I have two fixed drives on my new system:

A 500 GB Samsung SSD with the OS and programs; and

A 250 GB Samsung SSD with my Dropbox and other data files.

The OS drive is encrypted with Bitlocker using Hardware Encryption and TPM+PIN+StartupKey.

The Data drive is encrypted with Bitlocker using Hardware Encryption and its current protectors are listed as:

Key Protectors:

     External Key
     Numerical Password
     Password
     External Key (Required for automatic unlock)

Automatic-Unlock is listed as "Enabled."

However, when I start Windows the drive does not automatically unlock. This results in error messages from several programs that must be manually overridden. Then, I have to manually enter a password or point Bitlocker to the USB drive containing the recovery key.

I have tried disabling BDE, adding the password, re-enabling, etc. Nothing works! This seems like a textbook setup of bitlocker, but it simply refuses to unlock automatically, even though the OS drive is encrypted and the correct protectors are present. 

Am I doing something wrong? Or does Auto-Unlock just not work?

Auto unlock does work here dor a c: and d: setup on about 30 devices with 8.1.

The protectors for d: list as

 Numerical Password:
   ID: {1FE7C7AF-D6A5-4DE1...
   Password:
     XXXXX-XXXXX-...

 External Key:
   ID: {96463736-93ED-4107...
   External Key File Name:
     96463736-93ED-4107-AA...
   Automatic unlock enabled.

Note: it does not show your "(Required for automatic unlock)".

• Edited by Ronald Schilf 23 hours 12 minutes ago