Enabling BitLocker - Unmanaged Computers

This article pertains to computers that are not on the WIN domain.

Before Enabling BitLocker Verify your machine meets the BitLocker hardware requirements. Backup your data before you encrypt your computer with BitLocker, using a backup tool such as CrashPlan. Recommended for machines not in the WIN Domain: Save your recovery password using LastPass.

Enabling BitLocker

Open the Control Panel -> System and Security and click on BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Click "Turn on BitLocker"

Click next through the prompts until you are given the choice of where to save the BitLocker recovery key. Choose to save the recovery key to a file and then click next. Note: It is highly recommended that you copy this recovery key to a secure location such as LastPass. 

Check the box next to "Run BitLocker system check". This will make sure that your computer is configured properly for BitLocker encryption.

You will be prompted to restart your computer. After the restart, the encryption process will begin. You will see a small encryption icon appear in the notification area.

See Also

• Encryption Landing Page