Q: Uninstalling PGP to Prepare for BitLocker

PGP is no longer being offered on the software grid. Support is being phased out and will discontinue at the end of 2016.

I need to move from PGP Desktop Whole Disk Encryption to Microsoft's native BitLocker encryption.

Answer

Follow these instructions in the order they're given:

1. Decrypt your disk. (See details below.)
   Note: Encrypting and decrypting your disk could take a significant amount of time (up to several hours) depending on the size of your disk and processor speed. Plan accordingly.
2. Be sure to back up your keys and keyrings.
3. Uninstall any previous versions of PGP Desktop. Do not uninstall PGP if you have not decrypted your disk first.

Details

1. Decrypting your disk:
   You should have a little PGP padlock icon in your menu bar. Click on it and select Open PGP Desktop from the menu. Alternatively you can open the application "PGP" in your Applications folder. In the main PGP window, you'll see your disk in the left-hand column, underneath the label PGP Disk. It'll have a weird name, like ST95004200ASG or similar, depending on what kind of disk you have. Highlight it and click the Decrypt button on the right-hand side that appears.
   
   
2. Uninstalling PGP:
   Once your disk is fully decrypted, you can go back into PGP Desktop, and from the PGP menu select Uninstall to uninstall it.
   

   Additional Information More information on PGP can be found on the PGP Desktop page. If you don't find your answer, contact pgp-help@mit.edu.