Hello, thank you for using Howly. I’ll be happy to help you out! May I ask your name?
*****
Nice to meet you, *****!
Are you sure you didn't set up Recovery Key upon purchase, sir?
yes im sure
Got you, what Windows do you have?
the dell has windows 10
Got it.
i have the original bill of sale that includes Windows and Office i also have the product keys for both but can even get that far and the dell does not have a external floppy disk drive and also no external CD Drive
I see, is your computer connected to Microsoft account?
The only thing i get when attempting to boot up is a screen demanding a bitlocker recovery key
I dont even know if i have a microsoft account
im an old guy and am talking to you on a borrowed laptop.
Alright, got you, sir.
i am not completely computer savvy.. .
my cell phone has an antenna ad is not internet capable..
That's okay, we'll try working around it. When you first got the computer, did you already have the Windows 10 installed on it?
when i bought it, it to me it spoke arabic .... i got it in Saudi Arabia. it is a Dell vostro 5471
Got you, do you remember if it already had Windows 10?
yes it did and i purchased the software so that I didnt end up with any problems... as i said i have the receipt right here in front of me with the product keys for both office and windows.
Got it, so you use Office frequently, right?
all the time
In this case, you do have a Microsoft account, sir. Do you have any other emails besides *****@gmail.com ?
no that is the only account i have that is active ... i had an old one years ago... *****@yahoo.com dont think its still working
Are you logged into one of your Office programs on another device, maybe your phone? That way, you can check what account you're signed into.
i dont know how to log into an account i didnt even know i have .... instructions please...
Sure, no problem! Do you use some of the programs on your phone?
never... my phone is a second generation nokia with an antenna... it does not talk to the internet...
Alright, got it.
it works what cani say
That's right, I'll check it on the website, then.
Okay, I can see that there's a Microsoft account under this email - *****@gmail.com
In case you forgot the password, we can reset it by sending the security code to the email above. Are you logged into this email, sir? Can you view the inbox messages?
yes i am logged into the e mail account
Very good!
i dont understand how my e mail is going to solve the issue with the bitrecovery key
and yes i will need a new password as i do not remember ever setting up a microsoft account.
I understand, here's the deal. As you've found, if your PC meets certain hardware requirements, Windows 10 Home will provide limited support for some BitLocker features under the name "Device encryption" as opposed to full BitLocker.
Some Dell system models that ship with Windows 10 Home ship with BitLocker "pre-staged", i.e. technically the C drive is encrypted, but BitLocker is suspended, so it behaves as a normal partition. The reason is that at this point, the user hasn't backed up a Recovery Key, so enabling encryption would be unsafe. If however you choose to link your Windows account to your Microsoft account, then your Recovery Key is backed up to your Microsoft account in the cloud and BitLocker is fully enabled - which happens instantaneously because again, technically the drive was already encrypted in advance, so at this point BitLocker just needs to remove the plaintext key that was allowing the encryption to operate in suspended mode.
Unfortunately, the users aren't informed about any of this. They're not told that their drive is encrypted, where to get their Recovery Key if they ever need it, or even that there's a Recovery Key in the first place. That's why this issue is so hard to solve, because many people didn't know the even had the Recovery Key ready.
No problem, we'll reset the password!
ok what do i need to do to get this laptop running
To reset the password, please follow the instructions below:
ok pw is reset and i am logged in
Great work!
Please follow this link below and check if you can see a recovery key there:
https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey
there are two listed how do i know which one to use?
Do you see a date?
its the same date on both
*****
Ok, in this case, try the first one first, sir.
ok will do... the laptop only stays on for a short time not sure how long its going to take me to type in the entire number sequence its very long
I know, sorry about that L
Take your time, and let me know how it goes, please!
the laptop is only allowing me to enter the first three groups of numbers then itwill not allow any more characters
and now the laptop has shut down on its own...
Is it connected to a charger?
Is this the screen you see, sir?
yes it is connected to power... as i said i had to change the battery out
nearly but not the same it says to ceck my microsoft acct. at aka.ms/myrecoverykey
Okay, can you try following this link, please?
and it has timed out and shut itself down again.
Hmm, I see. Sometimes it can shut off due to inactivity, make sure you're typing the code or touching the touchpad from time to time.
that link took me to the same place we were already at... with the long recovery key
im stumped...
I see, what portion of the code are you able to enter, sir?
only the first three groups of numbers then it will not take any more characters.. it just changes the last character
Please note that the bitlocker key has two parts - the identifier which you will see as part of the name when you save that as a file - this has letters and numbers. The key itself is in the file and only has numbers.
i see key id and i see recovery key... i was using recovery key with numbers only
Do you have two fields in which you have to enter the information?
no only one long one
i am trying again
I see, so when you enter the numbers is stops midway, not letting you type it out fully?
Ok, sure.
i finally got it to take the long number the top one was not correct but it accepted the bottom number and the laptop is booting now... it says updates are under way and is now rebooting on its own...
Great work, sir! Let's give it some time to reboot.
i sure hope that has solved the issue..
Me as well, fingers crossed!
it looks like success has occured... THANKYOU
So happy to hear that! Are you able to browse the computer normally now?
i dont know yet as the computer is rebooting again on its own...
Okay, let's wait, then! Just to be sure everything is set up :)
ok
its working
Great!
I am so pleased to see your issue got resolved!
14 verified experts are online now
What about starting a discussion? Be the first to share your thoughts!