Slaving BitLocker encrypted drives…

Did you know that you can recover data from an encrypted BitLocker hard drive by simply ‘slaving’ it to another BitLocker system enabled drive? The decryption key can then be obtained from the SafeGuard Management Centre.

This only applies in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 on SafeGuard BitLocker Client 7.0 and SafeGuard BitLocker Client. To export the recovery key simply open the Management Centre then tools > recovery…. and select the SafeGuard BitLocker Client followed by ‘next’.

Attach the encrypted drive as a ‘slave’ to another system. You will receive an ‘access denied’ message but this can be overridden by opening the context menu in Windows Explorer or Control Panel > BitLocker Drive Encryption and unlocking the drive.

After slaving the encrypted data volume, you will be prompted for a password. The drive will normally be unlocked with a password, but if this doesn’t work, select ‘I forgot my password’. Enter your recovery key and ‘hey presto’ all the data on the encrypted data volume will be recovered.