if I initiate Windows bitlocker as a non administrator, log off, and have a regular user log on, will the encryption continue with the regular user logged on. bill westman

Hi, Thanks for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. If you want to access the encryption drives, you must unlock them first. To turn on, turn off, or change configurations of BitLocker on operating system and fixed data drives, membership in the local Administrators group is required. Standard users can turn on, turn off, or change configurations of BitLocker on removable data drives. For more information, please kindly refer to the following link: BitLocker Drive Encryption in Windows 7: Frequently Asked Questions Hope it helps. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks. We're rolling out Windows 7 with Bitlocker. I log on as an administrator and initiate Bitlocker and it begins to encrypt. Do I have to stay logged on until it is finished(2-3 hours) or can I log off and log the non-administrative user on so he can do work? I not able to find anything on this in newsgroups. bill westman

Thanks. We're rolling out Windows 7 with Bitlocker. I log on as an administrator and initiate Bitlocker and it begins to encrypt. Do I have to stay logged on until it is finished(2-3 hours) or can I log off and log the non-administrative user on so he can do work? I not able to find anything on this in newsgroups. Answer: You can log off and BitLocker Encryption will still be running in background. But a user with Standard User rights cannot manage bitlocker. So to check the status he can go to controlpanel --> bitlocker drive encryption and see the status of the Drives. Also when we enable encryption on the volume, we leave only 6gb free on the disk until the encryption is completed. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee449438(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_FreeSpaceManoj Sehgal

Why 6 gigs? Bitlocker creates 300 MB in Windows 7. Vista created 1.5 ? gig partition. thank you both for the response. bill westman

Bill, 6 GB will be free on the volume where you start the encryption like the OS drive ( C Drive) or data drive. 300 MB or 1.5 GB paritition is system partition which is used by bitlocker and this partition is not encrypted.Manoj Sehgal

Hi, As we know, we can switch user without logging you off or closing your programs and files, then you can do work with other user accounts: Switch users without logging off Regards, Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

No further questions. I'll test both approaches.bill westman

Hi, I am just writing to check the status of this thread. Was the information provided in previous reply helpful to you? Do you have any further questions or concerns? Please feel free to let us know. Regards, Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.