Bitlocker stuck during decryption

Question

Hello,

I choosed to create a new question since I could not find solutions on other similar topic.

The situation:

A 1TB drive of my Legion 5 (second slot, D:) is now stuck at 48.6% decryption of the bitlocker.

I tried multiple solutions:

From windows admin cmd:

• manage-bde -status D: >> shows 51.3% encrypted

• manage-bde -pause D: >> nothing, cursor blinking
• manage-bde -unlock D: <recovery key> >> nothing happens, cursor blinking
• checkdisk D: >> nothing happens, but the command cannot be stopped with ctrl^C

I tried the previous command as well when booting on comman prompt but same result.

I tried to boot to safemode, but it is not possible. I manage to reach the choice window, but the computer just waits on a blackscreen booting.

In addition, my computer features abnormal behavior:

• opening explorer creates 4 black boxes on the screen, with a "wait" mouse icon when hoverting over it

EDIT2: boxes seem to come from third party software, like Grammarly, for some reasons.

• the task manager opens and is not responding. No way to see the list of processes
• accessing control panel is hard and very slow.
• running the manage-bde -pause seems to freeze the computer. Control panel wont open, clicking shutdown does also nothing. Opening a new cmd is not possible after this point...
• third party software like iboysoft bitlocker recovery can't open. EDIT: it is also stuck on opening "reading storage information"
• third party software wondershare recoverit is stuck reading the disks
• when I disconnect an external drive, windows does not recognize that drive is removed, and it stays in the explorer window
• connecting a drive is not possible, unless booting with the drive connected

What happened:

I disabled bitlocker on 3 drives at the same time. my 500Gb SSD, 1Tb HDD and external 500Gb HDD.

I had the bitlocker box saying it was 100% completed on external drive. I close the window, and I think I missed the fact that it was not complete on the internal HDD.

At this point, I tried using my computer normaly, but already, I got task manager not responding and explorer crashing. At this point, explorer wouldn't reboot, to which I typed a shutdown /l in cmd. The computer was stuck on "disconnecting", to which i decided to force shutdown with the power button.

Notes:

I didn't tried repair-bde yet.

I hope there is a way to get it back on track.

How long should manage-bde -pause take?

There is also no button to interupt bitlocker in control panel:

Thank you in advance

***Move from Windows / Windows 10 / Files, folders, and storage ***

Answer 1

Hello,

Use repair-bde: Since you haven't tried repair-bde yet, this might be a good next step. This command is designed for disaster recovery scenarios where a BitLocker-protected drive cannot be unlocked normally. You can use it to attempt to recover your data.

repair-bde D: X: -rp

Replace X: with the drive letter of an empty drive where you want to save the recovered data.

Check Disk Health: Sometimes, decryption issues can be caused by underlying disk problems.

Boot from a Windows Installation Media: Create a Windows installation USB drive and boot from it. From there, you can access the command prompt and try running the manage-bde commands again. This environment might be more stable than your current Windows installation.

Best Regards,

Hania

Answer 2

Hello Hania,

Thank you for your answer!

Just to be clear, I should try the repair-bde in the usb drive boot environment as it will increase stability right?

I will notify again when I manage to do some progress.

Regards

Answer 3

Using the repair-bde command in a USB drive boot environment can be helpful for recovering data from a damaged BitLocker-encrypted drive. However, it's important to note that repair-bde is primarily designed to reconstruct critical parts of a severely damaged drive and salvage recoverable data. It doesn't directly increase system stability but may help you recover data from an unstable or corrupted drive.