Prevent Windows 11 from Encrypting Drives During Installation

Windows 11 24H2 version may enable BitLocker encryption by default. This article will introduce two simple methods to help you prevent Windows 11 from automatically encrypting your drive during installation.

Windows 11 24H2 enables BitLocker encryption by default

According to German technology media Deskmodder, the upcoming major version update of Windows 11 24H2 will enable BitLocker encryption by default. This not only affects Windows 11 24H2 Professional Edition and above, but also includes the Home Edition.

The new installation process does not start with a "blue window" but is similar to an in-place upgrade. It automatically encrypts your drives (system drive C drive and all connected drives) in the background, designed to enhance data security and privacy.

However, this default encryption setting is not conspicuous during installation and may cause problems. For example, if the installation fails and you try to reinstall Windows 11 but forget to save the BitLocker recovery key, all drives will be encrypted and inaccessible and data may be lost.

In addition, Windows 11 24H2 automatic BitLocker encryption may affect system performance, especially SSD performance.

Fortunately, there are some steps you can do to prevent Windows 11 from encrypting your drive during installation.

Method 1: Modify the registry to prevent automatic encryption

Disable BitLocker automatic device encryption when reinstalling Windows 11, follow these steps:

Step 1: After booting Windows from the installation USB drive, the system will prompt you to select a country or region. At this point, press Shift F10 to open the command prompt, enter regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2: Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker .

Step 3: Right-click on BitLocker and click New > DWORD (32-bit) value and name it PreventDeviceEncryption .

Step 4: Set the numerical data to 1 .

Step 5: Close the Registry Editor and Command Prompt, and then continue with the normal installation process.

Method 2: Modify ISO image file to prevent drive encryption

Another easy way to disable Windows 11 24H2 automatic BitLocker encryption is to modify the ISO image file. Rufus tools can help you achieve this. Follow these steps to create a bootable Windows 11 drive that can disable BitLocker automatic device encryption:

Step 1: Download Rufus from its official website and double-click the .exe file to run.

Step 2: Download the Windows 11 24H2 ISO file.

Step 3: Connect the USB drive to your computer, select ISO mirroring and click Start .

Step 4: Rufus will display the Windows User Experience window where you can customize your Windows installation as needed. Make sure the Disable BitLocker Automatic Device Encryption option is selected, which prevents Windows 11 from encrypting the drive during installation. Additionally, you can bypass RAM, Secure Boot, TPM, and Microsoft account checks by selecting the first two options.

After creating a bootable drive, boot the computer from that drive, and then start installing Windows 11 on your computer.

Summarize

If Windows 11 24H2 enables BitLocker encryption when reinstalling the operating system, you can prevent Windows 11 from encrypting the drive during installation by tweaking the Windows registry or modifying the Windows ISO image file. Please follow the above steps immediately.

The above is the detailed content of Prevent Windows 11 from Encrypting Drives During Installation. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!