How to Create a BitLocker Recovery Boot Disk to Recover Data

Windows may crash for various reasons, such as virus attacks, hard disk failure, a corrupt file system, abnormal system shutdown, and sudden power failure. When Windows 10 fails to start or Surface won't turn on, a common approach is to utilize a bootable WinPE media (ISO/CD/DVD/USB) to retrieve data from the Windows partition.

If the Windows partition is encrypted with BitLocker Drive Encryption, you can still create a BitLocker data recovery bootable disk to recover data from a BitLocker-encrypted Windows hard drive. 

This article will guide you through how to create a BitLocker data recovery bootable USB and recover your important data.

Table of Contents:

• 1. What is a BitLocker recovery boot disk?
• 2. How to create a BitLocker recovery boot disk
• 3. Recover data from BitLocker-encrypted drive with BitLocker recovery boot disk
• 4. Conclusion

What is a BitLocker recovery boot disk?

A BitLocker recovery boot disk is a specialized bootable media that contains tools and information necessary to start up your PC or Surface table for recovering data from a BitLocker-encrypted drive.

A BitLocker recovery bootable media is different from a regular Windows bootable disk. The former is specifically tailored for recovering data from BitLocker-encrypted drives, while a regular Windows bootable disk is a more general tool for system recovery and maintenance tasks.

How to create a BitLocker recovery boot disk

Some data recovery software can create a WinPE bootable USB disk, enabling you to boot up Windows and launch the data recovery application for retrieving data.

However, it's important to note that only a few data recovery tools can generate a BitLocker recovery bootable disk, designed specifically for recovering data from a BitLocker-encrypted hard drive. Therefore, it is essential to select data recovery software with the capability to generate a BitLocker recovery bootable USB.

iBoysoft Data Recovery is one of the several data recovery tools that support BitLocker recovery bootable media creation. With it, you have a good chance to retrieve files after your Windows computer fails to boot up. 

Step 1. Download iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE Boot Disk

Click the button below to download the zip file that contains the files for creating a BitLocker recovery bootable disk on your healthy computer. Double-click the downloaded iboysoftdatarecovery.zip file to extract it to a folder named "iboysoftdatarecovery". 

Step 2. Create a bootable BitLocker recovery tool with Rufus

Rufus is a free and open-source application for Windows users that helps create bootable USB media from ISO files, allowing them to install or run operating systems on a computer. You will need it to create a bootable BitLocker recovery tool with the iso files in the extracted folder.

1. Connect an empty USB disk to your computer. Make sure you don't have any valuable files in it as the later process will erase all stored data. 

2. Download Rufus (Portable Version) from this page to your computer.

3. Launch Rufus.

4. In the Device section, click the arrow to list all detected storage devices and select the inserted USB drive.

If your unbootable Windows computer uses UEFI, follow the steps below:

All modern computers, such as Surface Pro, come equipped with UEFI by default. 

5. In the Boot selection, click the arrow to select iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE 64 bit.iso file and click the Select button.

6. Select GPT in the Partition scheme and select UEFI in the Target system.

If your unbootable Windows computer uses BIOS, follow the steps below:

If you are using an older computer, it could use BIOS or Legacy. 

5. In the Boot selection section, click the arrow to select iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE 32bit.iso file and click the Select button.

6. Select MBR in the Partition scheme and select BIOS in the Target system.

After these configurations, follow the steps below to proceed:

7. In the Format Options section, give your USB drive a name as the Volume label, use NTFS as the File system, and use the default Cluster size. 

8. In the advanced format options, check the boxes next to "Quick format", "Create extended label and icon files", and "Check device for bad blocks".

9. Click Start to let Rufus create a BitLocker data recovery bootable media.

Recover data from BitLocker-encrypted drive with BitLocker recovery boot disk

After you have successfully created a bootable WinPE media using iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE Boot Disk and Rufus, it is time to get off your important files from the Windows hard drive that is encrypted by BitLocker.

Step 1. Enable your computer to boot from an external USB drive

By default, your Windows computer is set to boot from the first connected internal hard drive. In the event of startup failure, you need to change the boot order and let your computer boot from the bootable USB drive you just created. 

How to boot from a USB drive on a PC:

How to boot from a USB drive on a Surface tablet:

Step 2. Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery 

When your computer boots from the external bootable USB drive created using iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE Boot Disk, it will automatically open iBoysoft Data Recovery for recovering data from the BitLocker-protected partitions. It can rescue your files with a high success rate. 

1. On the homepage of iBoysoft Data Recovery, select the BitLocker Recovery module. 

2. Select the BitLocker encrypted drive and click Next.

3. Enter the BitLocker encryption password or the 48-digit BitLocker recovery key and click OK to decrypt the drive.

4. The software will start scanning lost data from the BitLocker-encrypted drive. Then the found files will be listed.

5. Purchase a license for iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows Professional Edition or Technician Edition. 

6. Activate iBoysoft Data Recovery using offline activation. 

7. Check the boxes next to the recoverable files you want to recover and click Recover.

8. Connect an external storage device to your Windows PC or Surface and use it as the location for recovered files. 

Step 3. Fix Windows not booting

After data is secured from the BitLocker-encrypted hard drive, it is time to fix the Windows not turning on and make your computer work again. You have multiple recovery options, including repairing the Windows system, resetting your PC, and reinstalling Windows.

Conclusion

Now that you've learned how to create a BitLocker recovery bootable USB drive and recover data from a BitLocker-encrypted drive using bootable WinPE media, it's crucial to use a tool that supports both WinPE bootable files and BitLocker data recovery for a seamless and successful recovery process. iBoysoft Data Recovery WinPE Boot Disk should be the optimal option for this task.