Bitlocker and Keys on USB Drive
Hi All.. I've seen few earlier posts on this topic. Have got a variation on a similar problem. I had a working Bitlocker setup on my Shuttle SD37P2. At start-up Bitlocker was able to find the keys on my USB keyring drive fine... I recently bought a new Shuttle SP35P2 Pro... and swapped the encrypted drive over to this new machine. After entering the recover key to boot - and updating Vista's drivers for the new PC everything seemed to be working fine. However Bitlocker cannotread the Key from the USB keyring drive. It works fine when I insert a Floppy with the keys on it... but won't find the keys on the USB drive. The BIOS on the SP35P2 Pro can boot from a USB drive - and I've done this to prove it works. But I can't get Bitlocker to find the keys. The chipset is a new ICH9 FamilyIntel Northbridge and there are 6 USB ports... it doesn't seem to matter which port I plug he USB key-ring drive into (front or back ports), Bitlockerdoesn't find it. Does Bitlocker store some USB port information on its boot partition S: ? Should I try completely removing Bitlocker, re-preping the drive and start again? Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated...
November 10th, 2007 4:23am

Hi, Thank you for your post. This problem may occur if the computer's BIOS cannot read the data on the USB device when the computer starts. To resolve this problem, use one or more of the following methods: Make sure that the USB device is connected to one of the computer's USB ports. For example, do not connect the USB device to an external USB hub. Store the BitLocker key on a different USB device. The original USB device may not be compatible with BitLocker. Disconnect other USB devices from the computer. The computer's BIOS may not able to read the data on the USB device if other USB devices are present. Note. The order in which the BIOS detects USB devices may affect BitLocker. Contact the manufacturer of your computer or your motherboard to make sure that the computer's BIOS can read data from a USB device when the computer starts. You may be able to update the computer's BIOS to a newer version that supports BitLocker. USB Devices that are used to start Windows PE or other operating systems may not work with BitLocker. Reformat the USB device so that it is not used as a startup device. Also, you may be able to start the computer by entering the recovery password. Hope it helps. Thanks. Sincerely, Joson Zhou Microsoft Online Community Support
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November 30th, 2007 4:53am

Hi, I have the same problem with many computers in my company and I still didn't find any solution to this problem. I make all the suggestions that you propose: - Make sure that the USB device is connected to one of the computer's USB ports. For example, do not connect the USB device to an external USB hub - Store the BitLocker key on a different USB device. The original USB device may not be compatible with BitLocker I use different USB drive form different company and different size - Disconnect other USB devices from the computer. The computer's BIOS may not able to read the data on the USB device if other USB devices are present. I create a bootable USB drive and could boot from it, That's mean that theBIOS can read data from my USB device -You may be able to update the computer's BIOS to a newer version that supports BitLocker. I update the BIOS with the last version, but still didn't work - USB Devices that are used to start Windows PE or other operating systems may not work with BitLocker. Reformat the USB device so that it is not used as a startup device I reformat all the USB devices that I have and still can read the key (BEK file) at startup As you can see all the solutions proposed by Microsoft are not helping me. Entring the password from a paper is a last solution but I can't do it each time I restart the computer. Maybe after many months I'll be able to remember the code witch should be entered in order to start my computer but I can't remember all the codes for all the computers. That's mean that the last solution is not good....waiting for alternative solution....
February 6th, 2008 2:56pm

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