[SOLVED] Re-enable Bitlocker on Windows 10 laptop after Macrium restore

[CrispyBytes]

Hi,
I recently had a problem with Bitlocker on a Dell XPS 13 laptop, where it was asking for the Bitlocker recovery key, which I did not have. I think that it may have been triggered by a BIOS change.

The laptop has Window 10 Home ( v20H2 Build 19042.1348) installed on it, but Bitlocker had been enabled by Dell (which I believe is standard practice).

As I did not have the key, I restored a recent Macrium image, which was successful. As I understand it, Macrium images and restores the drive unencrypted.

I wanted to re-enable Bitlocker on the OS drive, but there are no "Manage Bitlocker" options in Control Panel (presumably because it is Windows 10 Home).

I wondered if anybody could please help me with the following:

1. Will Bitlocker still be operational in the background (but not accessible via the UI)? How could I confirm this?
2. If it is operational, will it have re-encrypted the drive? How could I confirm this?
3. If it is not operational, is there a way to re-enable it (without having to purchase Win 10 Pro)?

Any advise would be much appreciated.

 

[USAFRet]

Macrium images the drive exactly as it was at that moment.

If part or all of it was encrypted, that is what is encapsulated in the Image.
If the drive was unencrypted at that moment, it will probably be unencrypted in the Image.
How that relates to future application and recovery of that Image to a new drive...no idea.

Tread carefully, have known good backups.

 

[CrispyBytes]

As I understand it, the whole drive will be imaged unencrypted. The laptop has been used for a few weeks since the image restore and everything seems fine.

What I need to do now, is figure out whether Bitlocker is currently enabled and, if not, re-enable it. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/BitLocker+Restore+Outcomes

Macrium Reflect can be used to image, restore and clone volumes encrypted with Microsoft BitLocker encryption. Unlocked BitLocker encrypted volumes are presented to the OS in the ‘clear’, that is, they appear like any other file system. When creating a disk image that includes an unlocked BitLocker volume, the image will contain the file system in an unencrypted state. This has the advantage that intelligent incremental images are possible and also reduces the image size considerably. Unused clusters aren’t backed up and the unencrypted data will more readily compress.

 

[USAFRet]

Right.
An unencrypted drive will evidently Image as having no bitlocker at all.