anguilla1980 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 So the motherboard failed on my laptop. I have BitLocker enabled and I know my passcode, BUT I had my generated key on a flash drive that now will not read I am trying to connect the hardrive via a USB adapter so I can hopefully just enter my BitLocker passcode but the computer I have it plugged into does not even see the main partition. Any ideas how I can get the computer to see the partition and ask me for my passcode? Or am I screwed because I don't have my key file anymore? I've never tried doing this via USB, any help is appreciated! Thanks! EDIT: When I plug it into my other Windows 8.1 laptop via the USB adapter, I can go into BitLocker in the control panel, it sees the drive no problem now and see it's locked. It has a link to unlock it but its asking for "48 digit recovery key" and not the 6 digit BitLocker boot passcode that I have. So what can I do since that key was on that flash drive that won't read? Am I screwed just because I only know my passcode?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 So what can I do since that key was on that flash drive that won't read? Am I screwed just because I only know my passcode?! Pretty much, yes. Thats why you store duplicates of such things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anguilla1980 Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Pretty much, yes. Thats why you store duplicates of such things. Yeah my original of the key is on my user desktop for the profile on that drive, I made a copy of it for good measure onto a flash drive and never imagined the flash drive would just go bad I Google'd on why and my best guess is static electricity the way I had the drive stored for the past couple years. Well crap, am I for sure 100% screwed? I just want to be sure before I format the drive. I have allot of irriplaceable stuff on that drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Yeah my original of the key is on my user desktop for the profile on that drive, I made a copy of it for good measure onto a flash drive and never imagined the flash drive would just go bad I Google'd on why and my best guess is static electricity the way I had the drive stored for the past couple years. Well crap, am I for sure 100% screwed? I just want to be sure before I format the drive. I have allot of irriplaceable stuff on that drive Unless you can get the flash drive working again, yes. You can possibly have the chip read if you send it off (somewhere like http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/ ) and have them recover and send you the data back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anguilla1980 Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ok, thanks. I'll try some various flash drive recovery tools. No matter which of my other 3 computers I plug it into it just wants to format the flash drive That really sucks, almost worthless even having a passcode then if the key is 100% required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan R. Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 You should be able to go http://onedrive.com/recoverykey and see your key. I've had the same issue where my flash drive got washed in my pants pocket and wouldn't work. I was able to get the key from my phone on that site. b10h4z4rd 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anguilla1980 Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 You should be able to go http://onedrive.com/recoverykey and see your key. I've had the same issue where my flash drive got washed in my pants pocket and wouldn't work. I was able to get the key from my phone on that site. I tried that, it showed nothing. No keys from any of my computers. I did however take the opportunity to upload the saved key files I do have for my other computers to my documents folder on my OneDrive. I just never used it before because I'm really weary about cloud security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan R. Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I tried that, it showed nothing. No keys from any of my computers. I did however take the opportunity to upload the saved key files I do have for my other computers to my documents folder on my OneDrive. I just never used it before because I'm really weary about cloud security. Damn dude When I set mine up, I did the same thing as you with the flash drive but I also hit the button that said to back it up to Microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anguilla1980 Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Damn dude When I set mine up, I did the same thing as you with the flash drive but I also hit the button that said to back it up to Microsoft. Call me paranoid but I just inheerently don't trust that online storage is 100% secure so at the time I felt safer having a physical copy on a drive in my safe. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't lol. Bryan R. 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Sorry if I sound like a troll, but this is one of the main reasons i dont encrypt much of my own stuff (obviously cc and bank accounts, but they handle that on their own), like photos and whatnot... If someone wants to see my naked ass, go ahead, steal my photos Anibal P 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted April 4, 2015 MVC Share Posted April 4, 2015 This thread is example #1 of why there is no point to encryption for the home user. They don't follow proper backup procedure, they don't understand what they are actually doing and just think encryption is kewl. They have nothing of value that requires encryption.. What exactly was on this computer that required encryption?? Your resume? Your bookmark to neowin? Pictures of your cat? "I have allot of irriplaceable stuff on that drive" So not only not following proper encryption key backup procedures, doesn't have a backup of irreplaceable files.. Dude this should be huge lesson learned if you ask me.. BACKUP YOUR ######!!! Only encrypt stuff that is warrants encryption, password dbs, to be honest that is about it on a home computer Anibal P and Aergan 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binaryzero Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Encryption is the cool thing to do now, just like compression was in the 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Call me paranoid but I just inheerently don't trust that online storage is 100% secure so at the time I felt safer having a physical copy on a drive in my safe. