• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

IT Help

Rorschach said:
Do you? What do you like about it?

Was thinking of getting one for music. My laptop is struggling with plugin CPU load. I'll have to get a giant fudge off screen too of course. Ridiculous to the point that people will think I am compensating for something else.

Also my broadband is brick, and I have no cables on my house - no fibre. Has anyone got (spit) starlink? (spit, spit)
(more spit)
Click to expand...

Until you get Fibre it's tough. The Mac Mini is good. It will last forever. Super easy to use. Depends what you want to do on if tbh
 
Rorschach said:
Do you? What do you like about it?

Was thinking of getting one for music. My laptop is struggling with plugin CPU load. I'll have to get a giant fudge off screen too of course. Ridiculous to the point that people will think I am compensating for something else.

Also my broadband is brick, and I have no cables on my house - no fibre. Has anyone got (spit) starlink? (spit, spit)
(more spit)
Click to expand...
It's just great bang for your buck.

I decent screen (a really decent one) will add massively to the cost. But depending on what you use the screen for can keep the cost down. Don't forget to start reading the hours and hours of Internet about what screen is 'the best' :).

Even the base model appears to deal with most tasks effortlessly. If you want anything but the base model be prepared to wait.
 
LutonSpurs said:
Until you get Fibre it's tough. The Mac Mini is good. It will last forever. Super easy to use. Depends what you want to do on if tbh
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. No fibre on my house yet. They came around a year ago and said it was on the way, but I haven't seen them since. I'm using 5G but it is up and down more often than a kittens knickers.

As for the Mini, I need it to perform well with a DAW audio load. According to the interweb, it works well for that sort of stuff. M4 Mac Mini is what I am looking at.
 
Last edited:
ricky2tricky4city said:
It's just great bang for your buck.

I decent screen (a really decent one) will add massively to the cost. But depending on what you use the screen for can keep the cost down. Don't forget to start reading the hours and hours of Internet about what screen is 'the best' :).

Even the base model appears to deal with most tasks effortlessly. If you want anything but the base model be prepared to wait.
Click to expand...
This is what I am looking forward to. Months and months of contradictory advice from people asking me to subscribe to their YouTube channel.
 
Rorschach said:
Do you? What do you like about it?

Was thinking of getting one for music. My laptop is struggling with plugin CPU load. I'll have to get a giant fudge off screen too of course. Ridiculous to the point that people will think I am compensating for something else.

Also my broadband is brick, and I have no cables on my house - no fibre. Has anyone got (spit) starlink? (spit, spit)
(more spit)
Click to expand...

My mate has Starlink on his barge, its super impressive.............I need a laydown
 
I have a Mac mini + got the new Studio Display yesterday (it's for work, I'm a web developer who spends 10 hours in front of the screen most days) and it's such a good setup. Ridiculous that the display cost more than double the Mac, but it really is beautiful.
 
I just stumbled over this, and I didn't have anything to add from my own experience (which was a work lappy that IT support were able to provide the key for), but no-one appeared to have suggested asking an AI, so I did, and this is what ChatGeePeeTee had to offer on the subject:

First: don’t panic and don’t keep rebooting. A BitLocker prompt often appears after something fairly mundane:
  • BIOS/UEFI update
  • TPM reset or firmware update
  • motherboard battery issue (?? [ed])
  • boot order change
  • SSD moved to another machine
  • Secure Boot changes
  • occasionally a Windows update gone wrong
BitLocker is doing what it was designed to do: it thinks the machine’s “trusted” hardware state changed.

Your realistic options​


1) Retrieve the recovery key from your Microsoft account (most common)​


From another device:

https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey

or

https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

Sign in with the Microsoft account used when the PC was first set up. Match the Recovery Key ID shown on the locked machine with the key listed online.

A surprisingly common issue: people have multiple Microsoft accounts (old Outlook/Hotmail accounts, spouse’s account, family setup account, etc.). Check all plausible ones.


2) Check whether it was saved locally​


Look for:
  • printed copy
  • USB stick
  • text file backup
  • password manager notes
  • OneDrive documents folder
  • email attachments / old setup notes
Some people saved it and forgot.


3) If it was ever linked to work/school​


Even if it’s your personal laptop, if you once enrolled it with:
  • Microsoft 365
  • work email
  • university account
  • company security policy
…the key may be stored in that organisation’s tenant rather than your personal account.

That catches people out more often than you’d think.

4) Undo recent hardware/firmware changes​


If this happened immediately after:
  • BIOS changes
  • TPM settings changes
  • firmware update
  • replacing hardware
you may be able to reverse the change and allow normal boot.

Examples:
  • re-enable Secure Boot if you disabled it
  • restore previous boot order
  • reinsert original hardware configuration
This only helps in some cases.


5) Remove the drive and attempt recovery elsewhere​


If the machine itself is failing:
  • remove SSD/HDD
  • attach it to another Windows machine via USB enclosure/SATA adapter
You’ll still need the BitLocker key to unlock it, but this can help determine whether the issue is the laptop rather than the drive.


What if you cannot find the key?​


This is the unpleasant part:

There is generally no legitimate bypass.

That’s the whole point of full-disk encryption. Neither Microsoft nor the laptop manufacturer can reconstruct the key for you.

Without the recovery key, your practical options become:
  • wipe the machine
  • reinstall Windows
  • lose locally stored files that weren’t backed up
If your files are critical, stop experimenting and consider professional data recovery advice—but be aware that without the key, even specialists may be unable to help.


Why this is suddenly happening to private users more often​


This catches many people because newer Windows devices increasingly enable device encryption by default, especially if:
  • you sign in with a Microsoft account
  • your machine has a TPM chip
  • you use Windows 11
Many users never consciously “turned on BitLocker,” which understandably makes the prompt feel like an ambush.


Once you’re back in​


Immediately:
  • save the recovery key in two places
  • print a copy
  • keep an offline backup
  • verify your actual file backups exist
This is one of those things people only think about after seeing that blue recovery screen.
 
Last edited:
By the way, if this topic has made anyone nervous about their own bitlocker key whereabouts and you can't be bothered logging in to M$, you should be able to discover it by opening a command window (DOS box) and, at the prompt, first typing "manage-bde -status".

If what comes back includes the lines "Conversion Status: Fully Decrypted" and "Protection Status: Protection Off", you're ok and don't need to do anything.

Otherwise, you should type "manage-bde -protectors -get C:" and look for the line "Password: XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX". The 48-digit code represented by the Xs is your recovery code for that drive volume. You should copy it and squirrel it away somewhere safe (on another device or a piece of paper in a locked filing cabinet with a sign on it saying beware... etc.). You can repeat the command for any other protected drives you have.

Hope this helps somebody....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back