Encrypting Your Hard Drive With BitLocker, Part Two

When last we left our story, we had just reviewed how to encrypt a hard disk using BitLocker on a computer with a TPM installed. However, not all laptops have TPMs – most netbooks and consumer-class laptops, like the Dell Inspiron line, do not offer the TPM as an option. Don’t worry! You can still secure your hard drive using BitLocker’s drive encryption. There are just a couple of extra steps you have to do first.

If you try to enable BitLocker on a computer without a TPM, you’ll see the following screen:

You’ll have to change your computer’s policy settings to use BitLocker. If you’re a business user, it’s possible that your domain’s administrator has already enabled this setting in Group Policy. If not, you’ll have to do it yourself.