Bit Locker Recovery Key Requested at Boot Time

Anonymous
2013-11-05T08:14:46+00:00

Hi,

At the weekend our two Surface 2 devices got a firmware update installed. My Surface 2 updated and rebooted fine with no issues.

But my wife's Surface 2 (64GB model) asked for the Bitlocker Recovery key at boot after the update, and now every time it reboots. Although I have the key this is very poor end user experience.

Especially as I am trying to sell her the Surface 2 over an iPad.

Any assistance in this would be most welcome.

Kind Regards,

Andrew

Surface | Other

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Anonymous
2014-01-06T19:58:11+00:00

Hi,

Microsoft released an update for this today, for Surface 2 devices, as reflected in KB article 2921482.  Please check for Windows updates and install the latest updates.

Here's how to check for updates manually:

Step 1: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Settings.   (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Settings.)

Step 2: Tap or click Change PC settings, tap or click Update and recovery, and then tap or click Windows Update. 

Step 3: Tap or click Check now. 

Step 4: If there are updates available, tap or click View details. 

Step 5: Tap or click to select the ones you want to install, and then tap or click Install.  You may need to restart Surface after the updates have been installed. 

Thanks!

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T17:41:58+00:00

    The battery drain and Bitlocker issue seem to be connected for me.  

    In the last 3 days, I have woken up to a completely dead battery twice.  I was charging during the day and working fine on battery in the evenings.  Then I go to use it again in the morning and battery icon.

    I put it back on charge and upon start up, I need to enter the Bitlocker key.

    I ran a battery report and it shows the overnight drop in power:

    2013-12-0905:45:34 Suspended 90 % 27,398 mWh
    2013-12-1008:22:57 Active AC 3 % 897 mWh
    09:04:05 Connected standby AC 32 % 9,728 mWh
    09:04:08 Active AC 32 % 9,728 mWh
    09:04:12 Connected standby AC 33 % 10,032 mWh
    12:00:26 Connected standby Battery 100 % 30,537 mWh
    12:00:26 Active Battery 100 % 30,537 mWh
    12:00:32 Connected standby Battery 100 % 30,537 mWh
    13:18:35 Active Battery 99 % 30,263 mWh
    13:18:35 Connected standby Battery 99 % 30,263 mWh
    13:18:36 Active Battery 99 % 30,263 mWh
    13:19:23 Active AC 99 % 30,256 mWh
    13:49:44 Connected standby AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    14:05:09 Active AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    14:15:45 Connected standby AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    14:41:12 Active AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:24:30 Connected standby AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:47:44 Active AC 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:52:38 Active Battery 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:52:38 Connected standby Battery 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:52:38 Active Battery 100 % 30,567 mWh
    15:52:43 Connected standby Battery 100 % 30,613 mWh
    17:36:30 Active Battery 99 % 30,210 mWh
    18:00:24 Connected standby Battery 95 % 28,994 mWh
    18:00:29 Active Battery 95 % 28,994 mWh
    18:09:52 Connected standby Battery 94 % 28,682 mWh
    18:18:05 Active Battery 93 % 28,386 mWh
    18:44:34 Connected standby Battery 88 % 26,858 mWh
    19:16:37 Active Battery 88 % 26,851 mWh
    19:18:23 Connected standby Battery 87 % 26,547 mWh
    19:57:51 Suspended 87 % 26,554 mWh
    2013-12-1109:02:27 Active AC 32 % 9,690 mWh
    09:13:00 Report generated AC 39 % 11,810 mWh

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T19:24:06+00:00

    Yeah, I too had this happen to me again after the update...  now,  this is just the second time for me, so I am not having this happen daily like some others have said.  I'm still activated though... 

    Things I noticed before restarting to finish the update.  The system was not performing as expected.  Checking system settings and updates would freeze or become really sluggish...

    I honestly believe this problem is related to power/shutdown issues.  It is not completing some process when shutting down.  Mainly, I think this is caused when the battery dies...  the first time it happened to me, the battery died...  I also performed an update around the same time, so I am not concluding this.  Definitely the update is breaking this bond.  It is only happening to my surface as my BitLocker laptop is not having this issue.  I did however do a lot of testing with BitLocker and what can break the tie last week.

    It should boot into a state that it does not need this key, but when it I is left in some hokey state it forgets the key and cannot open the drive..  something is throwing the key away.

    I will edit my post to activate windows as it is no the solution...

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T21:45:46+00:00

    I usually plug the Surface in when I go to bed so it can charge overnight.  Twice (at least) I have not plugged it in and both times it was dead in the morning.  Seems related to the issues you've outlined.  Thanks or going to this trouble.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T23:12:25+00:00

    Those are the same errors I see in my event log as well. I tried the online support chat with MS last night and they suggested the following: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/answers?tId=4075b6e6-0cad-4914-a8ce-67555a2cf1bd I was a bit uncertain since my case seems to be only after a firmware update and this article describes entering the recovery key every reboot. But I tried it just to see. It seems to rollback to the original Surface 2 Windows 8.1 as best as I can tell. I didn't get any bitlocker prompt after the recovery operation which was a good sign. Then last night it looks like it reapplied the 11/12 firmware update (I guess because it rolled that back during the recovery) so I had a prompt to reboot to apply updates. After the reboot I did not get a bitlocker recovery which I take as a very good sign. I guess the final test will be seeing what happens the next time they push out a firmware update, but at least i'm more hopeful it may be fixed for me. Hopefully this will help others with problems.

    Just an update on my experience with the latest firmware update on 12/10. After the update was installed I was able to reboot without going through Bitlocker recovery. It terms of some of the recent comments about maybe battery drain being a trigger. Normally I charge my tablet over night or every other day. But I did let my tablet completely drain after I got it to see how long the battery lasts. Immpretty sure this was before my first Bitlocker recovery prompt, so maybe a completely drained battery is an issue.

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