We have had some machines come in recently where the computer or laptop died and we were not able to get data from the hard drive as Bitlocker encryption had been enabled.
Unfortunately the user was aware that bitlocker encryption had been enabled and data was not recoverable as they did not know their recovery key.
It is extremely important to know your recovery key, if you need encryption, or disable encryption if you do not need it.
Encryption is useful in protecting your data if your device is stolen, but the downside is that if you do not know your recovery key then you cannot get your data either
In this video we show you how to check to see if encryption is enabled and how to look for your recovery key
Click on your Windows Key
Go to Settings
Type Encryption – Go to Device Encryption
Turn Off if you do not Need Encryption
If you need Encryption then do the following
- Go to Office.com
- Login in to your Microsoft Account
- Go to top right hand corner and click on account manager
- View Account
- Do to Devices
- Click on the drop down and View Recovery Key
