1

I have an a laptop from an old job that they didn’t want back, and I tried to get on it today to retrieve something off it. It has asked me for a recovery key for BitLocker Drive Encryption. Is there any way around this? Or a place I can go and put in my Recovery Key ID and get the recovery key?

3 Spice ups
2

I am surprised they didn’t wipe and/or factory reset it before letting you have it.

Have you talked to them to see if they have the needed info?

3

I have tried to talk to them but as one of the IT staff members told me it was not their problem.

4

Sounds like they aren’t willing to help. I know you can store the password in AD but it has to be set up that way and doesn’t sound like it would matter if they aren’t going to try and look up the ID for you.

5

So if they aren’t will to look that stuff for me, is there any other way?

6

They probably expect you to install the operating system from scratch using your own media and your own license.

7

Yeah, I cant think of any other way to access it without the password.

8

That’s the whole point of Bitlocker, no key no access - sorry

1 Spice up
9

There is no way to recover that key, its the point of Bitlocker, irrecoverable data if you don’t have the key. You don’t want any kind of backdoors built into this or it defeats the whole purpose. Only Big Brother wants these kinds of backdoors

1 Spice up
10

You don’t have any chance of recovering it without the key.
Most likely the key was saved in the bios/tpm chip, and they cleared the keys to prevent the the work of cleaning the pc.

You can use the key on the machine (if there’s one, try looking under the battery if not on the back) to install with your own media.
You can still get the w7-w10 free update if you’ve got a w7 key on the machine…
And otherwise, google knows where to find keys.
I’ve got my personal machines running enterprise or education by installing with an kms key and inputting a distributor provided key after. (I’ve got a few dell repair keys which activate all editions from my boss)

11

The free upgrade from Win7 to Win10 ended a long time ago.

12

No key, no recovery. So, the best way. Go to your past job and ask for the key. If they don’t want to give it to you. Wipe and install any OS on the computer.