BLK / Why you are seeing the recovery screen / The drive failed or corrupted while BitLocker was on

Failed drive · corrupt drive · image first · decrypt the image · never decrypt in place · key held

The drive failed or corrupted while BitLocker was on. A hardware failure, not an encryption problem, and with your key the best outcome of the hard cases.

A BitLocker drive that has physically failed, that is dropping out, clicking, showing the wrong size, or that Windows now calls RAW or corrupt, is facing a hardware or file-system problem, not an encryption problem, and that distinction is the good news. If you have the recovery key or password, the encryption is no obstacle at all: we recover the drive the way we would any failed drive, and decrypt the recovered image with your key. The one firm rule is that a failing encrypted drive is never decrypted in place, because decryption reads and writes across the whole volume and can finish off a drive that was already dying, and because working on the only copy is never safe. Instead the encrypted drive is imaged at the sector level first, behind a write blocker, weak areas worked last, and everything after that, the decryption, any file-system repair, is done on the image. With the key in hand this is a routine job with a very good success rate; the encryption simply adds a decryption step to ordinary data recovery. We recover these drives only for their owners, behind proof of ownership.

Owner-only, proof requiredFree first look£800 + VAT, one diskThe honest answer either way

Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
0800 6890668

Stop using a failing encrypted drive, and do not try to decrypt it in place. Decryption writes across the whole volume and can finish off a dying drive; running it on your only copy is the classic way to turn a recoverable failure into a lost one. Do not run chkdsk or repair tools on it either. Image first, which is what we do.

Why a failed encrypted drive is a hardware job with a decryption step.

BitLocker does not change what goes wrong with drives. An SSD's controller still fails, a hard disk's heads still degrade, sectors still go bad, and a file system still corrupts after a bad shutdown. When any of that happens to an encrypted drive, the problem is the hardware or the file system, exactly as it would be on an unencrypted drive, and it is solved the same way. The encryption sits on top, and matters only at the end, when the recovered data has to be decrypted.

That is why the recovery key or password is the hinge. With it, a failed BitLocker drive is recovered like any other: we stabilise and image it at the sector level behind a write blocker, working weak areas last and keeping a map of anything unreadable; a mechanically failed disk is repaired and read on the bench, a dead SSD controller read at the chip level. Then, on the image, never the original, we decrypt with your key and repair any file-system damage. The data comes back. Without the key, the drive can still be imaged, but the image cannot be opened unless one of the lost-key routes applies, so the first question is always whether you have the key.

The never-decrypt-in-place rule deserves emphasis because getting it wrong is how recoverable drives are lost. Decrypting a drive rewrites every sector as it goes; on a drive that is already failing, that sustained read-write load can be the thing that finishes it, and if it dies mid-decryption you may be left with neither the encrypted original nor a complete decrypted copy. Partial decryption of a damaged volume can also leave the file system in a worse state. Imaging first, and decrypting the image, removes that risk entirely: the original is read once, gently, and never written to, and all the work happens on a copy.

What you see, and what it means.

Describe yours to us →

What you see	The usual reason	Where that leaves you
Encrypted drive dropping out or clicking, key held	A hardware failure, encryption on top	Imaged behind a write blocker, then decrypted
Windows calls the encrypted drive RAW, key held	File-system or metadata damage	Imaged, decrypted, the file system repaired on the clone
Encrypted SSD dead in the BIOS, key held	Controller failure	Read at the chip level, imaged, then decrypted
Failed encrypted drive, key also lost	A hardware job with no way into the image	Imaged; openable only if a lost-key route applies
Someone decrypted it in place and it died	The dying drive finished under decryption load	Harder and partial; a warning to others not to

From the drive arriving to your files going back.

Work we have closed →

Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free

A number goes on the parcel and the drive the day it is opened, matched to your enquiry by the booking sheet inside. Before anything is read we check the proof of ownership you sent. The drive is then connected through a write blocker, read-only, and examined: whether it is a healthy drive behind a lost key, or a failing drive behind a known key, is settled here, and so is whether what you want is possible. That first look is free, and you may stop at it owing nothing.

Nothing to pay for lookingProof of ownership checked firstRead-only, nothing written to the drive

Imaged at the sector level, before anything else

A drive that answers at all is imaged in full on a hardware imager, behind a write blocker, weak areas last, with a map kept of what could not be read. The image is a copy of the encrypted sectors, so it is useless to anyone without your key, which is a privacy gain in itself. Every later step is done on the image. The original drive is never decrypted, never written to, and never worked on directly.

Sector by sector, behind a write blockerNothing written to the original

The physical fault repaired on the clone, when there is one

A drive that has failed, that reads slowly or that drops out is stabilised and imaged in passes; a mechanically failed disk is repaired and read on the bench, a dead SSD controller read at the chip level, before any decryption is attempted. The aim at this stage is one clean image of the encrypted volume to decrypt from. Where the drive is healthy and the problem is only the key, this stage is skipped.

