Help TGR IT mags.

[Viva]

Why did BMills cross the river?

Bet he went over the deep end, too.

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[wyeaster]

Why did BMills cross the river?

to keep kyrie from leaving

[BmillsSkier]

Maybe Pio's car was right-side-up the whole time.

Shit, this changes everything.

Where you headed?

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Hudson Ohio for a family thing

Just get a new hard drive...encryption is meant to protect the data not the device.

Did it ever get past this screen or first time booting up?
Is the drive the original from the laptop?

There are a couple different deployment options which in typical ME fashion don't quite make sense..

Never got past this screen on startup. Just one continuous loop from hell.

Everything is original from the now defunct employer.

What options do you know of? I'll try just about anything once. Within reason of course you perverts.

Goddamn Russians.

I so know how Hillary felt now.

Bless her heart.

Why did BMills cross the river?

To see what kind of a splash a Dell Inspiron makes.

As said above - if the old employer is gone (e.g no chance of finding the BL key) - time to douche it, put a linux disto on it and use it as a dedicated porn viewer /MLB streamer.

(if turning it right side up didn't work)

No chance of finding the key.

Turning it right side up only makes it harder to type.

[Viva]

Where the fuck is Hudson? Never mind, I just Alta Vistaed it. Lemme know if you make it to Cincinnati.

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[RShea]

Bitlocker as stated as well as google will tell you is a data encryption built in to Windows business editions. How it just started to launch (did you click on it and enable it??, if so then you should know the key!) after all this time is the real question. The key is needed to unlock the now encrypted data. You state the company is no longer, so would there be anyway to find and contact one of the IT support persons that used to work for the company. If you did not record the key, or were provided a backup (flash drive usually) and 100% certain there is no way of getting the key, then time for either another hard drive in the system (and set aside the existing in case the key could become available if the data NOT backed up is really important), or just obtain the Windows installation CD for the OS and reformat and wipe the drive and reinstall the OS that was licensed for the system.

[BmillsSkier]

Bitlocker as stated as well as google will tell you is a data encryption built in to Windows business editions. How it just started to launch (did you click on it and enable it??, if so then you should know the key!) after all this time is the real question. The key is needed to unlock the now encrypted data. You state the company is no longer, so would there be anyway to find and contact one of the IT support persons that used to work for the company. If you did not record the key, or were provided a backup (flash drive usually) and 100% certain there is no way of getting the key, then time for either another hard drive in the system (and set aside the existing in case the key could become available if the data NOT backed up is really important), or just obtain the Windows installation CD for the OS and reformat and wipe the drive and reinstall the OS that was licensed for the system.

Thanks. I'm so bummed. I didn't do anything to start bitlocker and I've never seen it run in the 5 years I've been using this thing.

It's from the wife's old company which has been bought and sold several times over so I wouldn't have a clue as to how to contact anyone there.

Fuck me, I'd feel better if I knew what actually caused it to start but I don't do anything untoward with this brick.

[BmillsSkier]

Where the fuck is Hudson? Never mind, I just Alta Vistaed it. Lemme know if you make it to Cincinnati.

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Thanks man. I'll be passing through (maybe grab some Skyline) doing about 85.

Look for the splash as I cross over the damned Brent Spence bridge.

[BmillsSkier]

Is the server closet open this early in Wilson?

[Viva]

Thanks man. I'll be passing through (maybe grab some Skyline) doing about 85.

Look for the splash as I cross over the damned Brent Spence bridge.

Avoid the Brent Spence. It's gonna be down to a single lane at times this weekend. Consider crossing over the 475...471...whatever the fuck that number is.

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[BmillsSkier]

Thanks! 471 it is. Party Source stop might be in order then.

Ok, so this screen popped up, is that the key!?! It as 32 characters.

But when I try and enter it in it won't let me type the letters or dashes, only numbers!?!?!?! FUCK YOU LAPTOP!!!!

[MESH]

The identification is only to verify you have the correct key for the drive. Any minor corruption to the disk or a failed update can cause this issue.

[tripice351]

Pretty sure the key is "12345"

Or, there may be a sticker somewhere on the machine (perhaps under the battery cover) with the key. IT guys are lazy like that.

[Skidog]

Pretty sure the key is "12345"

Or, there may be a sticker somewhere on the machine (perhaps under the battery cover) with the key. IT guys are lazy like that.

yeah its a 48 digit key...but im sure its under the battery cause "IT guys are lazy"...

[BmillsSkier]

The identification is only to verify you have the correct key for the drive. Any minor corruption to the disk or a failed update can cause this issue.

So that key in my pic is not it? Sorry, I'm clueless about this stuff.

Pretty sure the key is "12345"

Or, there may be a sticker somewhere on the machine (perhaps under the battery cover) with the key. IT guys are lazy like that.

I tried "password" to no avail. I'll look for the sticker thanks.



Fucking Gozer, I need a keymaster.

[MESH]

Identification isn't the key. Pound away at the f8 key when you power on and see if you have dell recovery options. If dell recovery is intact you can wipe the drive with a factory restore.

