Lock unlocked BitLocker encrypted drives via context menu
bde-lock - BitLocker drive locker - simple Windows installer to create a drive context menu entry to lock an unlocked BitLocker encrypted drive without the need to restart Windows
About the project
In Windows a manually or automatically unlocked BitLocker encrypted drive stays unlocked until the system is restarted. This is not optimal for everybody, especially if the drive in question holds sensible data, which should only be unlocked for a specific event and then be locked afterwards again. For example: Some backup is stored on an encrypted drive. The drive gets unlocked to update the backup copy. As soon as the update is complete, there is no further need for this drive to stay unlocked.
For whatever reason Microsoft does not provide a drive context menu function to re-lock the drive. Many users therefor have asked Microsoft support or their fellow Windows users, how they can lock the drive without restarting the system. Typical questions are:
How to lock / re-lock the Bitlocker encrypted drive without restarting the system?
How to re-lock a drive with bitlocker?
How to add a lock feature to Windows bitlocker encrypted drives?
Several solutions have been suggested, using the command shell or tasks or adding shortcuts or context menu entries. All solutions rely on the tool manage-bde.exe, which is already installed on every Windows system providing BitLocker encryption. Further I prefer a context menu entry (righ-click on the drive), which executes the necessary command, instead of a desktop shortcut or task. The entry can be created by adding some keys to the Windows regstry.
To make it easier for fellow Windows users I decided to create the bde-lock installer, which will create all required registry keys for the context menu entry and install a small script to perform the lock task with the required permissions. The installer will also provide an uninstaller, which will remove all created registry keys and all installed files.
Download and Installation
Download the installer and execute it. The installation requires elevated permissions as Administrator! The current release is bdelock 0.0.5 published on .
This is a stable release. It detects the system drive during installation and sets the AppliesTo registry property accordingly. The license now includes the full Unlicense license text. Also the project documentation has been completed and continous integration (CI) using AppVeyor and TRAVIS added:
- Determine and set system drive letter during installation
- Include the (full) Unlicense license text
- Implement continuous integration support using AppVeyor
- Implement continuous integration support using TRAVIS
For a more complete changelog either visit the News page or the projects release site.
Supported Windows versions
The installer can be used on all Windows versions providing BitLocker: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 / 8.1 and Windows 10.
Supported languages
Currently English and German are supported, but adding translations is quite easy.
Usage
The installer will add a (localized entry) Bitlocker Lock Drive to the drive context menu. The function is only available for unlocked BitLocker encrypted drives except for the system drive.
Caution: Since release 0.0.5 the system drive letter is hardcoded in the registry to the drive letter found by reading the %SystemDrive% environment variable during installation. In earlier versions the system drive was wired to the drive letter C:. A more generic approach is currently on the todo list, see also issue #1.
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Uninstallation
Go to the Windows Control panel > Programs > Uninstall program and choose to uninstall Bitlocker Drive Locker entry. This will cleanly remove all created or installed keys and files.