Mechanical and chip-level work where neededOne clean encrypted image to work from

The image decrypted with your key or password

With your recovery key, recovery password or the drive's password, the image is unlocked: the protector releases the Volume Master Key, the VMK releases the Full Volume Encryption Key, and the volume is decrypted from the clone. Where the metadata or header is damaged, repair-bde and the key package rebuild it at the block level onto a separate target. Where the key is lost but a memory image or hibernation file is available, the Volume Master Key is extracted from it with Passware. Without a key, a password to attack, or a memory capture, the volume cannot be opened, and you are told so at the free look.

Protector → VMK → FVEK → volumeDecrypted from the clone, never the original

The file system rebuilt, and the list before the bill

Once the volume is open it is an ordinary NTFS or exFAT file system, and any damage in it is repaired on the image and the files recovered. What was recovered is listed for you first, and only then does a bill exist. The files go home on fresh media. The original drive is returned, or securely destroyed at your request; we never send the key and the data by the same route.

Files listed before any invoiceFresh media, supplied with the job3–7 days at the bench

From the bench

Stop using a failing encrypted drive now. Every power-on of a dying drive risks the sectors you need; the sooner it is imaged, the more comes back.
Never decrypt a failing drive in place. Image first and decrypt the copy; decrypting the original can finish it off and leave you with nothing.
Have your key ready. With it, a failed encrypted drive is a routine recovery; it is the single thing that turns the hard case into the good one.

With the key, a failed BitLocker drive is recovered like any other and the encryption is just a final decryption step.

One job, followed all the way through.

UK · BLK-2026-0711JOB LOGGED ✓

A business laptop's NVMe SSD that began dropping out and then vanished from the BIOS, BitLocker on, with the recovery key safely in the firm's Entra ID and a project the client could not afford to lose

A failed-drive case with the key in hand, which is the good outcome. The SSD's controller was failing. With the firm's authority and the escrowed key, we read the NAND at the chip level behind a write blocker, assembled a complete sector image of the encrypted volume, and only then decrypted the image with the recovery key. The file system had minor damage from the failing controller, which we repaired on the clone, and the project came back in full. The drive's failure was the whole problem; the key made the encryption irrelevant.

100% recovered; failed SSD, key held8 days at the bench

Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case

What helps, and what harms.

Do this much first

Stop using the drive the moment it shows signs of failing
Have your recovery key or password ready
Send the drive to be imaged before anything is attempted on it
Send proof the drive is yours

What sets us back

Decrypting a failing drive in place; image first
Running chkdsk or repair tools on a dying encrypted drive
Continuing to power on a drive that is dropping out
Assuming a failed encrypted drive is unrecoverable; with the key it usually is not

We recover BitLocker drives for the people who own them. Before any work begins we ask for proof that the drive is yours or that you are authorised to have it recovered: a purchase receipt, the device serial, a letter on company letterhead for a work machine, or written authorisation from the owner, together with photo ID and a signed authorisation. It is a condition of the work, not a formality, and it is what keeps the service on the right side of the Computer Misuse Act. A drive with no proof of ownership is returned unread.

Questions answered before you commit.

My BitLocker drive has failed. Can the data be recovered?

If you have the recovery key or password, yes, and with a good success rate. A failed encrypted drive is a hardware problem, not an encryption one: we image it at the sector level and decrypt the image with your key. Without the key, the drive can be imaged but the image cannot be opened unless a lost-key route applies.

Why can you not just decrypt my failing drive directly?

Because decryption reads and writes across the whole volume, and that sustained load can finish off a drive that is already dying, potentially leaving you with neither a readable original nor a complete decrypted copy. We always image the drive first, gently and read-only, and decrypt the image, so the original is never put at that risk.

Does BitLocker make a failed drive harder to recover?

Only slightly, and only at the end. The hardware recovery is the same as for any drive; the encryption adds a decryption step once a clean image exists, and that step is routine when you have the key. The key is what matters, far more than the fact of encryption.

What if the drive has failed and I have also lost the key?

Then we can still image the drive, but opening the image needs a way to the key: a weak password to attack, or a memory or hibernation capture. A modern AES-256 drive with a failed disk and a truly lost key is the hard limit, and we assess it honestly and free before you commit anything.

What does it cost?

Single-disk recovery and decryption of a failed BitLocker drive is £800 + VAT, with 50% taken on acceptance and not refunded and 50% on a no-fix-no-fee basis. The drive must be removed from the computer and sent in on its own.

Where this usually leads.

The drive shows RAW, or BitLocker finds no valid metadata →Recovery key, or 48-digit password →Stuck or interrupted part way through encrypting →How BitLocker encryption works →SSD data recovery, on the SSD site →

The data is behind the key, not gone.

Looking at it is free. Tell us what the recovery screen says, what happened just before it, and whether you can find your recovery key, and send proof the drive is yours. Back comes an honest account of what can be done and the one price to do it. Until then, reinstall nothing, reformat nothing, and clear no TPM.

0800 6890668

Price my job Packing and posting

How the drive was locked

Manufacturers

Why you are seeing the recovery screen

What it costs, and what follows