Will disable bitlocker in 23H2 be carried over to 24H2?

mck · Jan 20, 2025

I don't want the 24H2 update to enable Bitlocker in my copy of Win11 Home.

I have Win11 Home, version 23H2. I've read that MS will automatically update Win11 Home from 23H2 to 24H2. I've also read that 24H2 automatically enables Bitlocker. I don't want Bitlocker to encrypt my drive(s).

If I disable Bitlocker in the registry for my current Win11 Home 23H2, when MS auto updates my Win11 PC to 24H2, will the registry still disable Bitlocker? Or will 24H2 change the registry entry to allow Bitlocker to encrypt my drive(s)?

(BTW, I don't even know if Bitlocker can be disabled in 23H2's registry since I haven't tried it yet. Will disable Bitlocker in the registry work in 23H2?)

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

Hi. I don’t believe the Windows Home version actually has Bitlocker. It has drive encryption but you would have to manually set it up.

XxXxX · Jan 20, 2025

this maybe of help regarding bitlocker and upgrading to 24H2.

Redirecting

best of luck, Steve ..

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

As I mention, Widows Home doesn’t have it. Please see this comparison.

Compare Windows 11 Versions: Windows 11 Home & Pro vs. Windows 10 | Microsoft

Compare Windows versions and see why you should upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Find out the difference between Windows 11 Home and Pro to see which is best for you.

www.microsoft.com

XxXxX · Jan 20, 2025

antspants said:
Hi. I don’t believe the Windows Home version actually has Bitlocker. It has drive encryption but you would have to manually set it up.

@antspants
not in 24H2 Home or Pro its now enabled auto if you use a MS account.
best of luck, Steve ..

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

XxXxX said:
hi antpants
not in 24H2 Home or Pro its now enabled auto if you using a MS account.
best of luck, Steve ..

OK, I’ll have to look into that. I wasn’t aware. Thanks, Steve

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

XxXxX said:
@antspants
not in 24H2 Home or Pro its now enabled auto if you use a MS account.
best of luck, Steve ..

Steve, I can’t find anything that says Windows Home has Bitlocker.
Device Encryption, yes, Bitlocker I can not find. The two are different.
Do you have any links that say Bitlocker is available in Windows Home 24H2? (without the use of a hack)

XxXxX · Jan 20, 2025

here you go ..

Windows 11 24H2 will enable BitLocker encryption for everyone — happens on both clean installs and reinstalls

You can still manually disable encryption if desired.

www.tomshardware.com

best of luck, Steve ..

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

Thanks, Steve.

One would think you would come accross a link for Microsoft before a random story from a tech site. Microsoft needs to keep up and get with the times.

In that article, I did read this

The caveat with Windows 11 Home is that BitLocker encryption is only applied through the device manufacturer, and only if the manufacturer enables the encryption flag in the UEFI. So, DIY PCs running Windows 11 Home probably won't be affected.

I believe one would have to “Opt In” with Windows Home from Bitlocker to be utilised, if the article is correct.
I don’t believe tech sites anymore, or at least take them with a grain for salt.

I am still of the mind that Bitlocker isn’t an issue with the Home version.

I’ll think I’ll wait for the more up to fate than I (99% of the forum)

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

Hmmmm

BitLocker automatic device encryption is enabled when:

The device contains a TPM (Trusted Platform Module), either TPM 1.2 or TPM 2.0.
UEFI Secure Boot is enabled. See Secure Boot for more information.
Platform Secure Boot is enabled
Platform is Modern Standby or HSTI compliant (this requirement has been removed since Windows 11 24H2)
There are no un-allowed Direct memory access (DMA) interfaces (this requirement has been removed since Windows 11 24H2)

The following tests must pass before Windows 11 will enable Automatic BitLocker device encryption. If you want to create hardware that supports this capability, you must verify that your device passes these tests.

