Device Encryption

whs

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Device Encryption is a new facility in Windows 8.1. It applies only to small devices that meet certain requirements. It can be a great help bit also a pain depending how you use your device.

I have been playing around with it for a while and documented my findings. I have uploaded my experience report to my OneDrive. If you left click on the tile in OneDrive, you can read it in your browser. If you right click on the tile in OneDrive, you can download the PDF.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Does anybody else have such a device encrypted device. Would be nice to share the experience.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Hi there,

I don't seem to have rights to read your OneDrive link?

Does anybody else have such a device encrypted device. Would be nice to share the experience.
I have a 32GB tablet-style device running 8.1 with Bing.

It didn't come encrypted from the factory, but I switched on Secure Boot and that made it start encrypting itself, but only when I logged in with a Microsoft Account (not a Local Account) which had administrator-level rights. I believe the reason is that it is automatically saving the encryption key on Onedrive.

I've been able to take backups with Macrium Free while encrypted, although I've not tried restoring them.

Switching off Secure Boot while encrypted made it go into Bitlocker Recovery mode. However as you know, it is possible to de-crypt it within Windows, and once that was done, switching off Secure Boot worked fine. It is currently de-crypted I think,

Mine allows me to get into UEFI/BIOS settings with a Shift-Restart and the other normal routes from within Windows, but I set that up before the Secure Boot was turned on. Even with Secure Boot on, I can still press a key (assuming I plug in a keyboard) at startup and get into the BIOS.

If there's anything you'd like me to try then I'd be happy to give it a go.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Sorry David, the link was broken. Could you try again and let me know whether it worked.

The problem with imaging is that you need an UEFI recovery media. I'll get back to the other points later because I have to run to a meeting now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Sorry David, the link was broken. Could you try again and let me know whether it worked.
Hi Wolfgang, Thanks for that - yes the link works for me now.

One thing you might want to mention is how to get at those keys saved in Onedrive - I think they are at: https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey
The problem with imaging is that you need an UEFI recovery media.
I could get it to boot from a recovery USB made with Macrium Free (using Windows PE version), if that's what you meant. My device is 32 bit which might make a difference? I can perhaps try one or two things tomorrow evening with mine for comparison if that would help?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Hi David,

Thanks for the link for the key. You are right, I should add that.

The problem I had with the images was not with imaging per se (although AOMEI did not work), but I could not boot from the recovery flash drive. In my BIOS there is no option to set it into legacy mode. I used a recovery drive from my big system which is MBR. Maybe that is the problem. You probably produced the recovery drive from within the Macrium on 8.1. I should try that. My recovery drive that I produced from the 8.1 recovery partition does boot. But that is UEFI. My little system is also 32bit.

Mine allows me to get into UEFI/BIOS settings with a Shift-Restart
That's how I got back in when I bricked it for the first time. F9 did not work any more and I had no images yet. I refreshed it. The second time I bricked it was simpler. It repaired itself. I had changed the file format of the EFI partition by assigning a drive letter with Partition Wizard. I did not know that a drive letter assignment would change the file format. You live and learn.

Thank you very much for your cooperation. I like to play with this little guy. It's a lot of fun and for the $99 I paid for it I certainly get my money's worth out of it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
You probably produced the recovery drive from within the Macrium on 8.1. I should try that.
Yes - the laptop I used daily is running 8.1, and I think I made the Macrium Boot USB using that, with a recent version of Macrium and (because my laptop is old hardware) the 32-bit version of Macrium and hence 32-bit WinPE.
I like to play with this little guy. It's a lot of fun and for the $99 I paid for it I certainly get my money's worth out of it.
Yes I paid £60 for my tablet - some of these recent Win 8.1 devices are very good value. It's only 1GB of RAM and a tiny screen, but in all other respects it's a proper Windows 8.1 computer for not much money.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
David, Have a look at the updates I made in the tutorial. I included the link you posted (thanks again) and I also included the macrium imaging capability after I made the recovery stick from withing the UEFI macrium. That actually worked.

My problem was that I cannot set legacy mode in the BIOS. This BIOS does not have that option. But what can you expect from a $99 laptop. Now they sell it for $149 which is still a good deal.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
32Bit - UEFI?? ATOM cpu??
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
32Bit - UEFI?? ATOM cpu??

Yeah, runs real well, The Atom CPU is quad core. The disk is eMMC - a kind of SSD. Boot time is 24sec. The OS has a 7GB footprint at start when no programs are installed. I also have a 32GB MicroSD card for my data.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
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