Microsoft 'Bricking' Windows Again (Cannot Blame EU or ClownStrike or "Linux")
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Dolphin Publications B V ☛ Microsoft warns of BitLocker problem on Windows [Ed: It's not even doing encryption [1, 2]]
Some Windows machines boot up in BitLocker recovery mode since a recent security update. Microsoft is aware of it and is warning users.
The culprit is the July 2024 Windows security update, KB5040442. Because this activates BitLocker’s protection mechanism for some users, they need to enter the unique recovery key. This is sometimes easier said than done, such as when BitLocker keys proved necessary in the global CrowdStrike outage. The key is retrievable by logging into the linked Microsoft account. BitLocker ensures that data on a device is protected and encrypted so that malicious parties cannot pull it from the drive when a Windows system is no longer in use or is stolen.
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The Register UK ☛ Windows Patch Tuesday update might send a user to the BitLocker recovery screen
Some Windows devices are presenting users with a BitLocker recovery screen upon reboot following the installation of July's Patch Tuesday update.
Microsoft confirmed the issue overnight with an update to its Windows Release Health dashboard. The issue effects versions of Windows from Windows 10 21H2 to Windows 11 23H2 on the client side and Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2022 on the server side.
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PC World ☛ July’s Windows 11 update is sending PCs into BitLocker recovery
Oof, Windows is having a rough week. Only five days after a massive CrowdStrike update-slash-outage made headlines for crippling IT infrastructure all over the world (which, admittedly, is a CrowdStrike problem and not a Windows problem), a security update for Windows itself is sending PCs into recovery. The specter of the Blue Screen of Death is haunting IT admins this summer, apparently.
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Laptop Magazine ☛ The latest Windows update has some users trapped in BitLocker recovery — here's how to fix it
Unfortunately, 'Windows 11 update breaks computers' has been a headline theme we've seen way too much in recent months. As of Tuesday, Microsoft has officially reported another known issue you can add to that list.
Following the July 2024 Windows security update (KB5040442) released on July 9, 2024 — which was mandatory and would download and install automatically unless you had updates disabled — multiple users became stuck on a BitLocker recovery screen once the computer rebooted.
According to Microsoft, users with Device Encryption enabled are "more likely to face this issue." If you have Windows 11 24H2, the latest version of Windows 11, Device Encryption is on by default, but oddly, this isn't one of the versions affected by the BitLocker issue.