Stuck in Diagnostic Loop and BitLocker Recovery Screen After Update

[skyBell53_]

Hello,

I need help with my HP laptop. It was working perfectly until a recent Windows update. The next day, when I turned it on, it started showing a screen that said something like “Preparing Automatic Repair” or “Diagnosing Your PC.” After that, it displayed a blue screen stating, “This computer cannot start up right now.”

Now it’s asking for a BitLocker Recovery Key, but I don’t remember setting up BitLocker, and I can’t find a recovery key. I’m completely locked out of my computer and unsure what to do next.

This laptop is still in excellent physical condition, and I really don’t want to replace it. Can someone help me troubleshoot or guide me on what steps to take to fix this issue?

Thank you in advance!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

See this link for ways to recover the BitLocker recovery key:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/find-your-bitlocker-recovery-key-6b71ad27-0b89-ea08-f143...

If that is of no help to you, you will have to clean install Windows on the drive by making a bootable USB W11 installation flash drive with the Media creation tool from the link below (2nd option).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11?msockid=1b0c6d11ee946b69049b7824eff56a37

Since the drive is encrypted, it won't let you install Windows unless you clean the disk.

When you are at the screen that asks 'Where do you want to install Windows,' use the Diskpart command to clean the disk.

1. Press Shift+F10 from inside Windows Setup screen to open a command prompt window.
2. Type diskpart and press the Enter key.
3. Type list disk to find your disk number.
4. Type select disk (e.g., select disk0) to choose the disk you want to format.
5. Finally, type clean to wipe the disk completely.
6. Exit diskpart and install Windows.

After W11 has been reinstalled, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-15-e1000-laptop-pc-series/model/38752942

Since you must have the BitLocker key to decrypt the drive and access your files, all data on the drive will remain forever unrecoverable, but at least you will be able to use your notebook again.