Bitlocker question

[milestogo]

I have a 3yr old high end Dell laptop. It has Microsoft 10 Windows home edition. This year I had trouble charging it. I replaced the charger, didn't help. I replaced the battery, didn't help. Discussed with a friend who said, you're going to have to get the motherboard replaced.

My warranty was only for two years, so first thing I did was extend the warranty. I opened a case and shipped the laptop to Dell Service over a month ago.

So far I have talked with 5 service technicians, all of whom are asking for the BitLocker key. Windows 10 home does not have Bitlocker on it. I tried explaining this, but I get nowhere. Its like they think I've lost the key. So they ask me if they can wipe the system, and I say no, you shouldn't need to do that.

Edit: The laptop is not encrypted and I was never prompted to set up encryption. I am 99% sure that is not on this computer.

This morning I talked to a supervisor. I think he understood me, but all he said was ok, we'll skip that step.

I thought you could disable TPM in the BIOS and I told him that.

But now I am confused.

Can anyone help me on this?

[Gore1FL]

1. In Win 10, you have to turn bitlocker on. It may have been done pre-sale.

In Windows 11 it turns on by itself.

I can't speak to their process, but if it were me I would hook it up as a second drive in another device and see if I could read it.

[milestogo]

2. Thanks.

There is no option to use Bitlocker in the Windows 10 home edition. It was never turned on. I am fearful of what its going to be like when I get it back.

At this point I have zero confidence in Dell. I should have gone to the Geek Squad.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. Well, if device encryption is enabled on that PC and you don't have a key

either a password or a key on a separate drive like a USB drive, they won't be able to replace the mobo and make the computer work again (without a fresh install of Windows), because the main point of this kind of encryption is to tie the drive to the particular motherboard in use, in essence. Can't take the drive out and put it into another computer and read it.

'The computer' ... is essentially identified by its motherboard. So for all intents and purposes when you put in a new mobo, you have a different computer.

You can't defeat this simply by toggling off TPM on the new board, that would defeat the whole scheme in a very simple and obvious way.

So hopefully they're wrong and/or you have good backups

[milestogo]

4. I don't know how device encryption could be enabled on the PC

when the OS doesn't offer it. I never enabled it.

I think the techs are asking because they follow a protocol which was written for Windows 10 pro computer. But I really don't get anywhere trying to talk to them.

I think my stuff is backed up on OneDrive, but I can't say for sure. The failure happened suddenly, and then I had no power.

Thanks for clarifying the TPM issue.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. You're probably right about their protocol

But W10 Home has a built-in device encryption feature.

It's not Bitlocker but works similarly.

[milestogo]

6. But if it were active, shouldn't I have known about it and been prompted to make up a PIN?

Because I'm sure that I wasn't.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. Never set it up personally

Only discussing the problem you'd face if it WAS, and you didn't have a key to give them.

If you're sure you didn't enable, I'm guessing you're right

[milestogo]

8. I'm in IT but I don't do much hardware any more.

Usually the computers are under warranty. If a motherboard needs replacing, the Dell Tech comes out. If the user is not around, I know I'm going to have to get the bitlocker key. Its not a huge problem, but its something thats easy to forget about.

With a home computer - it never leaves the house so I see no reason to encrypt.

The Dell Techs who come onsite at work are fast and seem to really know what they are doing. The techs at Dell, not so much.

Its a shame you have to replace the motherboard for so many issues now.