BitLocker Drive Encryption Disappeared after Windows 8.1 Pro Upgrade

Question

In view of the fact that I have new information about this problem, I have requested that the moderators remove this post, and have made a fresh new one. The new question can be found here.

Prior to upgrading to Windows 8.1 Pro from Windows 8 Pro, BitLocker was enabled on my computer and appeared in the Control Panel, but after my upgrade, it is no longer in the Control Panel, and going to "This PC" and selecting the drive and choosing the "Manage" tab shows the BitLocker icon disabled.

What happened to BitLocker, and how do I get it back? I just checked on my mom's computer, and it is still available after the upgrade and working properly.

Solution

Windows 8.1 has drive encryption built in and on by default (unless you upgraded). If you head to Change PC Settings -> PC and devices -> PC info, is there should be a Device Encryption section shown to you:

If the "Device encryption" section is not showing in the PC Info pane, then most likely your computer doesn't support all things needed to run the Windows 8.1 encryption.

Here are the hardware features the passive device encryption feature needs to work:

• Support for the Secure Boot feature, which implies both UEFI support and 64-bit Windows.
• A Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The feature requires TPM 2.0, and most current devices use TPM 1.2.
• Hardware and firmware support for Windows’ Connected Standby feature. Connected Standby allows a sleeping system to wake up periodically and refresh certain data, like e-mail messages or calendar events. Your smartphone already does the same sort of thing. Note that Connected Standby is similar in concept to Intel’s Smart Connect Technology, but Smart Connect support does not imply Connected Standby support.
• Connected Standby comes with its own set of hardware requirements, including a solid-state boot volume, NDIS 6.30 support for all network interfaces, and memory soldered to the motherboard. The system must also rely on passive cooling when in Connected Standby mode, even if it normally uses a fan.

source

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

Did you suspend the Bitlocker encryption before upgrading from 8?

[DaveTheMinion]

@techie007 I didn't suspend it because I never set it up. I only became interested in it now.

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

but you said it was enabled on your Windows 8 install. Did you mean it was available, but not in use? Also, windows 8.1 has drive encryption built in and on by default. If you head to Change PC Settings -> PC and devices -> PC info, is there a Device Encryption section shown to you? If so, what does it report as the current state (on or off)?

[DaveTheMinion]

@techie007 By saying that it was available, I meant the option to use it existed, whereas now it does not. Also, in the "System" window in the control panel, I see nothing about Drive Encryption.

[DaveTheMinion]

If it doesn't support it, then why was the option to enable it available before? Also, the fact that my mom's computer is exactly the same leaves me wondering.

[Michael Frank]

This is probably a key difference between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

[DaveTheMinion]

Michael Frank - In my post, I mentioned that on my mom's laptop, BitLocker was available for Windows 8 and is still available for Windows 8.1. In fact I just configured it for her. @Ramhound Ramhound - Thanks for clearing that up, I was not aware that the two were different. Now do you have any ideas on how I could achieve my goal of getting BitLocker working? On my mom's computer everything was fine, and BitLocker was listed in her Control Panel, for me however, it is not listed.

[Ramhound]

Only reason it wouldn't be listed is if you were using core not professional

[ȷ̇c]

I don’t even see the “Device encryption” section on my Surface 2.