How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

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PsychBiller
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:45 pm

How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by PsychBiller »

I am running Windows 10 version 1511 (build 10586.420) on my Lenovo ThinkPad W520 laptop. Image for Windows 2.99 is installed and working. The hard drive is fully encrypted with BitLocker using the XTS-AES 256 method. The encryption was done after installing Windows 10 as a clean install.

I followed the TeraByte tutorial and TBWinPE to create a bootable USB flash drive with Image for Windows so that I could use the manage-bde command to unlock the hard drive prior to backing it up.

The system boots fine from the flash drive created by TBWinPE. It automatically launches Image for Windows. I canceled out of IFW, and used the launcher to open a command prompt. I typed in the manage-bde command with my BitLocker recovery password, but get the error 'manage-bde' is not recognized as an internal or external command.' I even tried just manage-bde /? to see if Windows could find the utility but with the same results.

My understanding is that BitLocker support was not in the Windows 7 and 8.1 WinPE environment, and the WinPE-WMI and WinPE-SecureStartup optional packages had to be added to the boot image. Is this necessary with Windows 10? If so, how do I incorporate that into TBWinPE?

I am not a system builder or familiar with using these tools. Thank you in advance for any detailed instructions.
TeraByte Support(PP)
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:51 am

Re: How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by TeraByte Support(PP) »

Base WinPE doesn't include it. Normally, you would just create a TBWinRE build (instead of TBWinPE), which does include it.
PsychBiller
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:45 pm

Re: How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by PsychBiller »

Thank you. This would be great information to add to the TBWinPE/TBWinRE tutorial.
PsychBiller
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:45 pm

Re: How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by PsychBiller »

This might seem like an obvious question, but here goes anyway. Now that I have recreated my USB flash drive using TBWinRE instead of TBWinPE, I am able to use manage-bde and my hard drive's BitLocker recovery password to unlock the E: drive.

If I back up from this state using IFW, is the resulting backup encrypted or not? My guess is that it isn't.
TeraByte Support(PP)
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:51 am

Re: How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by TeraByte Support(PP) »

You would use the "Read from Volume" option when creating the backup to back it up decrypted. For the backup image file you can encrypt it with IFW or save it to another BitLocker volume if you want it encrypted.
PsychBiller
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:45 pm

Re: How to add BitLocker to TBWinPE in Windows 10?

Post by PsychBiller »

Thank you, Paul. Very much appreciate you answering questions on a weekend!
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