Windows Bitlocker

[thedoc46]

Anyone here use the built in bitlocker on Win 10 ? i used it previously to encrypt my external drives on Win7 Ultimate. Took like a day maybe to do a 2TB.

Anyway recently went to encrypt a new 4TB drive using Win10, and it has taken 48hrs to do only 28%

Making matters worse, is i read it was quicker to run bitlocker in recovery mode, so my computer has been in recovery mode for 48hrs making it unusable while it churns away.

I have since paused the encryption, and pulled the drive out, does anyone know if i can complete the encryption on Win7 cos 27% and two days non-stop churning away, is a bit of a joke.

 

[AHarvey]

You've pulled it out mid encryption? Surely that's going to mess things up?

I've used it and another encryption software recently.

500GB drive = 6 hours
1tb drive = 20 hours

That's on i3/i5 laptops. with win 7/10

Honestly the 3rd party software (DESlock+ Pro) was great, lots of info, easy enough to setup (although there was 2 issues but nothing that stopped it working) and it asks for a login before Windows even boots.

I set up Bitlocker and it seems to do nothing at all, loads windows normally, no extra protection etc. Not sure if missed something but I wasn't overly impressed with it.

 

[thedoc46]

You've pulled it out mid encryption? Surely that's going to mess things up?

I've used it and another encryption software recently.

500GB drive = 6 hours
1tb drive = 20 hours

That's on i3/i5 laptops. with win 7/10

Honestly the 3rd party software (DESlock+ Pro) was great, lots of info, easy enough to setup (although there was 2 issues but nothing that stopped it working) and it asks for a login before Windows even boots.

I set up Bitlocker and it seems to do nothing at all, loads windows normally, no extra protection etc. Not sure if missed something but I wasn't overly impressed with it.

No you have the option of pausing it before removing. It seems it was loads quicker under Win7 than Win10 to encrypt. I'm since encrypting within the O/S and its overnight 8hrs its done a whopping 5% of a 4TB drive.

 

[malachi]

You've pulled it out mid encryption? Surely that's going to mess things up?

I've used it and another encryption software recently.

500GB drive = 6 hours
1tb drive = 20 hours

That's on i3/i5 laptops. with win 7/10

Honestly the 3rd party software (DESlock+ Pro) was great, lots of info, easy enough to setup (although there was 2 issues but nothing that stopped it working) and it asks for a login before Windows even boots.

I set up Bitlocker and it seems to do nothing at all, loads windows normally, no extra protection etc. Not sure if missed something but I wasn't overly impressed with it.

If you are encrypting a normal internal HDD then bitlocker will stop anyone using the same HDD in another computer or if they slave it to access the data.

I don't see the point of using bitlocker on a normal desktop computer, using a normal password or even Windows Hello (if your computer supports it is fine)

For laptops or external devices bitlocker works great. Works better if enabled with TPM.

 

[adolf hamster]

i thought since windows 8 if you had a synced account it automatically encrypted the drive and kept the key with your account in that safest of places, the cloud.

although i can't for the life of me remember where i got that notion from

 

[kayomani]

I set up Bitlocker and it seems to do nothing at all, loads windows normally, no extra protection etc. Not sure if missed something but I wasn't overly impressed with it.

You need to set a passphrase else it'll just unlock automatically which defeats the point of having it enabled. They also restricted it to a pin by default but you can allow password by editing the group policy.

 

[malachi]

i thought since windows 8 if you had a synced account it automatically encrypted the drive and kept the key with your account in that safest of places, the cloud.

although i can't for the life of me remember where i got that notion from

Kind of right, once you have encrypted the device it gives you an option where to save the recovery file.

 

[m4cc45]

If you've set up Bitlocker then it will be, primarily, transparent. If you don't encrypt your C:\ drive then it's very easy to reset the admin password and gain access. If you do then, although it may seem transparent (for gods sake ensure there is a windows password and it doesn't log in otherwise there's no point in encrypting really) it means you can't use a boot cd to mount the drive and copy files off it, reset admin passwords, etc.



M.