Windows 7 / Getting Started

BitLocker Drive Encryption

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a new Windows Vista and Windows 7 feature that improves data integrity and confidentiality by encrypting entire volumes. Windows Vista must have Service Pack 1 (SP1) installed to encrypted non-system volumes. BitLocker can use Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security hardware to wrap and seal the keys used to encrypt the system volume, helping to protect the volumes from offline attacks. Alternatively, BitLocker can use a USB flash drive to store the startup key used to encrypt the volumes. BitLocker is available in the Enterprise and Ultimate Editions of Windows 7.

BitLocker should be used with a TPM when used to encrypt the system volume. A TPM is a hardware module embedded in the motherboards of many new laptops and some desktops. TPM modules must be version 1.2 for use with BitLocker.

If a TPM 1.2 module is not available, computers can still take advantage of BitLocker encryption technology on system volumes as long as the computer's BIOS supports reading from a USB flash device before the operating system is loaded. However, you cannot use BitLocker's integrity verification capabilities without a TPM 1.2 module.

Unlike EFS, BitLocker can encrypt entire volumes, including the page file, hibernation file, registry, and temporary files, which might hold confidential information. EFS can encrypt only user files. Additionally, when used with TPM hardware, BitLocker can help protect your system integrity by ensuring that critical Windows startup files have not been modified (which might occur if a rootkit or other malware was installed). Also, if the hard disk is moved to a different computer (a common method for extracting data from a stolen hard disk), the user will be forced to enter a recovery password before gaining access to the protected volumes.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Disks and File Systems
  2. Overview of Partitioning Disks
  3. How to Choose Between MBR or GPT
  4. Converting from MBR to GPT Disks
  5. GPT Partitions
  6. Choosing Basic or Dynamic Disks
  7. Working with Volumes
  8. How to Create a Simple Volume
  9. How to Create a Spanned Volume
  10. How to Create a Striped Volume
  11. How to Resize a Volume
  12. How to Delete a Volume
  13. How to Create and Use a Virtual Hard Disk
  14. File System Fragmentation
  15. Backup And Restore
  16. How File Backups Work
  17. File and Folder Backup Structure
  18. How System Image Backups Work
  19. How to Start a System Image Backup from the Command Line
  20. How to Restore a System Image Backup
  21. System Image Backup Structure
  22. Best Practices for Computer Backups
  23. How to Manage Backup Using Group Policy Settings
  24. Previous Versions and Shadow Copies
  25. How to Manage Shadow Copies
  26. How to Restore a File with Previous Versions
  27. How to Configure Previous Versions with Group Policy Settings
  28. Windows ReadyBoost
  29. BitLocker Drive Encryption
  30. How BitLocker Encrypts Data
  31. How BitLocker Protects Data
  32. TPM with External Key (Require Startup USB Key At Every Startup)
  33. TPM with PIN (Require PIN At Every Startup)
  34. TPM with PIN and External Key
  35. BitLocker To Go
  36. BitLocker Phases
  37. Requirements for Protecting the System Volume with BitLocker
  38. How to Enable the Use of BitLocker on the System Volume on Computers Without TPM
  39. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on System Volumes
  40. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on Data Volumes
  41. How to Manage BitLocker Keys on a Local Computer
  42. How to Manage BitLocker from the Command Line
  43. How to Recover Data Protected by BitLocker
  44. How to Disable or Remove BitLocker Drive Encryption
  45. How to Decommission a BitLocker Drive Permanently
  46. How to Prepare AD DS for BitLocker
  47. How to Configure a Data Recovery Agent
  48. How to Manage BitLocker with Group Policy
  49. The Costs of BitLocker
  50. Windows 7 Encrypting File System
  51. How to Export Personal Certificates
  52. How to Import Personal Certificates
  53. How to Grant Users Access to an Encrypted File
  54. Symbolic Links
  55. How to Create Symbolic Links
  56. How to Create Relative or Absolute Symbolic Links
  57. How to Create Symbolic Links to Shared Folders
  58. How to Use Hard Links
  59. Disk Quotas
  60. How to Configure Disk Quotas on a Single Computer
  61. How to Configure Disk Quotas from a Command Prompt
  62. How to Configure Disk Quotas by Using Group Policy Settings
  63. Disk Tools
  64. EFSDump
  65. SDelete
  66. Streams
  67. Sync
  68. MoveFile and PendMoves