W11 is a really annoying operating system and it broke my whole day.
W11 is a really annoying operating system and it broke my whole day.
I bought a new laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 processor and a 1TB Samsung SSD, plus a different Samsung 1TB SSD that I bought separately. I installed Windows 11 on both drives and moved some of my old files onto the new drive. For two weeks, it worked perfectly because I set the BIOS boot order so the laptop started from the Samsung instead of the other one. On the desktop, both drives appeared correctly without any BitLocker locks or security symbols on them.
After a few months, I wanted to use the old drive again. So I formatted it, but that didn't work well because there were two other partitions I couldn't delete or format. Also, when I tried running Diskpart, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, I noticed an unlocked BitLocker lock on the Samsung SSD.
I took out the new drive and put Windows 11 from my USB stick back onto the old one. When that worked fine, I updated it, and everything looked good. But when I put the new Samsung drive back in, it had a BitLocker lock again! I never turned BitLocker on at all for either of them, and honestly, I don't even know anything about how BitLocker works. Microsoft automatically locked my drives now because they were unlocked before.
I tried to use Microsoft's built-in recovery feature, but I'm still not sure if I logged in with a Microsoft account or just a local login password all along. I don't remember using an account at all. All of my personal files are now lost and can't be recovered. Please help me!
Windows 10 on a laptop works the same way. If you log in with an online account, you can get your recovery key from that Microsoft account. It's not about the drive being locked; rather, it's about the whole device being locked. There is a small difference between them, but if you use the recovery key on your computer itself, it will unlock everything without any problem.
From now on, in Windows 8.1 and later, Windows turns on automatic encryption on devices that support Modern Standby. Also, in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft adds this feature to many more types of devices, including those with Modern Standby and those running Home editions. This new type of BitLocker is turned on automatically so your device is always safe. Here is how the automatic process works:
When you finish a clean install of Windows 10 or 11 and start using your computer for the first time, it gets ready. During this preparation step, encryption starts on the hard drives that store programs and personal files. A special code called a clear key is created to match what happens in normal BitLocker mode. When you see the drive in Windows Explorer, you will see a warning icon. This yellow warning goes away after your TPM protector is made and you save your recovery key. If your device isn't connected to an office network (domain joined), then a Microsoft account that has permission must be created. When someone signs in with a Microsoft account on this account, the clear code disappears, the recovery key goes online, and a special chip called a TPM protector is made. If you need the recovery key later, they will guide you to use another computer or visit an access page so you can get your keys by entering your Microsoft login details.
Is there any way to recover files on a Windows drive? At least I hope it's possible because I can't believe how bad things were for me.