How to turn on BitLocker on the Operating system drive
The following will walk you through enabling BitLocker encryption on a Windows 10 laptop.  The article will note differences between Personal and DMU issued computers

Before you Begin:  

• DMU Computer - Ensure you are plugged into to external power and have an active network connection either on campus or through VPN (this will ensure that the recovery key is automatically uploaded to or servers).
• Personal Computer - Back up your files.  Either to an external device or Cloud storage account.  If you lose your recovery key you will not be able to access any files on that computer.

IMPORTANT - Saving the Recovery Key!

It is crucial to have the recovery key as it will unlock the drive if something were to go wrong.  If you lose the key and/or do not have it all data on the drive/computer will be lost.

• DMU Computer - Computers issued and managed by DMU will automatically have the recovery key back up to our directory servers.  However, saving a copy yourself is beneficial.
• Personal Computer - Save a copy to your DMU OneDrive, other cloud storage, or an external location.

Encrypt Drive:

1. Click your START button and type "Bitlocker" (no quotes)
2. Click Manage Bitlocker in the search results
   
   
    
3. When the Bitlocker control panel opens; click Turn On Bitlocker and follow the prompts 
    
   
   You may be required to reboot before proceeding.  If so, follow the prompts.  When your computer has rebooted and you have logged back in, bitlocker will continue where it left off.
   DMU Computer - This will require administrative privileges to continue.  If you are not an administrator, contact the Solutions Hub for assistance.
   
   
4. If prompted - choose Let Bitlocker Automatically Unlock My Drive
5. Save the recovery key and Click Next
   DMU Computer - You should be able to click Next without manually saving the recovery key.  If you cannot, please save the key to a file and notify the Solutions Hub.
   
   
   
6. Take default options for the 2 following screens
       - Choose encryption mode to use
       - Are you ready (You can bypass the bitlocker system check. )
    
7. The encryption process will be begin and can be minimized (if not done automatically).  You can use the computer as normal during this time.

You can check the status of the encryption by clicking the icon in system tray 

Verify Recovery Key is Saved

If you lose your recovery key and/or do not have a copy sent to the Solutions Hub and something goes wrong, you will lose access to all data on the drive. 

• Personal Computer - open the location you saved the recovery key file to and verify the file exists.  
  

Your file name will be different than the one shown.