Question ***SOLVED*** 11 pro BitLocker now SATA drive is inaccessible HELP

[scenarioL113]

I have a new system and running Windows 11 PRO. The PC is all installed and Win 11 is installed on an SSD. I then installed my 3.5" sata 6TB drive with no probem that had been installed in my Windows 10 machine. I then had to take the drive and put back into the win 10 machine to copy some more data from another drive and when I put back in the new Win 11 machine the drive is now totally not accessible. I turned off Bitlocker and turned it back on and I just get this nag screen that says

"The BitLocker encryption on this machine is not compatible with your version of windows. Try opening the drive using a newer version of windows"

I am using the newest version of windows and it will not work on any version....


Any suggestions. I have been working on this for hours and honestly dont know what to do.

 

[helpstar]

are you sure that it's saying" it's not compatible on this machine" and not "on this drive"?

 

[scenarioL113]

@helpstar sorry you are correct this is what it says. The pad lock avatar that is on the drive icon has also changed to a gold padlock where before it was gray and blue. It changed for sure when I installed it back in the new machine and when I booted it the pc ran dick check... idk, i dont have a good feeling...

The BitLocker encryption on this DRIVE is not compatible with your version of windows. Try opening the drive using a newer version of window

 

[helpstar]

maybe it was encrypted with the previous windows 10?

 

[scenarioL113]

It is possible. It is very confusing bc I never encrypted my drives before and I was caught off guard when I switched the drive. Nothing would transfer then I realized it had the Bitlocker installed during the switch.

Either machine I put the drive in I get the exact result of what I stated above.

The drive appears in the "devices and drives" on either machine but it does not show any info on storage or anything. It is there but not being read and has the now gold "lock" symbol.

Is there a way that I can run a disk check on this drive. Maybe from a command prompt?

I cant do anything thru windows to check it bc it is not accessible...

Maybe from a boot?

I am tech savy to a point but this is a paygrade above me...

 

[scenarioL113]

***Follow Up***

I gave the drive to Microcenter and they were able to read it but wanted $500 plust the cost of a new drive so I said NO.

After searching it was suggested to use the program DMDE which is free but I opted to pay the $20 for an unlimited license to be able to save folders and subfolders at the same time.

It is working great and I highly recommend it for any that needs