Bitlocker enabled itself on Windows 10 Home edition without a notice and without permission

Anonymous
2022-06-29T22:51:13+00:00

After three years of owning a Dell Inspiron 13 (Windows Home) the computer somehow enabled Bitlocker on its own and encrypted my C: drive. Since I did not activate Bitlocker, I don't have the keys to decrypt the drive. My Microsoft account does not list any keys in it so there is no way to recover the keys as far as I know. Therefore none of the published solutions I have seen can work because they all assume that I have access to the keys. I see many similar complaints online (at least since 2018) and hundreds of "likes" so this appears to be a relatively common problem.

When booting, I see a message titled "BitLocker recovery" and it asks for the recovery key. It then says to "try your work or school account at: aka.ms/aadrecoverykey."

This suggests that the key may be associated with some active directory domain away from my computer. However, the admin account on this computer has, to my knowledge, never logged into an active directory domain, although non-admin users have. And, if the Amin account has connected to a Active Directory somewhere, I sure as heck did not give them a permission to encrypt my drive and lock me out of my computer, and give the key to some third party "work or school" account. If this is what happened, Microsoft, you have a serious security issue where third parties can effectively encrypt hard drives without permission using Microsoft's own tools. That is ransomware - without the ransom. But, this is still just a theory vaguely supported by this link https://hardsoft-support.kayako.com/article/99-windows-10-bitlocker-turns-on-without-a-notice

Here is a quote from the post: "Dell and Lenovo systems that ship with the Windows 10 operating system and are equipped with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) capability will have Microsoft BitLocker encryption enabled from the factory. It has been found that once the device is registered to a Active Directory domain - Office 365 Azure AD, Windows 10 automatically encrypts the system drive. You find this once you reboot your computer and are then prompted for the BitLocker key."

Since I don't know what possible organization could have encrypted the drive, and since I don't have admin access to them, the instructions in the article don't apply.

The laptop is Dell Inspiron 13 7370 - which I don't even think has a TPM chip built in it. BIOS is version 1.20.0. ePSA build is 4306.13 UEFI ROM.

So, Microsoft, how does this get fixed?

P.S. My other computers have Win10 Pro and and they have Bitlocker turned on, but this computer intentionally did not have Bitlocker turned on - and it was not supposed to be possible to turn on bitlocker on a Win10 Home edition. I am mentioning this to highlight that I did not "accidentally" trigger the Bitlocker being turned on - especially because it requires many steps and confirmations. The drive was simply encrypted one day with permission from me.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

104 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-07-24T20:46:53+00:00

    Well, someone needs to tell this information to this Lenovo laptop I have sitting here with Windows 10 Home, currently a brick on my desk with a bright blue "Bitlocker" screen on it.

    I'm not a coding expert by any means, just a PC repair guy...but if Microsoft is going to put something on a distribution (Pro or otherwise), they need to do a better job of either a) telling the end user that there is this mysterious application that "isn't supposed to work on your computer but might" and that they should back up THIS code immediately ...or b) not give users the chance to *not* back up their codes on legit BL Pro installations ...or (my favorite) c) spend less time "protecting" a machine that likely will never leave someone's private computer desk and spend more time preventing their core OS from constantly crashing when it doesn't like something it sees.

    Just my .02

    Guess I'll wipe this client's Windows 10 Home hard drive and just tell them a program that Microsoft said isn't on their computer caused it

    /sarcasm
    /sadface
    /thanksforkeepingmeinbusiness

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-05-16T23:46:59+00:00

    I own a computer repair shop in MI, I've seen this a lot starting around sept of last year (2022). Yes it's on HOME editions, not Pro or other and it is being activated without user consent (90% of the people don't even know what it is!), I've had to reset about a dozen and was able to get access to the keys for another couple dozen so yeah something going wrong on Windows side. Thankfully it does store your recovery key in your MS account if you have access but if you don't your up a creek.

    Additionally, after this error, I've seen installer packages not recognize the version of Windows you have installed and refuse to install (specifically Nvidia drivers). No apparent fix but to reinstall.

    For what it's worth, I think it is BIOS related, at least mine was.

    I turned off TPM to stop getting Windows 11 notices because they are insufferably persistent and crafty by repositioning responses. When I rebooted after changing that setting, Bitlocker was turned on. I reset to default BIOS settings and rebooted and was able to get to the OS (Win10) normally.

    If this is some sort of insidious way of keeping people from avoiding a Windows 11 install, I honestly wouldn't doubt it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-25T05:50:07+00:00

    I recently experienced a "crash" and had to reinstall Windows 10 (Home). Not only did Bitlocker appear on my system, it locked me out of one of my crucial drives I use for my business. I have no clue how to recover my bitlocker ID or Password. I have NO PATIENCE with this type of BS!

    With all the available encryption software available, I see no reason to activate a system especially without permissions...

    If you have a solution to unlocking my External HDD it would be greatly appreciated. And NO, I cannot format. I have essential information and documents on the drive I need to use and recover.

    Thanks,

    FD

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-23T01:26:54+00:00

    Sorry to let you know, your statement is wrong. I have a laptop that has BitLocker installed and active without my permission. I am not sure if the HP came that way with windows home 11 now with 22H2 loaded. I can go into Device Encryption and turn it off which would decrypt the drive. My other two desktops do not have Bitlocker available.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-10-24T19:46:56+00:00

    I've tried 3 times posting to this thread and for some reason it is not allowing me to complete my thoughts. It's as if someone does not want me to post. But let's move past conspiracy theories.

    In a nutshell, I registered my laptop with Microsoft. I have bitlocker key, but bit locker was turned off. 2 weeks agon my laptop loses access to my C drive, and I'm left with an X drive. X is a very limited drive, with bare minimal drivers. Most of the cmd prompt commands do not work, you need the C drive for that. When I try to unlock my bit locker, it does not accept my key, which is why I think I may be a victim of ransom ware - the BitLocker Virus. Anyone else heard of this virus? But after reading these posts, I'm wondering if it's a recent update to MIcrosoft. In either case I have found no resolution, with the following exception:

    The X drive is bare minimum on drivers. Divers for my C drive were missing. So, I found what drivers I needed from Intel and installed them - unfortunately they must be reinstalled each time I reboot as the X drive is a small boot drive. However, once I installed the correct drivers, I could see my C Drive. I tried accessing this drive, but the bit locker key window pops up, but my key, the one I saved upon registration of my laptop no longer works. I've tried everything I think trying to turn off, remove, and stop bit locker from initiating to no avail.

    I don't remember seeing a ransom note so no idea if it is a virus, all I know is I can't access my files. So, anyone and/or Microsoft, you got any solutions or even heard of the Bit Locker Virus? I've run Malware and other kinds of virus removers. Microsoft Defense is not available as it not on the X drive, but the C drive.

    At this point, I'm ready to hold an "Office Space" party. But rather than taking it out on a fax machine, I chuck the laptop into the canal in back.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments