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

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-02-27T22:34:56+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.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-11-23T16:08:32+00:00

    Im trying to activate bitlocker in an Asus with Intel (yes, TPM2.0) because I saw an Asus Vivobook Ryzen 5600h Windows Home edition with bitlocker enabled by default, even when I restored such ryzen powered some times.

    So, whats the deal? I would like bitlocked on my personal computer without paying a lot just for that functionality.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-09-20T14:15:31+00:00

    I am so sorry. I’m really out of ideas for your case as well. Did you set your computer up yourself or did someone else do the original install/setup. The only thing I can think of is that the bitlocker recovery key for your device is under someone else’s ms account

    Rick

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-09-20T07:21:31+00:00

    Thank you for your reply.

    I was able to log on my Microsoft account in my phone but the recovery key is not there.

    I really don’t know what to do I have emailed Microsoft and asked where I can complain to as am gutted about this! It’s so frustrating!

    Janet

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-06-29T23:34:00+00:00

    Hi K. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, here to help you.

    There is no possible way Bitlocker can install itself. It doesn't even apply to Home version without a major hack being done, which also cannot possibly be done by itself.

    If ti was Pro version it could have been done at the factory but they should have seen to it the key was stored in the new owner's Microsoft Account. Check there now just in case:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fin...

    If not try these to see if you can turn it off or uninstall it:

    https://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-10/how-to-turn...

    https://www.repairwin.com/how-to-remove-bitlock...

    Then see if you can recover your files:

    https://www.howtogeek.com/263561/how-to-recover...

    If not then there's one last thing to try before wiping the drive with Diskpart Clean Command to get rid of Bitlocker and reinstall WIndows. Try rescuiing your files using bootable media by one of these methods:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

    To create bootable media Follow the steps toward the bottom of the download page here in the section "Using the tool to create installation media:"

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/software-downlo...

    Then wipe the drive with Clean Command:

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase...

    and Reinstall Windows doing this gold standard Clean Install that compiles the best possible Install of Windows which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki....

    Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

    ______________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

    Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

    ______________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

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