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't lol. Nothing is truly secure, even your PC. Given the time, and assets, anyone can break into your PC. The thing is, who the hell wants your personal files? If you're storing PII, then you deserve to get smacked. =/ I use cloud storage, I use it at work too, and I've never had a single problem with it. There are a lot of Data Recovery Tools out there, check 'em out. Also, before you start screwing with the drive, BACK IT UP. Clone it somewhere else if you can. Anibal P 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted April 5, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted April 5, 2015 You can try this fix, though I suspect most people would rather just give up and lose the data. http://infar.be/index.php?/archives/1002-My-experiences-with-USB-FLASH-drive-drive-repair.html#extended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStaUK Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Just so I'm clear when you booted your laptop did you have it set to require a passcode and the USB connected at the same time to unlock the drive and allow boot? Or did your laptop have a TPM module installed and required just the passcode? I'm guessing the latter and what's on the USB is the recovery key? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anguilla1980 Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Just so I'm clear when you booted your laptop did you have it set to require a passcode and the USB connected at the same time to unlock the drive and allow boot? Or did your laptop have a TPM module installed and required just the passcode? I'm guessing the latter and what's on the USB is the recovery key? The later, before booting it would just ask for my BitLocker passcode, then it would boot and I could log in. The laptop was used partially for work. The point of the security is so that if the laptop was stolen, physically let's say, I can legally show that I did my due dilligence protecting the data of clients if I'm sued for that. Far as backups, they only happen once a week, so I have an entire weeks worth of work that I'd loose. Not the end of the world but it was certainly worth trying to recover and making this thread just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnónna Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 don't know if this is of any use, use this link it's 100% safe and will only take you to your bitlocker recovery key that is unique to you as you need to be logged into your windows 8/RT hotmail/outlook email mail account https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey that is if it's part of windows 8 I think don't really know if it will help you though EDIT: When I plug it into my other Windows 8.1 laptop via the USB adapter, I can go into BitLocker in the control panel, it sees the drive no problem now and see it's locked. It has a link to unlock it but its asking for "48 digit recovery key" and not the 6 digit BitLocker boot passcode that I have. So what can I do since that key was on that flash drive that won't read? Am I screwed just because I only know my passcode?! Edit: after rereading the OP, and checking my own bitlocker when I login using that link I get 2 codes hope it works for the OP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStaUK Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The later, before booting it would just ask for my BitLocker passcode, then it would boot and I could log in. The laptop was used partially for work. The point of the security is so that if the laptop was stolen, physically let's say, I can legally show that I did my due dilligence protecting the data of clients if I'm sued for that. Far as backups, they only happen once a week, so I have an entire weeks worth of work that I'd loose. Not the end of the world but it was certainly worth trying to recover and making this thread just in case. Assuming the USB drive is not recoverable and the motherboard is equally beyond repair it would seem you are going to be out of luck. I presume it was you that enabled Bitlocker and not another person who may have retained a recovery key? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romero Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 as others have said before you could try and swap over the flash memory of the drive to one that is compatible but doing this is not 100% guaranteed to work and you need to make sure the donor dive is an exact match unless you have access to equipment that can dump the content. Lesson to learn from this make backups of your recovery keys when you are encrypting your data in situations like yours. home users don't really need to do encrypt unless they know what they are doing, the best solution for the average Joe is to have a proper backup plan. sorry to hear about your situation and i hope you can get access to the client data again. A better solution for you might be to have the data held on a data store that is backed up often and can only be accessed via a VPN. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Sorry if I sound like a troll, but this is one of the main reasons i dont encrypt much of my own stuff (obviously cc and bank accounts, but they handle that on their own), like photos and whatnot... If someone wants to see my naked ass, go ahead, steal my photos Meh, it was overrated anyways. Don't bother, folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnónna Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 It's not. ah right so, though it might since windows 8 stores the bitlocker code in onedrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Meh, it was overrated anyways. Don't bother, folks. What was overrated as others have said before you could try and swap over the flash memory of the drive to one that is compatible but doing this is not 100% guaranteed to work and you need to make sure the donor dive is an exact match unless you have access to equipment that can dump the content. Lesson to learn from this make backups of your recovery keys when you are encrypting your data in situations like yours. home users don't really need to do encrypt unless they know what they are doing, the best solution for the average Joe is to have a proper backup plan. sorry to hear about your situation and i hope you can get access to the client data again. A better solution for you might be to have the data held on a data store that is backed up often and can only be accessed via a VPN. My life basically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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