Windows 11 Pro - Bitlocker does not work anymore with: Password only (Do not want to use TPM+PIN)

Hey,

I bought an new PC and sold my old one (destroyed my SSD). I had Windows 10 Pro before, with some policy changes I could activate Bitlocker without using TPM+Pin.

I am an private investigator and work with private personal information, so I want the data to be 100% secure. I read that TPM had exploits in the past, that is why I do not want to risk working with it. My password is in my mind and pretty long, so impossible to bruteforce.

My question:

I have Windows 11 Pro, my PC has TPM of course but I just want to activate Bitlocker with password only. How do I do that? The old method with changing policys like in the tutorials you see everywhere does not work. In some forum they said deactivating TPM in BIOS should work but is there another way maybe with command line or changin group policys?

Thanks for any help/advice.

Hi, Hans. Welcome to the ElevenForums

Our tutorial writer and admin Brink, added a few Bitlocker related tutorials today. One of them is a context menu addon. In that tutorlal, it states:

Brink said:

When you turn on BitLocker or Device Encryption for a drive, Manage BitLocker is added to that drive's context menu. The "Manage BitLocker" context menu opens the BitLocker Drive Encryption control panel where you can manage BitLocker settings for the drive, such as: Suspend/Resume protection, Back up recovery key, Turn on/off BitLocker, Change password, Add/Remove password, Turn on/off auto-unlock, etc..

Click to expand...

Perhaps take a look. But I know for a fact that there are some pretty switched on members that can most likely set you straight on a few things related to Bitlocker. Members will jump in when they are available.

I’ll just add; I believe you can enable an enhanced PIN, which allows letters and numbers in your PIN. TPM and PIN is considered a more secure method than a password. So if allowing letters and numbers in a PIN, you could most likely use your current password. (I am uncertain about special characters)

Hello Hans, and welcome.

TPM is used by default for the operating system drive with BitLocker, but you can set it to use a PIN or enhanced PIN instead to unlock the OS drive at startup. The tutorials below can help show you more on how to, but please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

But the enhanced PIN is using TPM, that is my issue. I want to just encrypt it with an password, like you can do it on external SSD for example.

On Windows 10 Pro you could just change the policy settings so it does not allow Bitlocker to use TPM, but changing that setting does not work anymore in Windows 11 Pro.

Brink said:

Hello Hans, and welcome.

TPM is used by default for the operating system drive with BitLocker, but you can set it to use a PIN or enhanced PIN instead to unlock the OS drive at startup. The tutorials below can help show you more on how to, but please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Turn On BitLocker for Operating System Drive in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on BitLocker Drive Encryption for an operating system drive in Windows 11. BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the operating system and addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or...

www.elevenforum.com

Enable or Disable BitLocker to Unlock OS drive at Startup with PIN and USB in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable BitLocker to unlock the operating system drive at startup with a PIN or USB flash drive in Windows 10 and Windows 11. BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the operating system and addresses the threats...

www.elevenforum.com

Enable or Disable Enhanced PINs for BitLocker Startup in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Enhanced PINs for BitLocker Startup in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Click to expand...

HansFlohmann said:

But the enhanced PIN is using TPM, that is my issue. I want to just encrypt it with an password, like you can do it on external SSD for example.

On Windows 10 Pro you could just change the policy settings so it does not allow Bitlocker to use TPM, but changing that setting does not work anymore in Windows 11 Pro.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you can't use a password on the OS drive. An enhanced PIN is like using a password though.

You can also use Bitlocker with TPM, put your more sensitive contents in another password-protected Bitlocker drive or in a password-protected Veracrypt container. Not exactly what you are asking for, but possibly all you can get.