Windows 7 how to chkdsk an encrypted volume

[superatticman]

Hi All

 

Traditionally to chkdsk and repair a non booting hard disk we insert the Win 7 DVD, boot from that, select command line and then chkdsk /f from there.

 

We now encrypt our laptop hard disks using Bitlocker. When booting from the Win 7 DVD we select command line but theres no sign of the c drive at all. Presume bitlocker is hiding it somehow?

 

Anyone faced this scenario?

 

Cheers

[Arthur]

Two options...

 

1. Take the encrypted drive out of the laptop, connect it up to another Windows 7 or 8 PC via a SATA to USB adapter, enter the key when prompted and then chkdsk it.
   
2. Create a bootable Windows PE flash drive, unlock the drive with the appropriate recovery key and then run chkdsk.
   

Edited May 8, 2014 by Arthur

[Dos_Box]

Moving to Windows 7 forum.

[mac_shinobi]

1) In the computer if you go into the bios does it show that the hard drive is connected - if not then maybe disconnect the hard drive / take it out and re - insert it firmly and try again.

2) If it shows up as above may be worth while trying to get into the windows pe enviroment whether you use another device with winpe on it or use F8 and select repair mode --> enter the bit locker key twice and then you can suspend bitlocker from within a command prompt window if you can get to the advanced repair tools , one of the clickable options is to open a command prompt

 

manage-bde -protectors -disable X:

 

Where X: is the drive letter that needs bit locker suspending ( you can check what drive letter by doing the below )

 

Type the below command and press enter

 

diskpart

 

Once disk part is loaded type the below command and press enter

 

List Volume

 

This should output the list of volumes with drive letters, capacity of each partition etc

 

 

If you do manage to get the machine to read the hard drive - it may be a good point or idea to backup any / as much of the data as possible before doing a check disk and then afterwards as well

 

Once the check disk is done, it will also be worth while running diagnostics on the hard drive ( whether it is from the hard drive manufacturers website or the laptop / desktop manufactures website ie we use Lenovo here for laptops and they have a downloadadble ISO which is a diagnostic disc to test RAM / HDD etc

 

Use that to see if there is a faulty hard drive, if so maybe claim for another one under warranty through the manufacturer of the computer

 

As per @Arthur 's comment - you could also use an external drive caddy on another computer and it will see that it has bitlocker enabled and encrypted and it will prompt to enter in the bitlocker recovery key if it detects and can read the hard drive, if so enter that in ( copy and paste or manually type that in ) and then you can do a check disk however again I would say try and backup data first before putting the hard drive through a check disk

[plexer]

Just wipe it chkdsk it and re-install.

 

Ben

[BH_1]

Hi. I came across your post above, and would like to know if you might have a resolution for my problem. Following an inadvertent misconfiguration (i.e., reconfiguring ‘kms.txt’ file and disabling IPv6) to address a DNS issue for my user account, I have been locked out of my laptop. I’m still able to authenticate to PGP encryption layer at which point the Windows 7 OS loads as before without any issue but now it also prompts me for a second time (something that never happened in the past) to enter my user authentication credentials. However, it does not accept those credentials, instead displaying the following error message: "There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request." I need to undo the inadvertent configuration changes (by resetting ‘kms.txt’ file and re-enabling IPv6) in the hope of resolving the problem and restoring my access once again to my data and applications. I have attempted to run ‘System Recovery Options’ to undo the changes but it does not list the Windows 7 OS in order to access the associated volume command prompt. Running "diskpart> list volume" from the X:\windows\system32 minint command prompt shows volume 0 to be associated with drive letter C, and Fs as “RAW” with type being Partition while Status as “Healthy.” I have also attempted to switch to drive letter C via “X:\windows\system32> C:” but it only produces the following error message: “The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.” I do appreciate your help in resolving what has been a very frustrating problem.