6969

BitLocker protection on removable drives is known as BitLocker To Go. When a BitLocker-protected removable drive is unlocked on a computer running Windows 7, the drive is automatically recognized and the user is either prompted for credentials to unlock the drive or the drive is unlocked automatically if configured to do so. Computers running Windows XP or Windows Vista do not automatically recognize that the removable drive is BitLocker-protected. With the BitLocker To Go Reader users can unlock the BitLocker-protected drives by using a password or a recovery password (also known as a recovery key) and gain read-only access to … Continue reading BitLocker To Go Reader

<Rant> This one is kind of a gotcha that has caught me by surprise. If you use BitLocker with a TPM that is PIN protected you can’t log into Safe Mode unless you go into recovery mode. Personally I found this very surprising to say the least. I honestly can’t say that this sounds logical to me, if you can provide the PIN protecting the TPM I can’t see why you shouldn’t be able to access Safe Mode. You are not circumventing any of the protection mechanisms you simply choose an alternate boot method AFTER you have already gained access … Continue reading BitLocker and Safe Mode

If you have been following my blog you know that I have a series of postsabout BitLocker. The third part is still missing in action, but a new toolfrom Microsoft will be sure to make a guest appearance in that post:BitLocker Repair Tool. This tool helps access data encrypted with BitLocker if the hard disk has beenphysically damaged. This tool attempts to reconstruct critical data from the driveand salvage any recoverable data. To decrypt the data, a recovery password or recovery key is required. In somecases, a backup of the key package is also required.Use this command-line tool if the … Continue reading BitLocker Repair Tool

Continuing the BitLocker related posts, I wanted to reveal a tip I intend to discussin the third part of my BitLocker post series: accessing BitLocker encrypted volumesby using WinPE. If something went terribly wrong with your Windows installation you are in a badsituation since not only can you not load Windows but since you can’t load Windowsyou can’t access you data (since it is protected by BitLocker that is a feature ofWindows). You may attempt to access your data by loading WinPE, yet obviously since thedata is encrypted you will see the drives blank…interesting bind. Have no fear though, your … Continue reading BitLocker and WinPE

It has been a while since I wrote the first part, much longer then I planned but as the saying goes: Man plans,God smiles… In the first part of the series I have described what is Bitlocker and how it works, now it’s time to get your hands dirty and implement it. As with any process, planning/preparing will increases the chances of success and in the case of Bitlocker it doesn’t really matter wether you plan to implement it on one system or one thousand systems some planning is necessary. Planning/preparing the process The preparations for Bitlocker implementation concentrate on … Continue reading BitLocker – Implementation (Part 2 of 3)

This came as no surprise to me, yet when you see something theoretical being appliedit always manages to give you a jolt…especially if you consider the timing. During the last week I was (and still am) planning a series of posts about Bitlocker.In (very) short,Bitlocker is a Windows Vista technology that encrypts your hard drive as a unit. To access the data you need to provide some type of a key that releases the key used to decrypt (and encrypt) your data into RAM. The main advantage of Bitlocker is it’s ability to protect your data even if someone managesto … Continue reading Frozen RAM and Bitlocker (can it be defeated?)