Bitlocker - encrypts and decrypts hard drives. Resetting the password on the hard drive When installing Windows it says that the drive is locked

Bitlocker is an encryption program that first appeared in Windows 7. It can be used to encrypt hard drive volumes (even the system partition), USB and MicroSD flash drives. But it often happens that the user simply forgets the password to access encrypted Bitlocker data. Read how to unlock information on encrypted media within the framework of this article.

How to enable Bitlocker

The program itself suggests ways to decrypt data at the stage of creating the lock:

1. Prepare the drive that you want to encrypt. Right-click on it and select “Enable Bitlocker”.
2. Select an encryption method.
   Typically, a password is set to unlock. If you have a USB smart card reader with a regular ISO 7816 chip, you can use it to unlock.
   For encryption, options are available separately, or both at once.
3. In the next step, the Disk Encryption Wizard offers options for archiving the recovery key. There are three in total:
   
4. When you have chosen the option to save the recovery key, select the part of the drive that you want to decrypt.
   
5. Before data encryption begins, a window will appear notifying you about the process. Click "Start Encryption".
   
6. Wait some time until the procedure is completed.
7. The drive is now encrypted and will ask for a password (or smart card) upon initial connection.
   

Important! You can choose the encryption method. Bitlocker supports 128 and 256 bit XTS AES and AES-CBC encryption.

Changing the drive encryption method

In the Local Group Policy Editor (not supported on Windows 10 Home), you can select the encryption method for data drives. The default is XTS AES 128 bit for non-removable drives and AES-CBC 128 bit for removable hard drives and flash drives.

To change the encryption method:

After changes to the policy, Bitlocker will be able to password protect the new media with the selected parameters.

How to disable Bitlocker

The locking process provides two ways to further gain access to the contents of the drive: password and binding to a smart card. If you forgot your password or lost access to your smart card (or rather, did not use it at all), all you have to do is use the recovery key. When password-protecting a flash drive, it must be created, so you can find it:

1. Printed on a sheet of paper. Perhaps you placed it with important documents.
2. In a text document (or on a USB flash drive if the system partition was encrypted). Insert the USB flash drive into your computer and follow the instructions. If the key is saved to a text file, read it on an unencrypted device.
3. In your Microsoft account. Log in to your profile on the website in the “Bitlocker Recovery Keys” section.

Once you have found the recovery key:

1. Right-click on the locked drive and select "Unlock Drive".
2. A Bitlocker password entry window will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. Click on "Advanced options".
   
3. Select Enter Recovery Key.
4. Copy or rewrite the 48-digit key and click "Unlock".
5. After this, the data on the media will become available for reading.

One of the members of our VKontakte site group encountered a certain operating system malfunction. After turning on the laptop, this message appeared: “Preparing automatic recovery.” Then, after selecting the keyboard layout, two possible actions appeared on the screen: “Diagnostics” or “Turn off the computer.” In the diagnostics, it was proposed to make another choice: “Restore”, “Return to original state” and “Additional parameters”. When I tried to “Restore,” a message appeared: “The disk on which Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again.”

It makes no sense to discuss the remaining points in this article, since after eliminating the problem “The disk on which Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again,” we will solve the problem loading the operating system. And for this you need:

1) Boot from the installation disk with the operating system, click “System Restore”, where in the parameters select “Command Line”. Enter Bootrec.exe at the command line, the utility will display help on the available command line switches. Then enter in order:

a) Bootrec /fixmbr – the utility writes the Master Boot Record (MBR) to the system partition. This option is used to resolve problems related to master boot record corruption. In this case, the existing partition table is not overwritten.

b) Bootrec /fixboot - the utility writes a new boot sector to the system partition. Typically, this parameter is used when the boot sector is damaged or replaced with a non-standard one.

c) Bootrec /rebuildbcd – the utility launched with this key scans all disks for installed operating systems. Found operating systems are displayed in a list from which they can be added to the Windows boot configuration data store.

