Bitlocker: What It Is and How to Use It to Encrypt Data

This guide explains Bitlocker, why it matters, how it works, and how to evaluate or use it in practical situations.

In this article I will introduce and guide the following issues:

- What is BitLocker?

- How to use BitLocker to encrypt data

- How to turn off BitLocker

- Restore access with Recovery Key

1. What is BitLocker?

BitLocker is an encrypted form to protect information and prevent unauthorized access. After encrypting BitLocker, you can still use the encrypted data normally. BitLocker security is stricter than using a simple password. With BitLocker, you can encrypt data either on a computer hard drive or on an external memory device such as USB.

Currently, this tool is built-in to Microsoft Supported operating systems products:

- Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Enterprise, Ultimate editions)

- Windows 8 (Pro, Enterprise versions)

- Windows 8.1 (Pro, Enterprise versions)

- Windows 10 (Pro, Enterprise, Education editions)

This feature requires the system to use the Trusted Platform Module 1.2 security chip (but you can still activate BitLocker on computers that do not support TPM chips according to the instructions of TipsMake. com ).

2. How to use BitLocker to encrypt data

Encrypting the system drive (Windows installation drive) is a bit different from the other drives at the beginning.

a) Encrypt the system drive

Step 1: Right-click on the system drive (in our example, drive C) and select Turn on BitLocker .

Wait for the system check process to complete. If the computer does not have a TPM chip, an error message will appear, then follow the instructions as at the end of part 1 I have introduced.

Step 2: Select the backup key recovery form (to restore access in case you do not remember the password). Here I choose Save to a file (save to file. txt).

Select a folder to save this file (cannot be saved in an encrypted drive).

Then click Next to continue.

Step 3: Select the encryption range: only the space used (fast, suitable for a new computer or drive) or the entire drive (takes a long time but suitable for the computer or the drive in use use).

Step 4: Select the encryption mode: New mode (suitable if the hard drive is only used in this computer) or compatible mode (if you intend to transfer the hard drive to another computer).

* New mode is safer, but only supported on Windows 10 version 1511 and later. Older versions of Windows will not be able to decrypt data in the drive if you choose to encrypt using the new mode.

Step 5: Check the box Run BitLocker system check , then click Continue .

Step 6: Restart the computer.

After rebooting, you will see the system drive has a lock icon.

b) Encrypt another drive (not a system drive)

Step 1: Right-click on the drive and select Turn on BitLocker .

Step 2: Choose the form of unlocking: use a password, smart card, or automatically unlock on this computer. In the example below, I choose to use a password.

Enter the password you want (2 times) and then click Next .

The next steps will be similar to the a) Encrypt the system drive . You can review and do it yourself.

In addition to the internal hard drive, BitLocker can also encrypt USB if you want.

3. How to turn off BitLocker

If you are confident that you can still secure data on your computer without BitLocker anymore, you can turn this feature off to improve system performance. In fact, if BitLocker is enabled, the read / write speed of the drive will be lower.

Step 1: Right-click on the BitLocker-enabled drive, select Manage BitLocker .

Step 2: Click Turn off BitLocker .

Show confirmation message, select Turn off BitLocker again .

4. Restore access with Recovery Key

In case you need to open an encrypted drive using BitLocker but you no longer remember the password you created, look for the Recovery Key (recovery key) that you saved. If saved as a file, open the file and copy the code from the Recovery Key .

Open the locked drive with BitLocker, select More Options > Enter recovery key .

Paste the copied Recovery Key code and press Unlock .

So through this article, you understand what BitLocker is, how to encrypt data with BitLocker, how to turn off BitLocker and restore access when you don't remember the password. Hopefully the above information will be helpful to you!