I just switched to zorin os from win11.
Everything went smooth but when I tried to open my HDD it says it's locked by "bitlocker 2".
I don't remember anything called bitlocker which I enabled.
Anyway, j even used my universal password which I use on random stuff but that didn't work. (Of course it ain't gonna work cause I didn't turn on bitlocker in win)
I have rare family photos + forever Minecraft world + game collection. I don't wanna lose any.
Note:
I installed zorin os on my nvme ssd and backed up everything I need on my HDD (which is blocked)
My father have a office PC which uses win10
Hardware i use:
Rx 580 8gb
R5 5600g
16gb ram
Asus tuf a520m plus II atx motherboard
Please someone help me... I don't wanna lose anything
That is going to be tricky to say the least. Having visited this site:
It states that Windows can automatically enable Bitlocker as part of the installation. Because you used Windows 11 it may only be possible to recover data using Windows 11. Having said that from my own experience in a work environment, where an XP machine died, reinstalling does not enable recovery of an encrypted partition or drive because with each Windows installation creates a new machine ID making recovery impossible. This is why I never use encryption as it can lead to data loss. I suspect you may have to pay a third party a substantial sum to recover your data. It looks like Windows 11 has automatically instigated Bitlocker without your knowledge. Just to add I do not endorse AnyRecover, it was one of the first returns in my search.
Depending on how important your data are to you, you might possibly retrieve them if you still have access to your Microsoft account, where you will (probably) find your Bitlocker keys, automatically backed up when you installed Windows with Bitlocker (knowing or not). If you find the keys, the only possibility that occurs to me (and I'm certainly no expert, having avoided Bitlocker as much as possible for exactly this reason) is that you try re-installing W11 on the same computer and use the Bitlocker keys to unlock your drive. Good luck...
Edit: A bit more info. I've just checked my own MS account and my Bitlocker keys (2 SSDs) are still there even after I removed Bitlocker and installed Zorin on my laptop. The address to find your key(s) is
(or Sign in to your account).
Hmmm... this site has helpfully changed the links to general sign-in URLs. Your keys will be in your account section under "Devices".
You mention that you've backed up your data, but you're worried about losing it. That has me a little confused
For a little background - a standard Linux installation can't decrypt BitLocker, even with the correct password. Just as Windows can't decrypt Linux's "LUKS" encryption - even with the correct password.
However, apparently there is a tool on Linux that can access BitLocker drives... i've never used it, or read anything about others' experience with it. Do some research before deciding if it's an approach you'd like to try:
If you can still login to Windows, you can disable BitLocker. If you do that, then the Windows drive will just be NTFS, and Linux can read NTFS drives.
Quick Solution for him who is reading this with the same problem:
If you don't remember setting up bit-locker then probably "Microslop" tried to force bit-lock your drive (kindof) and now it wants activation from you.
in my case, I plugged my drive in my father's Office PC and this message showed up in "BitLocker Drive Encryption" setting:
I just had to follow this video to deactivate it (2nd method worked for me):
Or, read this:
Note: Use this code " manage-bde -status " to check decryption status.
"percentage encrypted" will decrease and hit 0% which means percentage decrypted is 100%. This process will take long time. For me, it took around 2 hours, for you it may take more or less depending on the amount of data you have and the speed of your drive.
And everything should look like this:
If these doesn't work for you read "Things I found to try" and try those.
Long yapping:
Things i found to try :-
@swarfendor437 :
S1: Use third party recovery tool (paid) @DavidA:
D1: Get code from Microsoft account @d-man:
d1: "You mention that you've backed up your data, but you're worried about losing it. That has me a little confused."
d2: "If you can still login to Windows, you can disable Bit-locker."
d3: Use tool on Linux that can access Bit-locker drives. (Link posted by @d-man )
Myself:
M1: plug it in father's office PC.
Last hope -
M2: format drive and use recovery tool (by sailing the sea)
Answers:
S1: There is no surety that it will bring my data so i didn't tried. Also, I sail the sea
D1: I don't use Microsoft account. I just don't like them.
d1: I use that drive to backup everything and use my Nvme SSD for main works. Because of wanting to install zorin, i had to move everything on HDD. I know i shouldn't have done that but hey... i got back my stuff so it's ok.
d2: I didn't wanted to reinstall win11 on my PC again but my father's PC came in handy. Thanks for your suggestion! You saved me!
d3: "d2" worked for me so i didn't need to try it.
M1: Got the idea from d2 and the explanation is literally the solution above.
M2: I didn't had to do it. yey. but if anyone really need to do it please buy those stuff if you can but if not just sail the sea and thank those developers by however you can. But sad news for you, as the "More explanation video" explained, you are most likely cooked at this point.
Thanks:
Thank you everyone for this awesome OS. I struggled to move from win to linux. Used many linux distros but had many more problem. Only this Zorin distro went super smooth for me.
And many many thanks to the awesome people in this community to help me. Man, I'm really grateful for yall. I'll try to buy Zorin pro to support yall (i know sailing is not good )
Yea and not only that, they shove copilot into the system like no one asked without allowing removal from what I know...In fact, I dont know if thats true or not but recently I heard that 30% of Window's code is written with ai and thats why 11 breaks so often with updates...I personally switched to zorin 1 year ago before the damage was even done