[BrokeSomeRibs]

Don't chuck it in the river. PM me if you want to sell the box. I might be able to use it. Sounds like it's a couple years old and not worth much, but at least it would be worth beer money.

[Timberridge]

Theoretically speaking, if this thing were chucked in the Ohio R it could end up in New Orleans?

[skaredshtles]

Kindly do the needful.

This is hilarious...

[RShea]

Some more possible situations:

Does your wife use the same PC? If so different profiles enabled?
As noted for Bitlocker and to Find my BitLocker recovery key write up:
Places to look for your BitLocker key:
On a printout you saved. Look in places you keep important papers. (sounds like you have no important papers)
Saved on a USB flash drive. Plug the USB flash drive in to your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file. (sounds like this is not available either)
In your Microsoft account. To get your recovery key, go to BitLocker Recovery Keys.- So do you or better yet your wife have a Microsoft Live account that was set up and used when this was installed (could be her work email address of the defunct company)- if she could check to see if she could log into the Microsoft Live account- then check for a key stored there.

Otherwise as you move down the list:
Ask someone with administrator privileges on the same PC to unlock it with their key. - does this have more than 1 profile on it (you indicate that each time you boot it is asking for the key, any options to boot to another user profile?
If your PC is connected to a domain (usually a work or school computer), ask a system administrator for your recovery key. (already suggested and you struck it down as impossible)
If you still can't get in, you'll need to reset your PC- (which would be recovery or reformat as noted above my many)

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...(v=ws.11).aspx is an advanced tech article on the Bitlocker. Much of this will be greek to a non-tech person. Looks like Bitlocker could be launched if an unapproved device is plugged in, if you change the settings in the bios for boot order, or even completely discharging the battery or removing it.

After you have identified what caused recovery, If you could know what the root cause of the recovery trigger was maybe, you can possibly reset BitLocker protection and avoid recovery on every startup.

[PNWbrit]

Fuck me, I'd feel better if I knew what actually caused it.

That is a sure path to madness when dealing with IT issues.

[skaredshtles]

That is a sure path to madness when dealing with IT issues.

He must be a manager/executive.

They *always* want to know exactly what caused whatever it was. And they will dedicate WEEKS of your time to find out.

They hate it when you just shrug and say, "Gremlins."

[digitaldeaths mom]

Before laptops were invented, I once met a wonderful man from New Orleans while on a 22 day Mississippi River cruise on the Queen of the Mississippi. We listened to the blues in Memphis, strolled under the Gateway Arch, and in the evenings he read Tom Sawyer out loud to me before retiring to bed.

[PNWbrit]

He must be a manager/executive.

They *always* want to know exactly what caused whatever it was. And they will dedicate WEEKS of your time to find out.

They hate it when you just shrug and say, "Gremlins."

Exactly.

[Meadow Skipper]

this is the best thread ever

And it just keeps getting better.

[BmillsSkier]

Some more possible situations:

Does your wife use the same PC? If so different profiles enabled?
As noted for Bitlocker and to Find my BitLocker recovery key write up:
Places to look for your BitLocker key:
On a printout you saved. Look in places you keep important papers. (sounds like you have no important papers)
Saved on a USB flash drive. Plug the USB flash drive in to your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file. (sounds like this is not available either)
In your Microsoft account. To get your recovery key, go to BitLocker Recovery Keys.- So do you or better yet your wife have a Microsoft Live account that was set up and used when this was installed (could be her work email address of the defunct company)- if she could check to see if she could log into the Microsoft Live account- then check for a key stored there.

Otherwise as you move down the list:
Ask someone with administrator privileges on the same PC to unlock it with their key. - does this have more than 1 profile on it (you indicate that each time you boot it is asking for the key, any options to boot to another user profile?
If your PC is connected to a domain (usually a work or school computer), ask a system administrator for your recovery key. (already suggested and you struck it down as impossible)
If you still can't get in, you'll need to reset your PC- (which would be recovery or reformat as noted above my many)

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...(v=ws.11).aspx is an advanced tech article on the Bitlocker. Much of this will be greek to a non-tech person. Looks like Bitlocker could be launched if an unapproved device is plugged in, if you change the settings in the bios for boot order, or even completely discharging the battery or removing it.

After you have identified what caused recovery, If you could know what the root cause of the recovery trigger was maybe, you can possibly reset BitLocker protection and avoid recovery on every startup.

Thanks man, just went down your list. Nope to everything. No other user, no domain it's logged into. Really it's basically a MLB/TGR/gmail/Word box. Did this place give it the herp?

Sounds like just letting the battery die down is the cause? Fuck this shit.

And yeah, gremlins is a fine enough answer for me at this point.

So moving on to step 14 since the box itself is still usable I'm guessing I take it to some place that sells me a new HD, new copy of windows (this was a work laptop, don't have install discs) and a new copy of Office?

I'm sure that'll be somewhere around the cost of a new laptop right?