Windows 7 BitLocker drive Decryption

ianc1990

New Member
Hi,

I had set one of my drives to start Encrypting using BitLocker and it was taking too long so I decided to cancel the encryption.

This then started Decrypting my drive which was going well...

Now I keep getting an error message from BitLocker on the bottom right next to the time saying 'The Disk has one or more errors. Run chkdsk /r'' (image attached)

I run chksdk /r (does it upon startup) but there are no errors.

If I got into BitLockers settings, it shows the drive as 'Decryption Paused' but there is no option to unpause it. (image attached)

Is there any way I can get this drive to complete Decryption without having to format it.

It doesnt have an OS on it but its got ALOT of info on there that I need and it fairly large so I cannot really back it up.

I have attacked 2 images, the first one shows the bitlocker settings page and the second image shows the error message I get when i click on the BitLocker error on the bottom right.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Ian

moz-screenshot.png
 
ok.....

Hi there
i had the exact same problem for the exact same reason........

First lets try to resume the decryption by running the command

manage-bde -resume <drive letter>
example: manage-bde -resume E:

Note: Right click on cmd and “Run as Administrator” and then run the command.
You can also try using the “–off” switch with the BitLocker command line.

example: manage-bde -off <drive letter>


Hope the above information helps.

Regards
Joe
 
Last edited:
Thanks Joe.

I tried this and got quite excited as it said 'Decryption is now in progress' but when i ran manage-bde -status D: it said that its still paused so it hasnt made much of a difference.

I also tried manage-bde -off D: and it said the same as stated above but once again, its still showing as paused.
 
plan b

Hi there

try this...

Go Start Menu, select RUN, in the box that comes up type in CMD
Click Ok button.





When the command prompt (a black window) opens type in convert e: /fs:ntfs
then press the enter




sorry for the really really late reply
but i hope this works for you

Joe :p
 
Hi,

Thanks but still no luck.

It says - Drive F: is already NTFS (i moved the drive from E to F as I installed a new 1TB)

Sometimes when I copy files between hard disks/usb pens, the copy window gets fully stuck (i always open to view more info and the amount of data remains the same). After a couple of minutes, it resumes and completes the copy.

I tried setting the drives so they do not turn off after being idle, thinking this might be the issue but still the same.

Could this issue be related to this even though the F drive is not related in the copy?

I reaserched into this and seems to be the windows search that freezes the copy process and I have disabled the windows search service but havent tested this yet.

Thanks
Ian
 
1 more try

ok..let try this...

convert e: /fat32

if this doesnt work then im sorry but i give up
Good Luck

Joe
 
Unfortunately, none of this worked!

I eventually formatted both drives as I got a new terabyte in and backed everything up on that!

Re-installed WIN7 and all is good now!

Piece of advice to anyone who might come across this thread....

KEEP AWAY FROM BITLOCKER!!! :)
 
Not able to recover my Data from Encypted External Hard Disk

I started decryption on my External Disk and as it takes much time to complete, I paused it (its a process recommendation by BitLocker itself and resumes automatically once you plugin the drive back).

But when I plugged in next time, mistakenly the cable got loose and after that I am facing the problem in accessing my data. This disk contains some very critical data of mine and now not able to retrieve it.

I tried sending mail to BDE Support also on the their e-mail ID but even after 10 days, no response is received.


Unfortunately, my encrypted data has got this much corrupted that it has become almost impossible for me to recover. To remind, my drive got disconnected while the decryption was in process and this problem surfaced thereafter.


I have tried many options as suggested by all of you above but still, not even a single bit I could recover.


When I plug in my External USB Hard Disk, Its getting detected but once I start repair-bde, it gives an error (as below). I had to buy a new 1TB hard disk to recover my 250GB data. :-(


------------------
C:\>repair-bde F: H: -rp 426272-133386-019613-699127-677611-181819-151162-343233
-lf D:\log.txt
BitLocker Drive Encryption: Repair Tool version 6.1.7600
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.



