Well its happened to me, quite happily using Windows 8 with BitLocker (full HDD protection) when I hit the dreaded BSOD (with that stupid smiley face!). Windows has an error and it entered a boot loop. I have BitLocker setup to use a password as I don't have a TPM module on my laptop.
I went through the repair and it was asking for the BitLocker recovery key. OK no problem I thought.... Couldn't find it anywhere and panic set in after a day of looking for it. To cut a long story short, after reading lots of articles it looked like i had no hope and may data was lost. So I thought I would have a try at retrieval as no harm done. This is what worked for me (and was very simple!)
- I removed the HDD from the Laptop
- I plugged it into my Desktop Machine (also running Windows 8)
- I was greeted with this screen:
As you can see it has the BitLocker symbol so it has obviously recognised this as a BitLocker device - Right click on the BitLocker HDD and select the unlock option to get presented with:
- Insert your BitLocker password and it will then unlock and mount the drive meaning you can access your data. We need the recovery key so continue:
- Open an Administrative Command Prompt and type the following replacing <drive> with the drive letter of your BitLocker HDD
manage-bde -protectors <DRIVE>: -get
(e.g manage-bde -protectors f: -get) - Hey presto you will have your BitLocker Recovery Key password to do with as you please.
Just remember to keep it safe so you don't have to go through this process again. - Simply hook up your HDD back to your laptop, etc and you can use it where required.
