Bitlocker after a repair

[Leonardo7]

Hello, I’m writing from Italy, hope you can help me. I have a problem with Bitlocker after the repair of my HP EliteBook 840 G5.

Last month I sent my laptop to service because it did not turn on anymore. It came back with a Bios update (the only intervention reported). When it was turned on, it asked to insert a Bitlocker key. I was unaware of the existence of the Bitlocker and I never set it up. Mine is a private use computer, bought new and not touched by anyone but me. I contacted the Customer service and they made me change the Bios advanced "secure boot configuration" in "secure boot enabled and legacy support disabled". The laptop then started regularly.

A few days later the laptop again stopped working. Customer service sent a technician who replaced the motherboard. When the computer was turned on, it requested to insert a Bitlocker key. The procedure suggested the previous time didn’t work. The technician contacted his helpdesk, I contacted the assistance, but without any help: it was said that the only person who could have installed the Bitlocker was me and I was invited to address to Microsoft via a paid (!) service.

As I explained repeatedly, I did not set up the Bitlocker. The Bitlocker showed up the first time when the PC returned from the first service.

The customer service tried to help me but at the end the only solution the proposed is to reinstall the operating system. This would result in loosing data and in tiresome restoring of programs and archives though.

So: After the repair, my laptop is blocked by something that has not been set by me. It seems that HP service created this problem - I do not know if due to a bug or to a mistake of the technicians – but it is not able to solve it!

I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

[Leonardo7]

Hi there! Nobody can help me? I have also seen that it is advisable to disable fast boot, but even this has not solved.

I wonder: why did the procedure to avoid the bitlocker work the first time, after the update of the bios, and did not work after replacing the motherboard?

[erico]

I can ask a Moderator to escalate your issue. 

[Leonardo7]

Thank you! I would really appreciate it.

[kevin-t]

@Leonardo7

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[Leonardo7]

Thank you so much for your help kevin-t. I am looking forward for a private message from HP support.

[Leonardo7]

I exchanged private messages with the support service. They were very kind. But they sent me back to the support service of my country. Very kind people as well - but they do not know how to solve the problem. They called me and the only solution they were able to suggest was, again, to reinstall the operating system, which means losing data and spending a lot of time restoring all the programs.

My computer has been blocked for weeks as a result of HP's assistance service. I did not cause the problem and I wait for an acceptable solution. I ask HP to take the problem seriously. Instead, it's days that I have no news.

 Thank you for any suggestion.

[erico]

@Leonardo7

I have asked a Moderator to escalate the issue again.  

[Leonardo7]

Thank you very much. Let me explain the problem again.

I have not set up BitLocker. I did not even know that Bitlocker existed.

I found Bitlocker on my computer the first time after I sent it to service for a failure. When it came back (they updated the Bios) it asked for a Bitlocker key. I phoned the HP helpdesk asking what did it mean and they simply told me to change some options in the Bios (see my first post), then the computer started up regularly. It was a very quick thing. I was not told anything else.

A few days later my computer showed the failure again. The motherboard has been replaced. At power up, the computer asked for the Bitlocker key. This time, changing the Bios options did not help.

My computer is blocked by a Bitlocker that I did not set up.

My computer is private (I am a writer), it has not been touched by anyone but me and the HP technicians.

Question: Is it possible to establish when the Bitlocker has been set up?

[erico]

s the member of the HP team that contacts you.Hi @Leonardo7

I read and understood that you said that you did not set up BitLocker when I read the original post in your thread.

That is the reason I pinged HP again.  The person you need to explain it to i

Without the BitLocker key giving you access to the operating system, you are not going to be able to easily determine when it was set up. 

I do hope that you backed up your writing on an external storage device.