Can I clone a BitLocker encrypted drive without disabling it? Yes, you can! [3-Minute Guide]

BitLocker encryption keeps your data safe, but can you clone a drive with BitLocker without turning it off?

BitLocker encryption allows users to protect their data with a password or fingerprint (depending on the device). Though the feature has been around for over 16 years, its importance has grown in recent years due to its widespread use.

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While it protects your data, you may also lose access to it if you forget the password. However, many people wonder whether it's possible to clone a BitLocker encrypted drive without removing the encryption. Let's find out.

Introduction

BitLocker is an encryption method that Microsoft introduced in a later service pack for Windows Vista. Since then, it has become an integral part of Windows operating systems for drive management and security.

It allows users to encrypt their entire drive with a password, but many laptops and computers now come with fingerprint and facial recognition, which can be used for this purpose as well.

However, cloning an encrypted drive might seem like an impossible task, but it can be done. Today, we will answer that question and learn how to clone a BitLocker encrypted drive. So, let's dive in.

Can you clone a BitLocker-encrypted drive? What do you need?

Cloning a drive that's encrypted with BitLocker can be a tricky task, mainly because it's encrypted using the AES algorithm. In short, it's a powerful encryption method that ensures maximum data security.

But it could, so what you need is:

• A new, empty hard drive with the same or greater capacity than the encrypted drive.
• A reliable disk-cloning program with thorough encryption-piercing capabilities.
• A uninterruptible power supply – a power failure can cause data loss.

First thing's first – where do you actually want to clone your hard drive to? Another HDD? A new SSD? An external drive or USB stick? So, once you've decided on the destination, you'll need the right software.

It is better to use a specialized tool, such as Tools Disk Copy, for the following reasons:

• It can help you to clone a hard drive with bad sectors
• Most importantly, it does disk partitioning and cloning
• It can help you to copy data from one hard drive to another

If you have a disk cloning tool at hand, you can easily clone BitLocker encrypted drive to another partition. However, there is still one question: Do you need to disable BitLocker before cloning the drive with such awesome software?

If you plan to use the tool Disk Copy, then the answer is yes. You don't need to enable BitLocker to clone a partition to another storage device with this program.

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# How to Clone a BitLocker Encrypted Drive

Now that we know what we need, let's discuss the cloning process. In this section, we will explore how to clone an encrypted drive to another drive using software. So, to help you understand, here's what you need to do:

1. Step 1: Ensure the Second/Target Drive Is Connected 2. Step 2: Download Cloning Software: Disk Copy Tool 3. Step 3: Cloning Process

Step 2/Target drive connected

How this process goes depends on you and how you go about it. To ensure everything goes smoothly, if your drive is SATA or HDD, make sure it's connected internally. While you can use a USB adapter, it's recommended to connect the device internally.

After you have mounted the partition, verify that it exists by performing the following steps:

Step 1. Press the "Windows" key on your keyboard.

2. Type “Disk Management” into the search box, and open the tool.

Step 3: Check if the disk is detected.

Disk Management

Step 4: You're done!

As you can see, the device is connected. So before we proceed, make sure your device is also connected.

Step 2: Download the cloning tool – Todo Backup

To do so, you need to download a cloning software, and we recommend using the tools Disk Copy Home Edition for its convenience and efficiency. Once the tool is downloaded, you can benefit from it in many ways. For instance, it supports cloning from various types of hard drives and SSDs like IDE, SATA, eSATA, M.2, NVMe, etc. By the way, you can skip to Step 3: Cloning Procedure to learn how to use this app.

Step 3: The cloning process

This process will help you clone a BitLocker Encrypted drive to another partition. Therefore, make sure you follow the steps in this article carefully. Once done, you'll be able to:

1. Download, install, and run the Disk Copy tool on your computer.

Click on Partition Mode, and then select the source partition that you want to copy or clone. Click Next to proceed.

2. Select the target partition to which you want to clone/copy the source partition, then click “Next” to proceed.

Check and edit the partition layout: Resize disks automatically, copy as source, or edit the disk layout. Choose “Resize disks automatically” recommended.

• COPY FROM SOURCE will copy/partition layout clone the partition layout from the source disk to the target disk.
• EDIT DISK LAYOUT allows you to manually adjust or move partitions on the target disk.

If the installer prompts you to wipe data from the target partition, click OK.

Click “Next” to begin cloning or copying the partition.

This will help you clone your BitLocker-encrypted drive to another partition with ease. It will then depend on the speed of your drive and computer, as well as the amount of data on your encrypted device, how long this will take.

However, what else can you do with tools Disk Copy to a BitLocker partition? After cloning BitLocker drive data, you can perform the following operations with tools Disk Copy:

• Clone encrypted BitLocker drive/partition data
• Migrate encrypted BitLocker data from removable devices like USB flash drives, external HDD, etc.
• Transfer encrypted BitLocker data to another computer

Thus, you might try using some disk cloning software to perform various operations and get assistance with BitLocker encrypted devices.

How do I disable BitLocker after cloning?

Once you're done cloning your BitLocker encrypted drive, it's only natural that you'd want to remove it. So, if you want to disable BitLocker after the clone, here's how:

Step 1. Press the "Windows" key on your keyboard.

2. Type "Control Panel" in the search box and open it.

<img src="/images/en/screenshot/todo-backup/guide/control-panel-7.png" alt="Control Panel" width="500" height="330">

Step 3: Click on “System and Security.”

4. Click on “BitLocker Drive Encryption.”

（See the screenshot below ）

5. Click “Turn off BitLocker,” and confirm when prompted.

Turn off BitLocker Drive Encryption

Step 6: You're done!

That will prompt the operating system to decrypt the drive, which can take a while – depending on the size of your drive.

Conclusions

We sincerely hope that this article will help you resolve any issues you might have with BitLocker, and that you find the fixes easier to apply after reading it. As computer enthusiasts, we come across such problems daily. Our aim is to assist our readers in tackling how to clone a BitLocker encrypted hard drive to other storage options.

Therefore, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below, as it would encourage us and help us understand what you want to read on our website. So, follow the methods and use the Tool Disk Clone to ensure the seamless migration of BitLocker encrypted data to another drive.

Frequently asked questions about BitLocker encryption

If you have any other questions, please find the answers in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section below.

Does BitLocker encrypt the entire drive?

Yes, it can. BitLocker is designed to encrypt entire partitions on any storage device, including data drives and system drives.

2. Can an external hard drive be encrypted with BitLocker?

Yes, you can. You just need to insert the external drive you want to encrypt and use BitLocker to protect it as you would normally. Alternatively, you can clone the external drive using Disk Utility, as we showed in this article.

How does BitLocker encrypt and protect hard drives?

BitLocker protects devices with a password, making data more secure. When an encrypted device is decommissioned or recycled, the data it contains is rendered useless. Thus, with advanced encryption algorithms, BitLocker ensures the safety of hard drives and the data they hold.