Solved BitLocker Encryption on External Hard Drives

rogersabo

New Member
Messages
3
Recently upgraded to Windows OS 8.1 Pro and cannot encrypt my HP external hard drive. Encryption pauses and states that disk has errors and please run chkdsk. Ran chkdsk and no errors found. Had no difficulty encrypting the C drive with the OS. Any suggestions?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64 / Windows 8.1 Pro x64 Dual Boot
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    Memory
    8 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GE Force 5200
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP 2009M x's 2
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 900 x's 2
    Hard Drives
    One internal Western Digital HD 650 GB
    Three external Western Digital HD's - 1 TB each
I have followed the instructions that you provided and on all four attempts, it has not worked.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Go to the disk management and look at the external drive, under type make sure it says "Basic". Bitlocker can only encrypt devices which use that type.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64 Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sager NP2740
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4702HQ 2.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    W740SU
    Memory
    8 GB 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Pro 5200
    Sound Card
    High Defenition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250 GB mSATA
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps cable, NETGEAR Night Hawk AC1900
    Browser
    Firefox 38.0.5
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender & Malwarebytes Pro
Check your policies:

1. Windows key + R > type gpedit.msc

2. From the left side, navigate to the following:

Computer Configuration > Windows Components > Bitlocker Drive Encryption

Check all the policies in this folder and it's subfolders - including any policies pertaining to enforcing "read only" permissions
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 Pro
To all that have responded - thank you. I was able to encrypt the external drive by deleting all backup files from the drive. There was a lot of stuff on that drive and something must have been inhibiting BitLocker. After erasing the old backup files, it worked fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Back
Top