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One problem I have with BitLocker is that it's only supported on Ultimate/Enterprise (on 7) and Professional and up (on 8) I guess one could argue about not ha

One problem I have with BitLocker is that it's only supported on Ultimate/Enterprise (on 7) and Professional and up (on 8) I guess one could argue about not having those editions in a business setting, but the vast majority of pre-installed Windows in a market is Home Premium, and I can't think of enough justifications (especially in small businesses) for higher editions, and besides, many people, in home setting would want to have this extra protection for their computers. (After all, they do banking, tax, etc.) -- It seems like non-pro 8.1 does BitLocker for system drives, but then it also comes with a bit of "only if's" (InstantGo, SSD, non-removable RAMs, TPM, etc.) As someone else mentioned here, it seems like choices are starting to become narrow as fairly limited solutions can support UEFI/GPT, too...

Someone1234 11y ago
Windows 8.1 and above now have a type of "poor man's bitlocker" simply called drive encryption. It works on non-pro/non-enterprise systems. It requires a TPM, uEFI, and Microsoft Account. But once you meet the requirements it gives you a "basic" level of encryption which for a petty criminal is hard to break. Most Surface Pros 3 will have this enabled already. http://www.howtogeek.com/173592/windows-8.1-will-start-encrypting-hard-drives-by-default-everything-you-need-to-know/ http://www.howtogeek.com/173592/windows-8.1-will-start-encry... Legit Bitlocker is superior in many ways (in particular not having to store a backup key in a Microsoft Account, and having more choices about how to decrypt). But for consumers it is a very welcome addition.
- wlesieutre 11y ago
  > It requires a TPM, uEFI, and Microsoft Account. But once you meet the requirements it gives you a "basic" level of encryption which for a petty criminal is hard to break. Most Surface Pros 3 will have this enabled already. Are you sure this is accurate? I'm using a Surface Pro (comes with Windows Professional), and when I go to the BitLocker settings (in Control Panel) it's shown as enabled. I haven't changed from whatever the default settings are.
  - yareally 11y ago
    I think you missed reading part of the comment that implied it worked on Professional: > It works on non-pro/non-enterprise systems.
    - wlesieutre 11y ago
      Right, I'm wondering about the assertion that the SP3 came with a "poor man's BitLocker called Drive Encryption" enabled. The BitLocker preferences tell me I have BitLocker enabled.

Someone1234 11y ago

Windows 8.1 and above now have a type of "poor man's bitlocker" simply called drive encryption. It works on non-pro/non-enterprise systems. It requires a TPM, uEFI, and Microsoft Account. But once you meet the requirements it gives you a "basic" level of encryption which for a petty criminal is hard to break. Most Surface Pros 3 will have this enabled already. http://www.howtogeek.com/173592/windows-8.1-will-start-encrypting-hard-drives-by-default-everything-you-need-to-know/ http://www.howtogeek.com/173592/windows-8.1-will-start-encry... Legit Bitlocker is superior in many ways (in particular not having to store a backup key in a Microsoft Account, and having more choices about how to decrypt). But for consumers it is a very welcome addition.

wlesieutre 11y ago
> It requires a TPM, uEFI, and Microsoft Account. But once you meet the requirements it gives you a "basic" level of encryption which for a petty criminal is hard to break. Most Surface Pros 3 will have this enabled already. Are you sure this is accurate? I'm using a Surface Pro (comes with Windows Professional), and when I go to the BitLocker settings (in Control Panel) it's shown as enabled. I haven't changed from whatever the default settings are.
- yareally 11y ago
  I think you missed reading part of the comment that implied it worked on Professional: > It works on non-pro/non-enterprise systems.
  - wlesieutre 11y ago
    Right, I'm wondering about the assertion that the SP3 came with a "poor man's BitLocker called Drive Encryption" enabled. The BitLocker preferences tell me I have BitLocker enabled.