Post-Bitlocker Blues

[Erick]

I have an All-In-One on my bench that came in with Bitlocker enabled.
Customer said to wipe it and install Windows 10.
Booting from Windows 10 install media doesn't show the drive even after deleting partitions.
I can boot from Hirem's Boot CD and see the drive and use DISKPART, EaseUS Partition Master and even Disc Manager to delete partitions, format, etc.
However for the WIndows 10 install media? Nothing. No drive there.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like a bad hardware. BitLocker once you blow away the boot sector is just random bits. If you really think a remnant is somehow interfering then use Dban and zero out the drive.

The other possibility is that the system is too new and doesn’t have drivers in Windows boot disk to see it. What is the EXACT make and model? And are you using the latest build? 21H2?

 

[britechguy]

And depending on exactly what you did to wipe the drive, you may need to reinitialize it before trying to reinstall Windows 10.

I've had issues with "brand new out of the box" drives not being seen until and unless I initialized them, at the very least.

 

[Blues]

Can you try a different drive in the system to test if it is the system or the drive?

 

[nlinecomputers]

And depending on exactly what you did to wipe the drive, you may need to reinitialize it before trying to reinstall Windows 10.

I've had issues with "brand new out of the box" drives not being seen until and unless I initialized them, at the very least.

Windows will format the drive during the installation. It shouldn’t matter what was on the drive. Only time I’ve ever had an issue it was fixed by nuking the boot sector. And the tools he has listed all do that.

 

[SAFCasper]

Check in BIOS if storage is set to RAID or Intel VMD. If this is enabled you usually need to load Intel RST drivers from a memory stick during the install. Or just change it to ACHI since you are doing a clean install anyway, nothing to break.

Unable to Detect the Drive When Installing a New Windows* OS on 11th...

How to install a new Windows® 10 Operating System on a system with drives managed by Intel® VMD

www.intel.com

 

[britechguy]

It shouldn’t matter what was on the drive.

I agree with this. All I can tell you is that, on multiple occasions, if I had a fresh out of the box drive (and depending on what procedure he used, he could have the equivalent), I absolutely had to initialize (not fully format, but initialize) the drive prior to Windows 10 being able to install to it.

Initialize new disks

Learn how to initialize new disks with Disk Management and get them ready to use. Also access links for troubleshooting.

docs.microsoft.com

 

[Erick]

And depending on exactly what you did to wipe the drive, you may need to reinitialize it before trying to reinstall Windows 10.

I've had issues with "brand new out of the box" drives not being seen until and unless I initialized them, at the very least.

Good call on this. Unfortunately, I've attempted to do this both ways; initialized and uninitialized.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Bitlocker encrypts partitions, not drives. Some drives have their own encryption, that's BIOS integrated. If THAT is configured, you have no choice but to replace the drive if the password is lost.

 

[Erick]

Can you try a different drive in the system to test if it is the system or the drive?

With this all-in-one and the sheer pain factor of getting it open is enough of a detractor from doing this.

I genuinely thought we were past the point in time where all-in-one's were designed this terribly.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Asking again. What is the exact make and model of this?

 

[britechguy]

I genuinely thought we were past the point in time where all-in-one's were designed this terribly.

Snark intended, but not aimed at you: All-in-one and designed terribly in the same sentence is repeating oneself.

Almost all the bulkiness of a true desktop machine or tower and all of the inconvenience of a laptop (if not more) as far as working on them!

 

[Erick]

Asking again. What is the exact make and model of this?

Sorry about that, it's an HP 24-dd1036.

 

[Erick]

Snark intended, but not aimed at you: All-in-one and designed terribly in the same sentence is repeating oneself.

Almost all the bulkiness of a true desktop machine or tower and all of the inconvenience of a laptop (if not more) as far as working on them!

I used to sum it up as "every terrible idea in one convenient place."

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sorry about that, it's an HP 24-dd1036.

Ok so its an 11th Gen CPU and chipset. Win10 isn’t going to have drivers for it. You will have to download the IRST drivers from intel or hp and place them on a USB drive and use the load drivers button to slip them in the install. Changing to. ACHI in bios might also work.

 

[britechguy]

I used to sum it up as "every terrible idea in one convenient place."

Stick an "in" immediately prior to "convenient" and then we're talking. They're convenient only until they're not, and then they're *really* inconvenient!

 

[Porthos]

Customer said to wipe it and install Windows 10.

Guess the client has issues with Win 11. I think we are going to see more of this now.

 

[britechguy]

Guess the client has issues with Win 11. I think we are going to

Well, we don't know that (the client issues part) for sure. At this point, for anyone who has hardware that supports it and wants a "nuke and pave," all I'm suggesting is Windows 11. Some clients don't even know that Windows 11 exists (yes, I am serious).

Once the writing is on the wall for any version of Windows, and it is for Windows 10 even if the book will keep being written for a couple of years, I try to steer clients toward what's currently got the maximum "in support" life ahead of it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

This system ships with Win 11 home. I’m betting that client didn’t like the new GUI changes. I’m not fond of them. Right click menu has lost a lot of functionality for no benefit.

 

[Porthos]

Right click menu has lost a lot of functionality for no benefit.

Most fixed with Reg tweaks.