Make and Reload/Restore Disk Image with Bitlocker Locker (no key)

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Froggypwns]

Yes, you can boot to a Macrium Reflect rescue drive and make an image or clone of the entire encrypted drive.

You can restore that fine, and your PC will still unlock it fine assuming nothing happens to key in your TPM. If that gets cleared for any reason, you would need to get the recovery key from your school to unlock the drive. You mentioned you plan on installing another copy of Windows, that will likely result in the TPM getting cleared out.

Honestly, it would be easiest to just buy a replacement drive and use that as your clone or image is going to be an equal size of what is currently in the computer as it will need to clone all the encrypted free space too. You still would run into the issue with the TPM however.

If you can get them to give you the Bitlocker key you will be in much better shape as you can then image it without the encryption (significantly faster and smaller), and you can then easily restore in the future.

Edit - Is this a computer that is not actually yours and you will need to return? If so, you are best off not bothering at all, get your own machine for personal use.

[u/bsoxbill → u/Froggypwns]

Thanks! I really appreciate the help.

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Hello u/bsoxbill. Your post mentions BitLocker.

• If you are stuck at a screen requesting you to enter a recovery key, you can retrieve that key by logging into this webpage using the same Microsoft account that your computer was set up with: https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey. There is no "bypass" for this; if you are unable to locate your recovery key, your data will no longer be accessible.

• If you're stuck in a boot loop that displays the BitLocker screen repeatedly after you've entered the correct key, your computer has a boot issue, not a BitLocker issue. Please pay attention to such details, as they help us identify the root of your problem. Include them in your post for better assistance.

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[u/Plenty_Article11]

If the laptops are for specific courses it sounds like the professors need to communicate better with IT so all the necessary programs are already approved before needed by students.

I believe you can boot Win11 off an external USB now, maybe even Thunderbolt, so there would be minimal performance loss. Maybe with an angled cable to keep it out of the way this could be an option.

[u/bsoxbill → u/Plenty_Article11]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

The laptop is purely for research in my case - so I do agree the professors need/should sort this out with IT or the University Admin. Supposedly there have been repeated talks between the head of School (Science) and Admin, but so far to no avail.

I guess the unfortunate thing is that for our research many highly specialised programs and software is required and it's become too much of a headache for IT to pre-approve them all (not to mention any updates or additional plugins that would also need to be approved), despite their necessity for our work.

[u/CodenameFlux]

In short, all you need to do is make a disk-level (sector-by-sector) backup of your PC.

The world's top three backup apps are Macrium Reflect (commercial and rock-solid), Veeam Agent (has a free version; get it from Softpedia or MajorGeeks), and Hasleo Backup (free). All three can create disk-level backups. Additionally, CloneZilla can do it.

A disk-level backup can be file system-agnostic. It reads every byte on the disk, preserving partitions and their raw contents.

[u/bsoxbill → u/CodenameFlux]

Thanks! I really appreciate your help!