I've secured your system, but I can't assist with decryption. Please contact a professional for support.
I've secured your system, but I can't assist with decryption. Please contact a professional for support.
On very old vehicles, keys might end up locked inside accidentally
I wouldn't consider the system overly problematic. Users must understand their actions to avoid being locked out of their own data. I've worked with BitLocker before; encryption happens when the Windows drive is protected. The decryption key can be saved on a TPM module or a USB stick. Since I didn’t have a TPM, I kept it on the USB drive. After configuring everything, I restarted the system and Windows prompted for the USB key. Inserting the key restored normal boot. Without it, Windows wouldn’t start. There’s also a backup option using a recovery key stored in a text file during setup, useful if TPM or USB fails. The issue with the USB key is likely because it was encrypted—Windows can’t access it. It would have been better to avoid encrypting the USB, as it contained the decryption key. You could test on another PC; if BitLocker appears and asks for a password, enter it to try accessing recovery options. This discussion has been around for about a month, so you might already have erased everything and begun again.
This feature has several significant issues. It doesn’t properly save data to the CPU or motherboard, and there are many other problems like missing warnings during a BIOS update to verify the key. The support for this functionality seems limited to the motherboard manufacturer, but it’s unclear if users are clearly informed about the necessity of the password. There should be a stronger verification step before enabling BitLocker. Additionally, the presence of too many conditional requirements makes it seem unreliable. It’s also concerning that this feature is being promoted as safe even when the key is missing—this is clearly a major oversight. Also, I’m not the one who initiated this request; I wouldn’t activate such security measures or data protection tools.
They do go the CPU/motherboard as that's where the TPM module is located, it's also the biggest downsides of Bitlocker and any other type of drive encryption, because when your board dies, you won't be able to access your data. Bitlocker with the option of letting user save they key onto a USB address this problem, when a board dies or you want to do an upgrade, in theory, users can still still be able to their access on that encrypted drive, cause all they have to do is just plug in that USB that contains the key. If you know what you are doing, the bitlocker can be quite useful, especially for portable devices like a USB flash drive.