Windows 11 Bitlocker will destroy your HDD and Crash your PC

Question

Every time i new install windows 11 it auto encrypts everything with Bitlocker and i have multiple HDDs that STOP working with latency going up to 5000 and the PC crashing

i lost more than 1TB of data because of this

Always turn it off, new windows install will try to enable it WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT, it doesn't affect SSDs only HDDs, i no longer use HDDs on windows 11, it lags the system even with Bitlocker off

Problems are always consistent on my 2TB black 2016 Enterprise HDD and Normal laptop 1TB WD Blue

if bitlocker turns on on these HDDs, you will not be able to use them or your PC for that matter, everything lags, and even after it somehow finishes the encryption your HDD becomes an unusable brick with only formating the solution

DO NOT USE BITLOCKER AND FFS MICROSOFT STOP ENABLING WITHOUT MY CONSENT, ESPECIALLY ON A NEW WINDOWS INSTALL

When you new install windows 11, then wait for it's majesty to try and enable it on it's own for all drives, then disable it quickly on everything as soon as possible, if you leave it to encrypt it will be too late, do it as soon as possible for your drives to reverse it, your PC like mine might crash right away when disabling bitlocker even, it crashed 3 times when disabling it for each drive.

but my PC was back working smoothly after turning it off, my drive latency was through the roof and nothing was transfering and PC lagging and freezing despite windows on an NVME, i don't understand how would a plugges in HDD trying to encrypt with bitlocker will do that to all of your PC...

god i hate windows

Answer 1

It sounds like you're experiencing significant issues with BitLocker on your HDDs after installing Windows 11. BitLocker is designed to provide encryption and security for drives, but it can sometimes lead to performance issues, especially on certain hardware configurations.

In Windows 11, BitLocker can automatically encrypt internal drives after the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE), but it requires users to sign in with a Microsoft Account or an Azure Active Directory account for the protection to be enabled. If you are using local accounts, BitLocker may not automatically enable, and you can manually manage it through the BitLocker Control Panel.

If you are facing performance issues with HDDs, it may be beneficial to disable BitLocker or avoid using it on those drives. Additionally, for troubleshooting, you might want to check if there are any group policy settings or registry settings that could be affecting BitLocker’s behavior on your system.

It's also worth noting that BitLocker uses a new encryption model in Windows 10 and 11 that might affect performance differently than in previous versions. If you continue to have issues, consider reaching out to Microsoft support for further assistance with your specific hardware setup.

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References:

• BitLocker drive encryption in Windows 11 for OEMs
• BitLocker configuration: known issues