Lenovo 100s ideapad Bitlocker problem after Windows update Nov 2018.

Thanks for the update! 

I called again yesterday and Microsoft told me the latest action they recommend is to (surprise surprise!) call Lenovo and see if they can enable a secure boot UEFI (no, they cannot) or else get them to downgrade the BIOS to the previous version (ie the one before Microsoft's update that created this issue) which Lenovo also confirmed they cannot because they don't keep copies of the BIOS. 

Another waste of time and nothing done.....five months and Microsoft cannot provide a solution

Kind regards

Greetings, Fellow Casualties of Microsoft,

I must jump in here because I encountered the exact same problem, but I have a few twists to my experience that take it to another level. They may just form the foundation of a mystery novel. What do you think of this title?

THE MYSTERY OF THE TECH WHO DISAPPEARED

When the Windows 10 update was pushed out, my Dell PC crashed, and my hard drive became encrypted by Bit Locker. I had no Bit Locker key because I didn't install it. It didn't show up in my Microsoft account or in any emails, either.

Like many of you, all I got was the blue recovery screen. There was no such thing as "starting up" my PC. All signs of Windows were gone. The PC wouldn't even boot. A tech I engaged did finally get to the BIOS screen, but none of the suggestions above worked. 

The difference between my situation and some of yours was that I HAD to save the hard drive. I couldn't let it be wiped clean by having Windows 10 reinstalled on it. Why?

Three rather devastating situations:

1. Something awful happened to my backups when my hard drive data was eaten by Bit Locker. My backup in One Drive online was corrupted in an ugly way. I had only about a third of the folders I used to have before the update, and half of those folders were empty shells. Nothing inside.

What about an external hard drive, you ask? I did have a Seagate that my Dell was backing up to nightly and remained connected to all the time. Kind of overkill with two backup systems, right? But you'll see why soon. However, much of the data on the Seagate inexplicably disappeared as well.

So, there I was with a hard drive full of data I couldn't get to (and maybe just as corrupted as the rest), a One Drive folder that was useless, and a Seagate external hard drive that was just as bad.

But I couldn't let just anyone try anything on that hard drive because the data was so valuable.

How valuable, you ask?

2. I'm a freelance writer and speaker coach by trade. I had ghostwritten a third of a book and 90% of a book proposal for a client who had a publishing agent already eager to see it. The book was going to pull the covers on some technology giants--sort of the next generation of Lean In for female technology leaders. My client works for a large enterprise software company, and we were both excited when a book agent showed such early enthusiasm. 

I was finishing the book proposal for my client's approval in December. It took almost a month to put together, as they are long, complicated packages. 

Then, Microsoft pushed out the Windows 10 update without giving me a choice whether or not to accept it. Suddenly, a blue screen. All the data gone. 

Of all the bits and pieces of data that were ultimately recovered from One Drive and my external hard drive, just by chance NONE OF THEM pertained to the book. Even the recordings of the interviews with my client, from which I was writing the book, were on only my PC's hard drive. If I had the heart to try to reconstruct everything, all the source material I had was now gone and would have to be recreated from scratch.

Thanks to Microsoft, not only did I lose the writing job, but I have to pay back a large advance. And my reputation? It was supposed to take off and soar with this book, but it has sunk back into gloomy obscurity.

I've saved the most expensive reason for last:

3. I am in the midst of a lawsuit and ALL the pertinent data I had been collecting for 18 months was on my PC.  It was my whole case. I'm disabled as a result of an auto accident in which my car was totaled, and the insurance company is likely to get away with paying me no more than a pittance. I had planned to get a settlement of at least $200k to pay for back surgery and help at home while I recovered for 6 - 18 months. Meanwhile, I'm on a walker instead of being the active person I was. The statute of limitations is running out. and I have no idea what I'll do.

However, things could be worse. From a much bigger and higher-minded perspective, I'm glad I'm not in the shoes of the clinical trial coordinator who wrote to the Microsoft community about the same issue. However, in his case, months of clinical trial data from an unfinished cancer study with hundreds of patient volunteers disappeared into a Bit Locker encryption. I sheepishly admit that my troubles pale in comparison.

I bought a replacement hard drive from Dell, but I wouldn't let them have my old one. It's sitting in a safe deposit box until I see how this turns out for you all. Personally, I've given up spending every waking moment on it (and many sleepless nights). My experience trying to get a solution from Microsoft has left me feeling completely exhausted and beaten. 

Here comes the strangest part of the story. Is there a corporate conspiracy going on?

After working with  some incompetent Level 1 techs at Microsoft and seeing US data recovery techs run at the words "Bit Locker Encrypted," I was introduced to a Level 2 Microsoft Support Technician in India.  We worked together for 3 week s-- every day for hours. I got nothing else done; this issue dominated my days and nights.

When he had finished trying all the possible solutions that Microsoft had to offer, he told me that THE ONLY WAY AROUND THE BIT LOCKER ENCRYPTION WAS TO USE NON-MICROSOFT DATA RECOVERY SOFTWARE. He knew of some that he said worked. If I could engage a private tech in Silicon Valley, he would walk them through the process to get around Bit Locker. He said it wouldn't decrypt the encryption (nothing could do that), but it somehow created a side door for access to the hard drive's precious data. I wasn't to tell anyone what he was planning. He said he would lose his job.

I found it surprisingly difficult to find a tech here willing to take direction from a Microsoft tech in India, but I finally found did and sent my Indian tech a phone number where he could reach both of us early the next morning. 

At the appointed time, my American tech and I waited for the call. It never came. I called him. I emailed him. I kept at it for a couple of days. I never heard from him again.

This issue has cost me three months of my life and a few hundred thousand dollars, unless I can get my data off that encrypted drive quickly.

I'm interested in a class action suit. Anyone care to join me? How can Microsoft keep getting away with pushing out software that is full of bugs while employing tech support that isn't trained to solve them?

Or does anyone know how to solve this problem yet? Thanks for anything you can tell me.

ST

hi all 

the latest update I have is that a level 3 agent will contact me at some time from micro soft they also gave me a telephone number

for their provisional team which was an incorrect number and reading some reports that hackers with access to you machine can get the keys

 and also it would appear that Lenovo also have a backdoor to your machine what chance have we got if I don't get a resolve soon I am going to open laptop and see I have done similar on a chromebook 

regards brrpage

HI Juanh2.

No, Microsoft just don't care. I have spoken to a 'Microsoft approved repairer' and he has told me that the update that caused all this was started to be rolled out, but then they found there was a problem with it so they halted the update, then resumed a few weeks later.

The person who is looking at my laptop is a 100% certain that it is microsofts issue, but like I said they just don't seem to be bothered in putting it right. The update they released created the bitlocker issue and it is not an easy fix as you can't reinstall the operating system from the bios. I will have to wait and see if it can be fixed and will update everyone once I know.

In the meantime there is absolutely no way that I am purchasing or using Microsoft products in the future as they have proven without a doubt that they do not care about their customers.

Sorry I don't have any better news.