Quick Fix: Computer Shut Off After Bitlocker Encryption

Why my computer shut off after BitLocker encryption? This article will explain it and offer you 4 effective methods to resolve it. A better way to encrypt your hard drive is also covered.

Hedy

By Hedy / Updated on September 4, 2024

Share this: instagram reddit

Why my computer shut off after BitLocker encryption?

BitLocker is a powerful encryption tool provided by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. It helps in protecting the data on your hard drives from unauthorized access, especially if your device gets lost or stolen. However, sometimes after enabling BitLocker encryption, users might face issues where their computer shuts down unexpectedly. This could be due to various reasons:

BitLocker encryption is a process that requires significant system resources, including CPU usage and disk activity. During the encryption process, your computer may experience performance issues or slow down, which could lead to a forced shutdown.

Here are the possible reasons in English as to why your computer might shut off after initiating BitLocker encryption:

✦ Insufficient system resources: BitLocker encryption is a resource-intensive process that can significantly utilize system resources such as CPU and memory. If your system does not have enough resources, it may automatically shut down to prevent further potential damage.
✦ Software conflict: There might be incompatibilities between certain security software or system utilities and the BitLocker encryption feature, leading to system instability and ultimately causing the system to shut down.
✦ Hardware issues: There could be problems with the hard drive or other critical hardware components, which are triggered during the encryption process, causing the system to fail to operate normally.
✦ Operating system errors: The Windows operating system may have errors or vulnerabilities that become apparent during the execution of BitLocker encryption, leading to a system crash.
✦ Power supply issues: An unstable or insufficient power supply could also lead to the computer shutting down during high-load operations, such as encryption.

Please note that these are just possible causes and do not constitute a full diagnosis. A more thorough system inspection and troubleshooting might be necessary to determine the exact cause.

4 ways to fix computer shut off after BitLocker encryption

BitLocker is a powerful encryption tool provided by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. It helps in protecting the data on your hard drives from unauthorized access, especially if your device gets lost or stolen. However, sometimes after enabling BitLocker encryption, users might face issues where their computer shuts down unexpectedly. This could be due to various reasons such as incompatibility with system configurations, driver issues, or even software conflicts. Here are four ways to troubleshoot and potentially fix this issue:

Way 1. Disable BitLocker temporarily

Step 1. Turn off your computer completely.

Step 2. Restart your computer and while it boots up, keep pressing 'F8' key to enter Advanced Startup Options.

Step 3. Select "Safe Mode" (usually the first option). Your computer will boot into Safe Mode.

Step 4. Once in Safe Mode, go to Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Step 5. Find your encrypted drive, and click on "Turn Off BitLocker". Follow the prompts to disable encryption on your drive.

turn-off-bitlocker

Step 6. Restart your computer normally and check if the shutdown problem persists. If not, you may have found the cause of the issue.

Way 2. Update system drivers

Step 1. Open settings. Navigate to Update & Security and select Windows Update.

Step 2. Click the Check for Updates button, and then select View optional updates.

Step 3. Access the Driver Updates tab. Select the driver that needs to be updated.

Step 4. Execute the download and install commands.

update-system-drivers

Way 3. Check hardware issues

Another method is to make sure your hardware is healthy to support BitLocker running. You can make it from the following aspects:

1. Overheating can cause computers to shut down unexpectedly. Clean internal components like fans and heat sinks using compressed air.

2. Check if there are any loose connections inside your PC. Reseat RAM sticks, graphics cards, and any other peripherals that might have come loose.

3. Use built-in tools or third-party software to check the health of your hard drive/SSD.

4. If you suspect power issues, test your power supply with a PSU tester or replace it if necessary.

Way 4. Perform System Restore

If you have created a system restore point before the issue started, you can try restoring your system to that point.

To do this, restart your computer and enter the Advanced Startup Options menu again by pressing 'F8' during boot.

Select "System Restore" and follow the wizard to select a restore point.

advanced-option

If System Restore doesn't help or isn't an option, consider reinstalling Windows. Note that this should be done with caution as it will remove all data and programs from your system drive. Always ensure you have a backup before proceeding.

In conclusion, always ensure you have backups of your important data before performing any major operations on your system. If none of these methods work, it's best to consult with a professional IT technician who can diagnose the issue more thoroughly.

How to encrypt drives without any issues

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a powerful disk management tool that allows you to perform various operations on your hard drive, including partitioning, resizing, moving, merging, and converting partitions. One of the features it offers is the ability to encrypt drives, which can help protect your data from unauthorized access.

The benefits of using AOMEI Partition Assistant for drive encryption include:

✔ Easy to use: AOMEI Partition Assistant has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to encrypt drives even for beginners.
✔ Wide compatibility: It supports practically all Windows versions, including Windows 11/10 Home editions.
✔ Wide range of features: In addition to drive encryption, AOMEI Partition Assistant offers a wide range of BitLocker features that can help you optimize your encrypted hard drive, including key backup, password change, data encryption/decryption, and drive locking/unlocking.
✔ Advanced algorithm: Implements the AES encryption method and completely meets Microsoft BitLocker security standards.

Overall, using AOMEI Partition Assistant to encrypt drives can help protect your sensitive data and ensure that only authorized users can access it. Its ease of use, affordability, and versatility make it a popular choice among users looking for a reliable disk management tool.

Here's how to use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to encrypt drives:

Download Pro DemoWin 11/10/8.1/8/7
Secure Download

Step1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. Click the "Tools" main tab and select "BitLocker".

bitlocker-tools

Step 2. All drives on the system will be displayed, including operating system drives, fixed data drives, and removable drives. Please find the partition you would like to encrypt BitLocker and click the "Turn on BitLocker" option. (Here, we take the drive D: as an example.)

⚠️Note:
  • It only supports encrypting NTFS partitions. Other partition file systems, for example, FAT or FAT32 cannot be encrypted.

turn-on-bitlocker

Step 3. Please set and confirm a password to encrypt the drive and click "Next".

turn-on-bitlocker-enter-password

Step 4. Select a way to back up your recovery key. You can either select "Save to a file" or "Print the recovery key".

turn-on-bitlocker-backup-recovery-key

Step 5. If you select "Save to a file", please choose a location on your PC to save the recovery key.

turn-on-bitlocker-save-to-a-file

Then, please click the "Next" button to start the encryption process.

Step 5. The encryption process might take time to encrypt the drive. Before the process is finished, please do not terminate the program, remove the drive, or turn off the power. Once the encryption process is finished, please click "Completed". Finally, the drive is BitLocker encrypted.

encryption-completed

Conclusion

In conclusion, BitLocker encryption is a valuable security measure for protecting sensitive data on your Windows operating system. However, it's not without its issues, as some users may experience their computers shutting down unexpectedly after initiating the encryption process. To troubleshoot and potentially fix this issue, you can try the methods displayed above.

If you're looking for an alternative way to encrypt drives without any issues, AOMEI Partition Assistant, a powerful disk management tool, allows you to encrypt drives easily and securely. It offers a user-friendly interface and a wide range of features that can help optimize your hard drive usage. 

Hedy
Hedy · Staff Editor
Hedy is an editor of AOMEI Technology. She is very good at solving problems of partition management, and she wants to share all the problems she had already solved to users who met the same questions.