For extra protection, Windows 10 allows enabling BitLocker for fixed drives (drive partitions and internal storage devices). It supports protection with a smart card or password. You can also make the drive to automatically unlock when you sign in to your user account.
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BitLocker was first introduced in Windows Vista and still exists in Windows 10. It was implemented exclusively for Windows and has no official support in alternative operating systems. BitLocker can utilize your PC's Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to store its encryption key secrets. In modern versions of Windows such as Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, BitLocker supports hardware-accelerated encryption if certain requirements are met (the drive has to support it, Secure Boot must be on and many other requirements). Without hardware encryption, BitLocker switches to software-based encryption so there is a dip in your drive's performance. BitLocker in Windows 10 supports a number of encryption methods, and supports changing a cipher strength.
Note: In Windows 10, BitLocker Drive Encryption is only available in the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. BitLocker can encrypt the system drive (the drive Windows is installed on), and internal hard drives. The BitLocker To Go feature allows protecting files stored on a removable drives, such as a USB flash drive.
There are a number of methods you can use to turn on or off BitLocker for an internal fixed drive.
You are done. The fixed drive will be encrypted. This could take a long time to finish depending on the data size stored on the drive, and its capacity.
You can now check the BitLocker encryption status for the drive.
You are done. BitLocker will decrypting the drive contents.
You can now check the BitLocker encryption status for the drive.
Also, you can disable BitLocker for an internal drive from Command Prompt or PowerShell.
manage-bde -off <drive letter>:
.<drive letter>
with the actual drive letter of the drive you want to decrypt. For example: manage-bde -off D:
.Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "<drive letter>:"
.<drive letter>
with the actual drive letter of the drive you want to decrypt. For example: Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "D:"
.
You are done!
Source: https://winaero.com/blog/turn-on-bitlocker-for-fixed-drives-in-windows-10/
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