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Since TrueCrypt is gone now, I'm planning in using BitLocker to encrypt my drives. I want to encrypt all hard drives.

In my computer, I have an SSD and an HDD. At best, I want to turn on the computer, enter the complicated and long password only once and have both drives unlocked. When I re-install Windows, I usualy only format the SSD and not the HDD. This is where I want to avoid surprises, such as the HDD not being readable anymore for any reason.

Specifically therefore I'm asking:

What is the optimal way for setting up a completely encrypted computer with 2 hard drives?

(This seems to be a common problem, but I did not found a specific solution to it online)

A summary of the hardware & software configuration:

  • Windows 8.1 Pro
  • SSD where basically only Windows is installed. - Ability to format and re-install Windows required!
  • HDD on which data is stored
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  • TrueCrypt isn't gone. If you trusted it before, there is no reason to stop trusting it, there just simply won't be any updates going forwad to support GPT partitions
    – Ramhound
    Sep 29, 2014 at 0:52
  • I still trust it, but using obsolete software is not essentially a good idea as at some point, whenever that will is, it WILL not be usable anymore.
    – bytecode77
    Sep 29, 2014 at 6:14

1 Answer 1

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Source BitLocker Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How BitLocker works with fixed and removable data drives

BitLocker can also be used to protect fixed and removable data drives. When used with data drives, BitLocker encrypts the entire contents of the drive and can be configured by using Group Policy to require that BitLocker be enabled on a drive before the computer can write data to the drive. BitLocker can be configured with the following unlock methods for data drives:

  • Automatic unlock. Fixed data drives can be set to automatically unlock on a computer where the operating system drive is encrypted. Removable data drives can be set to automatically unlock on a computer running Windows 8 after the password or smart card is initially used to unlock the drive. However, removable data drives must always have either a password or smart card unlock method in addition to the automatic unlock method.
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  • Which means encrypting them separately and the (D:) automatically unlocks after the (C:) is unlocked. Thank you for this!
    – bytecode77
    Sep 28, 2014 at 20:44

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