2) But in most cases, the problem may be that the hard disk controller driver has been updated, which either does not have a digital signature or simply does not pass verification in UEFI. UEFI security Boot at the hardware level can block the launch of an unverified driver, and if it is a hard disk controller driver, then the OS will naturally not boot from it. Therefore, you need to roll back the driver update or disable it in the BIOS settings for UEFI security Boot.

3) And finally, if our computer is under warranty, we can safely take it to a service center and let them try to figure it out.

In this article, I tried to fix the problem “The disk on which Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again.” If you know other solutions to the problem, please leave your comment.

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Good afternoon, dear blog readers! Today we’ll talk about something less common, but important. I have never encountered such a problem as setting a password on the hard drive or BIOS. Probably many people don’t quite understand, and perhaps they don’t understand at all what I mean. Now I will explain in more detail.

BIOS password

BIOS is software located in a read-only memory device (ROM) that performs self-testing of devices and searches for the bootloader. Naturally, the functionality of the BIOS is much broader than described above, but we won’t dig deep, but will look directly at the topic of our article. The BIOS password is set to avoid manipulation by third parties.

How to remove the BIOS password

The set bios password does not make it possible to get into it and in this case there are three options for solving this situation: by removing the CMOS battery on the motherboard, move the CMOS jumper (jumper) on the motherboard in the opposite direction (not provided in laptops) or simply close the jumper contacts .

And the last way to remove the BIOS password is using the online service BIOS Password Removal for Laptops. If you know the password and you just don’t feel comfortable entering it all the time, you can disable it by going into the settings.

HDD password

Here the purpose and function of the password is slightly different. If in the first case you simply cannot get into the BIOS, then with a password set on the HDD you will not be able to boot the operating system. And this is the inability to use a computer or laptop for its intended purpose.

How to remove password from HDD

If we looked at three options to solve problems with the BIOS, then in order to remove the password from the hdd I have only one for you, the same bourgeois online service. I didn’t describe above how to use this site. To unlock a password you don't remember, you need to enter it incorrectly three times (for example, 1234 or whatever you want). After the attempts have been made, a code will appear in the window, enter it on the website http://bios-pw.org/ and in response you will receive a code to reset the password from the hard drive.

How to put a password on your hard drive or BIOS

These passwords are set to protect data and from various manipulations. Every BIOS has this feature. Today's computers and laptops have a Security tab where you can set passwords. More details about this in the pictures.

Set Supervisor Password– set the Administrator password
Set User Password– set the User password
HDD Password– hard drive password
Password on boot Used to enable or disable the boot password.

Well that's it, my little article has come to an end. See you soon!

However, this would not be a problem if people did not forget these very established codes. If this is your first time encountering this situation and you don’t know how to remove the password from the hard drive on your laptop, then this article is intended just for you.

HDD

If you installed the code on internal media and forgot, then you will not even be able to boot the OS installed on your PC. That is, there will simply be no possibility of using a laptop or computer for its intended purpose. In such a situation, the user can only delete the set password because there is no other way to gain access to the computer.

Online service

There are several ways to remove the password from the hdd, and one of them is the well-known online service “ BIOS Password Removal for Laptops».

To get rid of forgotten code by using it you need to:

• Enter it incorrectly 3 times (any combination of numbers or letters).
• After this, a special code should appear in the window.
• We copy the received numbers.
• We enter the same combination on the website using the link provided above.

A few seconds after entering a combination of numbers in a specially designated line, you will receive a code that will help you reset the password from your drive.

It should be clarified that this program is suitable for all models and manufacturers of hard drives (seagate, hitachi, toshiba, wd, etc.). Moreover, it does not matter what operating system is installed on your computer or laptop, because... This service is considered universal.

BIOS

You can remove the password from a hard drive in the BIOS only if the encryption was initially installed through BIOS.

All you need to do is use the standard reset settings to default option:

Thus, we reset the password from the HDD.

