Bitlocker which versions

More recently, BitLocker has provided encryption for full drives and portable drives. Windows consistently improves data protection by improving existing options and by providing new strategies. Table 2 lists specific data-protection concerns and how they are addressed in Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows 7. The best type of security measures are transparent to the user during implementation and use.

Every time there is a possible delay or difficulty because of a security feature, there is strong likelihood that users will try to bypass security.

In fact, you can take several steps in advance to prepare for data encryption and make the deployment quick and smooth. Basically, it was a big hassle. Microsoft includes instrumentation in Windows 11 and Windows 10 that enable the operating system to fully manage the TPM. There is no need to go into the BIOS, and all scenarios that required a restart have been eliminated. BitLocker is capable of encrypting entire hard drives, including both system and data drives.

BitLocker pre-provisioning can drastically reduce the time required to provision new PCs with BitLocker enabled. With Windows 11 and Windows 10, administrators can turn on BitLocker and the TPM from within the Windows Preinstallation Environment before they install Windows or as part of an automated deployment task sequence without any user interaction. Combined with Used Disk Space Only encryption and a mostly empty drive because Windows is not yet installed , it takes only a few seconds to enable BitLocker.

With earlier versions of Windows, administrators had to enable BitLocker after Windows had been installed. Although this process could be automated, BitLocker would need to encrypt the entire drive, a process that could take anywhere from several hours to more than a day depending on drive size and performance, which significantly delayed deployment. Microsoft has improved this process through multiple features in Windows 11 and Windows Beginning in Windows 8. With Windows 11 and Windows 10, Microsoft offers BitLocker Device Encryption support on a much broader range of devices, including those that are Modern Standby, and devices that run Windows 10 Home edition or Windows Microsoft expects that most devices in the future will pass the testing requirements, which makes BitLocker Device Encryption pervasive across modern Windows devices.

BitLocker Device Encryption further protects the system by transparently implementing device-wide data encryption. Unlike a standard BitLocker implementation, BitLocker Device Encryption is enabled automatically so that the device is always protected. Open Windows Explorer and right-click on the BitLocker encrypted drive, and then choose Unlock Drive from the context menu. Enter your password and click Unlock. The drive is now unlocked and you can access the files on it.

Click Turn on BitLocker. BitLocker scans your computer to verify that it meets the system requirements. Q: How to unlock Bitlocker drive from command prompt without recovery key? A: Type the command: manage-bde -unlock driveletter: -password and then enter the password. To access your BitLocker volume protected with a password, simply enter this password to SoftAmbulance EFS Recovery , when prompted, and recovery process will proceed. Another story is Volume Recovery Key.

These are generated by BitLocker at the time when encrypted volume is created, and if you chose to use hardware Trusted Platform Module keys, USB keys or combination of above during Bitlocker installation. Valid BitLocker Recovery Key looks like. BEK file with a name similar to:. Let us guide you through recovery process step-by-step.

The program will check it and if it matches, automated scan and reconstruction process will be started. In those cases, you'll need a firmware upgrade for the SSD; until that upgrade is available, you can switch to software encryption using the instructions in this Microsoft Security Advisory: Guidance for configuring BitLocker to enforce software encryption. Note that Windows 10 still supports the much older Encrypted File System feature.

This is a file- and folder-based encryption system that was introduced with Windows For virtually all modern hardware, BitLocker is a superior choice.

The device also needs to support the Modern Standby feature formerly known as InstantGo. For the most part, BitLocker is a set-it-and-forget-it feature. After you enable encryption for a drive, it doesn't require any maintenance. You can, however, use tools built into the operating system to perform a variety of management tasks. The simplest tools are available in the Windows graphical interface, but only if you are running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise.

That takes you to a page where you can turn BitLocker on or off; if BitLocker is already enabled for the system drive, you can suspend encryption temporarily or back up your recovery key from here. You can also manage encryption on removable drives and on secondary internal drives.

A warning message will appear if device encryption hasn't been enabled by signing into a Microsoft account. For a much larger set of tools, open a command prompt and use one of the two built-in BitLocker administrative tools, manage-bde or repair-bde, with one of its available switches.

The simplest and most useful of these is manage-bde -status , which displays the encryption status of all available drives. Note that this command works on all editions, including Windows 10 Home. For a full list of switches, type manage-bde -? Use Get-BitLockerVolume, for example, to see the status of all fixed and removable drives on the current system.

Under normal circumstances, you unlock your drive automatically when you sign in to Windows 10 using an account that's authorized for that device. If you try to access the system in any other way, such as by booting from a Windows 10 Setup drive or a Linux-based USB boot drive, you'll be prompted for a recovery key to access the current drive. You might also see a prompt for a recovery key if a firmware update has changed the system in a way that the TPM doesn't recognize.

As a system administrator in an organization, you can use a recovery key manually or with the assistance of management software to access data on any device that is owned by your organization, even if the user is no longer a part of the organization. Also: The Windows 10 update guide: How to install and manage security and feature updates.

The recovery key is a digit number that unlocks the encrypted drive in those circumstances.