bitlocker drive layout

[Guest blacksheep]

Just setup Bitlocker to tryout and the way it sets up the drives (one unencrypted) reminds me of Doublespace (stacker).. lol i must be getting old

[SYNACK]

Yes, Bitlocker uses two partitions, a 100MB one to boot from which has some system files and a data one that is encrypted and uses the rest. The first bit just has the basics to access the TPM and decrypt the bit of the data partition to boot from. If the checksum of the encrypted portion does not match (ie, someone has been messing with it) it will lock it out. I think it also runs verification of the boot portion from the encrypted portion during boot but not 100% one that.

 

Having the basic boot stuff unencrytpted allows for it to prompt you for a recovery key if the TPM is wiped. The data itself is not fully unlocked for you until you have correctly authenticated with a windows logon.