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Solved BitLocker in Windows Home

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bubba1855

PCHF Member
Oct 23, 2017
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#1
I had a hard drive crash on my 10 year old DIY (you guys helped me build it). OS was Windows 10 Pro. Local pc shop was able to find and transfer pix and docs to an another old hdd. Since I'm now 76 years old I didn't feel like building a new pc so I purchased a Dell, which has Windows 10 Home...yes, Home. I transferred (cop;y/paste) the old files to a folder in my new Dell pc.
I tried to run Acronis True Image in order to clone the new Dell hdd to an external hdd. I get an Acronis error that says it can't clone due to BitLocker. After doing some googling, I learned about BitLocker for the first time. I think, but I'm not sure, that the old pix and docs that I transferred are encrpyted with BitLocker. Not sure because I can open them up, etc.
I was going to send an email to WDC but not sure how long it will take to get an answer and whether or not it would do any good. Any help would be appreciated.
Have a good day,
Bill
 
#2
Hello bubba1855,

Were the documents and pictures on a separate partition to Windows as in Windows on C: and the docs and pics on something like D: reason I ask is because being a brand name computer the bit locker would be put on the C: partition by Dell to protect Windows.
 
#3
Everything was on C:drive. Since I have Win 10 Home and not Pro I did not think that BitLocker would be in Win 10. When I open File Explorer and right click
on any folders and my old pix and docs I do not see any 'Manage BitLocker' choices. I did copy the old pix and docs files over to my new pc at the folder level not the file level. Does that make any difference? I guess I could delete all of 'old' stuff, including the folders to see if I can clone.
What should I try next? Thank you for your quick response.
Bill
 
#5
I've been googling more about Acronis True Image cloning problems on Win 10/BitLocker/Trusted Platform Module. The more I read and thus become more confused, the more I feel I should be using different cloning software. Would that be the solution to my dilemma? If so, please recommend one.
Bill
 
#6
Apologies for the delay, was up for work at 5am this morning :(

TPM is nothing to do with what you are dealing with, it is a security feature built into some Intel CPUs.

If you go into Devices and drives does the C: drive have either a gold or silver padlock on it.

You could try Macrium Reflect (free)
 
#7
nothing...no 'lock' of any kind. i did try aomei partition assistant...same problem, it thinks I have BitLocker on my C:drive. I deleted all of the old files I had transferred to the new pc (and erased from recycle bin) and rebooted and launched aomel partition assistant and still see 'Bit Locker' on my C: drive. It appears to be just one partition, but that blocks the clone process I think. I did make an emergency flash drive and created a restore point before starting all of this clone stuff. Could that be an issue?
thanks again,
Bill
 
#8
Eureka...you said TPM was not the issue. I started googling again...I came across a doc from Microsoft support about Win10 encryption...not BitLocker but encryption...
I followed the instructions. The doc always said that 'Home' did not support BitLocker...but apparently there is some kind of 'encrpytion'. Anyway I followed the instructions and found that my pc had 'encryption' enabled. I guess when 'Home' has encryption 'on' that various software believes it to be 'BitLocker'. I clicked on the 'off' block and 45 minutes later my C:drive was no longer encrypted. Go figure.
I ran Acronis without any problems...a little slow because my external cradle is only 2.0...but it worked. I will re-create my Win 10 Emergency Recovery flash drive just to be safe.
So now I have a cloned 1T SSD and I want to install it in my new Dell desktop as my boot drive, removing the HDD that came with the Dell pc, using the HDD as the 'target' for future clones/packups. Yes, I can do the hardware stuff. However, I have never worked with the 'new' BIOS UEFI stuff...the old BIOS yes, but not the new BIOS.
Would you like to help me thru the installation of the new SSD? or would you rather 'pass'?
Your call...
Have a good day,
Bill
 
#9
Sounds like you mean Windows Device encryption which can be applied to such things as the HDD and USB devices etc, bit odd that you could access the data but could not clone the whole drive, so now we know that Acronis has an issue with Device encryption as well as Bit Locker, good catch (y)

What sort of help do you need with the SSD, if fitting it, we will need the model name or number of the Dell so we can do some research.
 
#11
Phillpower2...you win...I'm getting confused reading various docs about how to do this hdd/ssd swap. The 'old' BIOS that I'm familiar with is much
simpler.
Here is my pc info stuff...Dell Inspiron 3671. Service Tag: 85DCR33. Express Service Code: 19129741599. The delivered drive
is a 1T WD HDD (currently installed and working fine). I want to install a WD 1T SSD. I want to remove the HDD in order to use it as my external backup. Running Win 10 Home. I have done the cloining from the HDD to the SSD.
Do you need anything else? If you would like screen shots, just let me know. I am in no rush, so if you have something or someone else who needs assistance, I can wait.
Have a good day,
Bill
 
#12
According to the Dell Inspiron 3671 specs here among the drive bays that the computer case has are two empty 2.5-inch hard drive cages, easiest thing for you to do is to fit the new SSD, leaving both cables connected to the MB SATA port and PSU respectively, disconnect the power and data cable from the present HDD and immediately attach them to the new SSD, you can either leave the HDD in place until you have had the SSD booted up or you can remove the HDD now and fully reassemble the case, your call, not sure on anything at all please ask.
 
#13
thank you for the update and your time...i have tried to use Dell Chat for almost a week but it seems to be down. I have sent them an email requesting links to any of their docs for swapping a hdd to ssd. I have not received a reply yet, but it's still early. I guess I could call them but my experience with them over the phone has never been good. I have read a number of threads on the Dell community forum, unfortunately, all seem to be about problems booting up and/or changing the boot sequence. No links on how Dell would recommend to do it. I think I will hold off installing the ssd drive for a few more days, at least until I get an email back from Dell. Also, I might get some good info from PCHF folks. We'll see. Looks like a 'work in progress'. As long as my pc, with the hdd, is working fine (which it is), I don't want to rush into the upgrade and really screw things up. I will check back here each day to see if I get any comments from PCHF members. If I get anything from Dell I'll be sure to post it here. When I finally take the plunge, I'll post my experience. In the mean time, have a good day and *** Bless,
Bill
 
#14
Phil, I have an 'information' question. I downloaded AOMEI Partition Assistant. It showed my C: drive and it's partitions. One of the partitions is colored RED. All of the others are colored GRENN. The partition is 13.55G and it says it's a '*.image' partition. No other info. Do you know what this is? Because it's RED is it a concern for me? The Acronis cloning software ran without any errors.
Bill
 
#15
All the Dell service information that you need here

The safest way to go about fitting the SSD was post in my reply #12#

phillpower2 said:
easiest thing for you to do is to fit the new SSD, leaving both cables connected to the MB SATA port and PSU respectively, disconnect the power and data cable from the present HDD and immediately attach them to the new SSD, you can either leave the HDD in place until you have had the SSD booted up or you can remove the HDD now and fully reassemble the case, your call
Click to expand...
If your computer is presently set to boot from the hard drive first by disconnecting the data and power cables from the hard drive and connecting them to the SSD when you power up the computer should boot straight from the SSD as it is a direct replacement for the hard drive.

The image partition is red for a purpose, it is warning for you to leave it alone and for good reason as it is your Dell factory backup recovery image of Windows and Dell software.
 
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