Starting with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8, Microsoft has complemented BitLocker with the Microsoft Encrypted Hard Drive specification, which allows the cryptographic operations of BitLocker encryption to be offloaded to the storage device's hardware. In addition, a new command-line tool called manage-bde replaced the old f. On Windows XP or Windows Vista, read-only access to these drives can be achieved through a program called BitLocker To Go Reader, if FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT filesystems are used. The version of BitLocker included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 Release 2 adds the ability to encrypt removable drives. Still, some aspects of the BitLocker (such as turning autolocking on or off) had to be managed through a command-line tool called f. Starting with Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008, volumes other than the operating system volume could be encrypted using the graphical tool. Initially, the graphical BitLocker interface in Windows Vista could only encrypt the operating system volume.

Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 11 įeatures manage-bde Developer(s).

Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 10.

Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 8 and 8.1.

Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

BitLocker was briefly called Secure Startup before Windows Vista's release to manufacturing. When used in conjunction with a compatible Trusted Platform Module (TPM), BitLocker can validate the integrity of boot and system files before decrypting a protected volume an unsuccessful validation will prohibit access to a protected system. Another feature, titled 'Code Integrity Rooting', was designed to validate the integrity of Microsoft Windows boot and system files. History īitLocker originated as a part of Microsoft's Next-Generation Secure Computing Base architecture in 2004 as a feature tentatively codenamed 'Cornerstone' and was designed to protect information on devices, particularly if a device was lost or stolen. CBC is not used over the whole disk it is applied to each individual sector.

By default, it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm in cipher block chaining (CBC) or ' xor–encrypt–xor (XEX) -based Tweaked codebook mode with ciphertext Stealing' (XTS) mode with a 128- bit or 256-bit key. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes.

com /windows /security /information-protection /bitlocker /bitlocker-overviewīitLocker is a full volume encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows Vista. BitLocker option while encrypting a USB thumb drive.ĭocs.

What is bitlocker encryption