ERROR: Cannot open 'F:'. Check that it is not currently in use. To continue
even when the volume is in use, add the -Force option.

-----------------------


Though the drive is connected and detected by notebook, but the repair tool is not able to read the drive.


It would really be very helpful to me if somebody can tell me a way to recover my data.

Thanks,
Himanshu

 
For what little it's worth, I had this happen and made it past it.

  • cmd --> right-click/run as administrator
  • chkdsk /r
Seemed like it just stalled out. Killed it. It didn't ask me to unmount the volume, which in retrospect I find odd.
  • chkdsk /f
Ran OK. It did ask me to unmount the volume.
  • chkdsk /r
Ran OK. This time it did ask to unmount the volume. Took quite a long time - 5 or 10 min maybe even. And this is on a 128G SSD.
  • Clicked on the icon in the status area (right end of task bar) and found that the decryption had resumed.
 
Hi, All you need to do is follow these steps - WORKED FOR ME!

1: Open Command Prompt in Administrator Mode
2. Enter manage-bde -off D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it
Note: Don't mind the error you get.

3. Enter manage-bde -on D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it

4. Open BitLocker Management Console
NB: You can press >Start or your windows Key
Type BitLocker and Click MANAGE BITLOCKER

5. Go to the LOCKED Drive and choose > Turn Off BitLock

6. If prompted choose YES. If password or key is prompted Enter

NB: If the drive was already encrypted and decryption was paused, Decryption will resume

This even works on Windows 10

If anything you can contact me
 
SkyJaguar Sadique it didn't work for me. Still it is paused and drive is inaccessible for some reason
although it shows on Disk Management just fine
 
If it's paused, you can resume whichever operation its on with manage-bde -resume C: replace C: with the drive letter. Pause/resume work on both the encryptin and decryption process and if you do manage-bde -status it should tell you which operation it is in. If it is encrypting and you wish to remove it after then once the current operation completes run manage-bde -off C:
 
If it's paused, you can resume whichever operation its on with manage-bde -resume C: replace C: with the drive letter. Pause/resume work on both the encryptin and decryption process and if you do manage-bde -status it should tell you which operation it is in. If it is encrypting and you wish to remove it after then once the current operation completes run manage-bde -off C:

It says it has one or more errors but when I chkdsk/r it doesn't show any errors or repairs them and repeat
 
Hi, All you need to do is follow these steps - WORKED FOR ME!

1: Open Command Prompt in Administrator Mode
2. Enter manage-bde -off D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it
Note: Don't mind the error you get.

3. Enter manage-bde -on D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it

4. Open BitLocker Management Console
NB: You can press >Start or your windows Key
Type BitLocker and Click MANAGE BITLOCKER

5. Go to the LOCKED Drive and choose > Turn Off BitLock

6. If prompted choose YES. If password or key is prompted Enter

NB: If the drive was already encrypted and decryption was paused, Decryption will resume

This even works on Windows 10

If anything you can contact me



Hi, Thanks for the information.. I have received the error "decryption paused". So I run the command Manage-bde -resume C:.. So the decryption is in progress. I checked the status again..it still 4.1%.. How can I make the machine to be encrypted again...Attaching the screenshot... Thanks
 

Attachments

  • bitlocker - decryption paused.JPG
    bitlocker - decryption paused.JPG
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Hi, All you need to do is follow these steps - WORKED FOR ME!

1: Open Command Prompt in Administrator Mode
2. Enter manage-bde -off D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it
Note: Don't mind the error you get.

3. Enter manage-bde -on D:
Where D: is the drive letter so replace it

4. Open BitLocker Management Console
NB: You can press >Start or your windows Key
Type BitLocker and Click MANAGE BITLOCKER

5. Go to the LOCKED Drive and choose > Turn Off BitLock

6. If prompted choose YES. If password or key is prompted Enter

NB: If the drive was already encrypted and decryption was paused, Decryption will resume

This even works on Windows 10

If anything you can contact me
it worked.....thanku thanku thanku so much....:)
 
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