Bit Locker Recovery Key Requested at Boot Time

Anonymous

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

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Anonymous

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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115 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-12-21T01:21:52+00:00

My Surface 2 randomly decides every week or two to ask me to enter a bitlocker recovery key, which Microsoft helpfully suggests that I use another internet device to get from their website. This is annoying to say the least, as sometimes the ONLY INTERNET CONNECTED DEVICE IS THE ONE THAT MICROSOFT DECIDED TO LOCK UP ON ME.

Once I find another internet connected device, I have to log onto Microsoft's site with my live id, and then manually type in an insanely long string of characters to unlock the machine.

While I understand that this is suppose to be a feature to protect me, it is a misguided approach that is not user friendly in the least. Here is an alternative suggestion (besides killing the feature altogether) - pop up a logon screen to get my live credentials and validate me automatically, no second internet connected device, no typing in a long manual key, no bloody annoyance.

Now before you tell me that the operating system needs to boot up off of the locked hard drive before this can be done, I am sure that bitlocker could reserved a very small portion of the hard drive space to enable a ultra light operating system that asks for credentials, allows you to connect to a network and make a service call to do the verification.

What about it?
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Anonymous

2013-12-21T22:13:55+00:00

The bitlocker thing was something that started with the last update, 12/10 and Microsoft is aware of the problem and trying to fix it. Why it has been messing up on your device for awhile I have no clue.
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Anonymous

2013-12-23T02:36:25+00:00

Hej Tony_Du,

Is there any progress in solving this issue? The problem is very annoying. Owners of a Surface 2 who have this problem, and I am one of them, can’t be sure that the device is able to run when they need it!!!

Thanks,

/Wim

Yep. Microsoft you MUST fix this or provide an option to disable bitblocker on surface 2.

This has happened twice for me. It is tedious typing in the recovery key.
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Anonymous

2013-12-23T04:14:56+00:00

This is exactly what happened to me last week. The instructions are fuzzy at best, and it was about a wated hour for me.

M.
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