Second way

The next option is a free one, specially created for a variety of operations with hard drives.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with how the drive’s password protection works:

• The hard drive can have high or maximum level protection.
• Using the MHDD application, you can set a custom protection level.
• The master password set by the manufacturer can only be changed.
• Using a master password makes it possible to unlock the disk only with a high level of protection.
• In the case of the maximum level of protection, the hard drive can only be unlocked if a user code is installed.
• If the maximum level of protection is set and there is no user password, then the drive can only be unlocked by destroying all data using the Security Erase Unit ATA command.

Considering the above information, in order to remove the password from the hard drive, you should:

This way, you can very quickly remove a previously entered and forgotten code.

Third way

The program HDD_PW.EXE (18KB) will also help you remove the password from your hard drive. In order to remove the code using it, you need to do the following:

• Find out the error code (when loading, press F2 and enter the wrong combination of numbers three times, after which a special code will appear on the screen)
• Launch the MS-DOS application.
• Select the utility name in the window that opens.
• Enter the error code you learned earlier, separated by a space, and add 0, separated by a space.
• By pressing “Enter”, several passwords will appear in front of you, one of which will definitely work.

After entering the code, be sure to change it to a new one and write it down.

When performing these steps on a 64-bit system, you may encounter some difficulties. The system may generate an error due to a utility mismatch. In this situation it is necessary:

• Download DOSBox, install and run.
• Mount drive “C” with the command “mount c c:/”.
• Then, at startup, press “F2”, again type the wrong code 3 times and do the same steps.

To eliminate the possibility of such situations occurring, it is recommended to completely get rid of the encryption by disabling it in the PC settings. If you urgently need it, then you should write it down in a notepad or any other place so that you don’t have to reset it again.

If you have a Lenovo laptop and upon startup the message “enter hdd password” is displayed on the screen, the method discussed in this video will help you:

youtube.com/watch?v=dKLZjrTyTeQ&t=174s

In trying to get some information about this situation, the author of the article came across meager and simply copying messages from computer forums. A more or less truthful explanation was found on the Microsoft website (https://support.microsoft.com/ru-ru/kb/2826045/en-us), albeit in English. Its author explains the appearance of the message “the disk on which the Windows system is installed is blocked” by the following user actions:

• An upgrade was carried out from Windows 7 to Windows 8;
• Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT) was enabled to optimize computer performance when moving from a regular hard drive to an SSD drive;
• The user tried to restore Windows 8 using the built-in WinRE tools “Refresh your PC” or “Reset your PC”.

In such cases, a message may appear stating that the disk with the operating system installed on it is blocked. In non-Russian operating systems, this message looks like “The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again.”

Causes and solutions to the problem

Microsoft technical support says that one of the reasons for this message is the absence of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) driver required for Intel Smart Response Technology. Without it, this technology will not work, since it essentially relies on its use. In this case, technical support advises that if it is possible to download Windows 8, contact the PC manufacturer and receive instructions on how to disable this technology.

If there is no way to enter the initial loading screen, then you should:

• Use some Live version of WinRE or WinPE, recorded on optical media or external USB media;
• Using the command line, download the latest version of the Intel RST driver and install it in WinRE WIM (named winre.wim on the disk). To do this, you need to use the instructions from the sites http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825173.aspx and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744355(v=WS.10 ).aspx. After unmounting WIM, try to boot into WinRE again and restore the system using the same “Refresh computer” or “Reset PC” options.

From other posts on the forums, it can be noted that the reason is updating the hard drive controller driver, which does not have a digital signature or does not pass the UEFI-Bios check. In this case, the UEFI security Boot function can block its launch at the hardware level and prevent the operating system from loading. This issue can be resolved by disabling this function in Bios.

There are also reports that this phenomenon occurs after the next Windows 8 update. And it is impossible to roll back due to the lack of loading of the operating system. There are also tips to use the bootrec /fixboot command - some have found this to solve the problem.

There are also a lot of other suggestions for fixing this problem, for example, on many laptops it is possible to perform a recovery from the built-in Recovery partition, but there are no positive answers to this recommendation.

This topic is another evidence of the “dampness” of Windows 8, which makes developers point at manufacturers, and manufacturers point at developers.