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reset.

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