Replies

bbearren wrote:

In 2001 I had a HDD password set in BIOS on my Dell Latitude D800.

It’s just that it is easy to take the drive out and boot it on another machine. That’s why I don’t see a BIOS PW as being very secure.

bbearren wrote:

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don’t need anyone’s approval, and we don’t all have to do the same things.

Absolutely! Just pointing some weaknesses if you are trying to protect from bad actors.

bbearren wrote:

I’ve always used Pro, I’ve never used a Microsoft user account (although I do use OneDrive, it signs on online), and I’ve never found a reason to avoid using a PIN to log in, or to bypass the login process. It ain’t that big a deal.

Some people have another security measure that requires entry before any boot process, making Windows protection redundant. Not to mention, Windows login has always been easily cracked. Personally, I use https://www.exlade.com/en/disk-password-protection/

Susan Bradley wrote:

Are you seeing this on your Windows 11 24H2 machines?

Not seeing any problems here with 4 machines on 24H2.

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TechTango

Drcard:)) wrote:

WOW! I always thought one of the big differences between Home and Pro was encryption.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/device-encryption-in-windows-cf7e2b6f-3e70-4882-9532-18633605b7df

Unlike BitLocker Drive Encryption, which is available on Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions, Device Encryption is available on a wider range of devices, including those running Windows Home.

bbearren wrote:

I have Windows Hello setup on all local accounts on all my installations, use a PIN for all of them, and do not have a Microsoft account on any of them.

To add to that correct statement, while you DO need a local password to setup up Windows Hello, after Windows Hello is setup (with a PIN and/or Biometrics), you can remove the password by entering blank in both fields and STILL have a functioning Windows Hello.

I have a fingerprint reader and a few of my apps and logins like ID.me utilize it. It is especially useful for my PW Manager. But, when I start my machine, it boots right into Windows with no password. (I do utilize a Disk Protection PW prior to Windows.)

Signing Off! 👍

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Andy M

Andy M wrote:

Should I disable CSM and change Boot Mode (Auto) and Quick Boot ?

I would leave it. “Compatibility Support Module (CSM), a feature in UEFI firmware that allows older, legacy BIOS-based operating systems and hardware to boot, essentially emulating a BIOS environment.” Your settings look good. If you have trouble booting after the restore, you could try other settings. But it looks like your setup accepts BIOS and UEFI already.

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Andy M

Andy M wrote:

I just checked the bios again. As you can see, the system tries first in legacy and the in UEFI. So I just have to change that sequence. See the picture :

Perfect! 😁

Andy M wrote:

I’ll be honest with you, I’m a noob. So just to be sure : I convert the drive to GPT. I reboot into the bios, change the booting to UEFI, connect the Macrium rescue USB, reboot off the USB, restore the image to the SSD, and hope for the best.

I updated the instructions. Before you start, you need to go into the BIOS and change to the setting “UEFI” AND “LEGACY”. Then follow the directions at Macrium. Don’t just restore the image. You have to drag the partitions to the correct locations as shown in the example. Then continue.

https://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/conversions/convert_an_mbr_disk_to_a_gpt_disk.htm

Andy M wrote:

To be clear : before I make the conversion ?

If you have an option for Legacy and UEFI, that would work best. And you could change to that before you make the change to GPT.

Andy M wrote:

“your MB has to support UEFI and it has to be setup for UEFI when you make the change.”

To be clear : before I make the conversion ?

A̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ y̶o̶u̶ c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ d̶r̶i̶v̶e̶ t̶o̶ G̶P̶T̶, y̶o̶u̶ n̶e̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ r̶e̶b̶o̶o̶t̶ i̶n̶t̶o̶ y̶o̶u̶r̶ B̶I̶O̶S̶ a̶n̶d̶ m̶a̶k̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ t̶o̶ U̶E̶F̶I̶. Select the option of Legacy and UEFI before making the change. Then when you restart, you will be booting off of the recovery boot disk. (USB, DVD or CD) Then recover your disk and you should be good to go.

Andy M wrote:

Interesting ! I just might try this if I can get my hands on Acronis. Thanks !

It’s pretty much the same method for Macrium. You make a backup, convert the drive to GPT, and then manually drag the partitions from the backup to the blank area of the GPT drive.

https://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/conversions/convert_an_mbr_disk_to_a_gpt_disk.htm

ETA: Also, don’t forget, your MB has to support UEFI and it has to be setup for UEFI when you make the change.

I actually used Acronis to convert my Win7 machines to GPT when I upgraded to Win10.
I found these simple instructions from the forum.

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-disk-director-forum/converting-mbr-gpt-os-already-installed

While there is no 1-step MBR to GPT conversion option for your case, you can still apply the alternative solution that you have described. Steps would be as follows:

1) boot the computer from Acronis bootable media, start Acronis True Image

2) click on Tools & Utilities tab, then on “Add new disk”

3) select your system disk and proceed, intitializing it as GPT. Upon initialization everything on that disk will be deleted, disk will become emtpy with only “Unallocated space” on it. You do not need to create any partition manually.

4) click on “Recovery” tab in bootable media and restore your system from backup to the cleaned system GPT disk.

See http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2016/index.html#26852.html for more details.

Regards,

Slava

Macrium Provides a way as well.

Convert an MBR disk to a GPT disk

ClearThunder wrote:

24H2’s File Manager (I still call it that. And always will) is a disaster. An extra step to reach a menu that gives you the options you once found in Win10 with one click.

You don’t mention what the extra step is you are referring to, but if it is the right click options, there is a fix for that. It will bring the right click back to being like Win10.

1.Click Search, type regedit, and click Registry Editor.
2.Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID.
3.Right click CLSID > New > Key.
4.Name the key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} and press Enter.
5.Right click {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} > New > Key
6.Name the key InprocServer32, and press Enter.
7.Select InprocServer32 and click (Default).
8.Click the value field, but don’t type anything. Just be sure it says default and then click OK.
9.Restart your computer

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windbg