TPM: Device must include a TPM with PCR 7 support. See System.Fundamentals.TPM20.TPM20.
- If presence of expandable cards results in OROM UEFI drivers being loaded by UEFI BIOS during boot, then BitLocker will NOT use PCR7 binding.
- If you are running a device that does not bind to PCR7 and Bitlocker is enabled, there are no security downsides because BitLocker is still secure when using regular UEFI PCR profile (0,2,4,11).
- Any extra CA hash (even Windows Prod CA) before final bootmgr Windows Prod CA will prevent BitLocker from choosing to use PCR7. It does not matter if the extra hash or hashes are from UEFI CA (aka. Microsoft 3rd Party CA) or some other CA.
Secure boot: UEFI Secure Boot is enabled. See System.Fundamentals.Firmware.UEFISecureBoot.
Modern Standby requirements or HSTI validation. (removed since Windows 11 24H2)
This requirement is met by one of the following:
- Modern Standby requirements are implemented. These include requirements for UEFI Secure Boot and protection from unauthorized DMA.
- Starting with Windows 10, version, 1703, this requirement can be met through HSTI test:
  1. Platform Secure Boot self-test (or additional self-tests as configured in the registry) must be reported by HSTI as implemented and passed.
  2. Excluding Thunderbolt, HSTI must report no non-allowed DMA busses.
  3. If Thunderbolt is present, HSTI must report that Thunderbolt is configured securely (security level must be SL1 – “User Authorization” or higher).
You must have 250MB of free space on top of everything you need to boot (and recover Windows, if you put WinRE on the system partition). For more information, see System and utility partitions.

BitLocker drive encryption in Windows 11 for OEMs

OEMs can configure hardware to support Windows 11 automatic device encryption.

learn.microsoft.com

antspants · Jan 20, 2025

mck said:
I ..

Mck, is your PC a HP Slim Desktop PC S01-pF2005a

XxXxX · Jan 20, 2025

some of the information regarding bitlocker is somewhat cloudy, even from MS.
but from all reports that i have read bitlocker is enabled unless you disable bitlocker before a clean install and or upgrade that replaces the Windows folder. 24H2 replaces the Windows folder. so, to be sure it would be wise to disable before the upgrade/install as opposed to after.
also i have read that it is only enabled if a MS account is used so bypassing that and using a local account could be a solution.
it seems to be a MS security feature.
best of luck, Steve ..

cereberus · Jan 20, 2025

Simple answer is that it really does not matter - even if it happens, you can run the device encryption app and turn off device encryption and normally only takes a couple of minutes. It will remain off then untill 25H2.

mck · Jan 20, 2025

XxXxX said:
this maybe of help regarding bitlocker and upgrading to 24H2.

Redirecting

best of luck, Steve ..

That link deals with installing Win11 without bitIocker. I will be assembling a DIY Win11 Home PC soon and have printed the instructions on how to disable bitlocker in the registry during a Win11 install. (Currently my main PC is a Win10 i7 that does not meet the requirements for upgrade to Win11.)

My concern for this thread is my HP i3 PC that came with Win11.

mck · Jan 20, 2025

antspants said:
Mck, is your PC a HP Slim Desktop PC S01-pF2005a

My PC of concern for this thread is a HP Desktop i3-12100 processor, Model: M01-F2254, running Win11 Home, 23H2. This is my secondary PC but I don't want it to be auto encrypted by Bitlocker when MS auto updates it to 24H2.

mck · Jan 20, 2025

cereberus said:
Simple answer is that it really does not matter - even if it happens, you can run the device encryption app and turn off device encryption and normally only takes a couple of minutes. It will remain off then untill 25H2.

I don't want Bitlocker encryption to even start, which is the reason I started this thread.

FrancoDT · Jan 20, 2025

mck said:
I don't want Bitlocker encryption to even start, which is the reason I started this thread.

I don't blame you after seeing this "BitLocker has been proven to impact system performance, particularly SSD performance. We tested BitLocker encryption last year and discovered SSD performance can drop by up to 45% depending on the workload." Between that and the possibility of losing your Bitlocker key leaving you locked out it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

TairikuOkami · Jan 20, 2025

mck said:
Or will 24H2 change the registry entry to allow Bitlocker to encrypt my drive(s)?

Most likely. I clean installed 24H2 and disabled Bitlocker, but it was enabled later on by a random update.

mck · Jan 20, 2025

FrancoDT said:
I don't blame you after seeing this "BitLocker has been proven to impact system performance, particularly SSD performance. We tested BitLocker encryption last year and discovered SSD performance can drop by up to 45% depending on the workload." Between that and the possibility of losing your Bitlocker key leaving you locked out it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

Thanks for that link. I checked my i3 Win11 Home 23H2 PC using info from that link and it shows "Conversion Status: Fully decrypted" for both the C and D drives. So far so good.

mck · Jan 20, 2025

TairikuOkami said:
Most likely. I clean installed 24H2 and disabled Bitlocker, but it was enabled later on by a random update.

Ouch! How had you disabled Bitlocker? Via the registry method?

Will disable bitlocker in 23H2 be carried over to 24H2?

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