Article ID: 930063
Article Last Modified on 9/7/2007
APPLIES TO
- Windows Vista Ultimate
- Windows Vista Enterprise
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista
INTRODUCTION
The BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool is available. You can use this tool to prepare the computer for BitLocker Drive Encryption.
This article describes how to obtain this tool. This article also provides an operational overview of the tool. This overview includes system requirements and command-line parameters. Finally, this article describes the most common problems that you may encounter when you use the tool.
MORE INFORMATION
How to obtain the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool
Windows Vista Ultimate
If you are using Windows Vista Ultimate, follow these steps to obtain the tool:
- Click Start
![[GRAPHIC: Start button ]](/wiki/images/e/e6/Vistastartbutton.jpg)
, type Windows Update in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. - Click Check for updates.
- Click View available Extras.
- Click to select the BitLocker and EFS enhancements check box, and then click Install.
![[GRAPHIC: Start button ]](/wiki/index.php?title=File:Vistastartbutton.jpg){kind=small}
Windows Vista Enterprise
If you are using Windows Vista Enterprise, use the following services to obtain this tool:
- Microsoft Customer Support Services
For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Support Services telephone numbers, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web page:
When you install this tool, the tool adds an item to the Start menu. To start the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool, use one of the following methods:
- Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, click BitLocker, and then double-click BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool.
- Click Start, type BitLocker in the Start Search text box, and then click BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool in the Programs list.
After the tool finishes preparing the drive, you must restart the computer. Then, you can use the Security item in Control Panel to enable BitLocker.
How to prepare the hard disk for BitLocker Drive Encryption
To encrypt drives and to verify boot integrity, BitLocker requires at least two partitions. These two partitions make up a split-load configuration. A split-load configuration separates the main operating system partition from the active system partition from which the computer starts.
The BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool automates the following processes to make the computer ready for BitLocker:
- Creating the second volume that BitLocker requires
- Migrating the boot files to the new volume
- Making the volume an active volume
When the tool finishes, you must restart the computer to change the system volume to the newly created volume. After you restart the computer, the drive will be configured correctly for BitLocker. You may also have to initialize the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) before you turn BitLocker on.
System requirements
To create a new partition or to merge unallocated space with an existing partition, the target system must meet the following requirements:
- A genuine version of Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Enterprise must be installed.
- The active partition must contain boot configuration data and boot files.
- The target partition must meet the following requirements:
- The partition must be on a simple disk that is initialized for basic storage.
- The partition must be a primary partition. Extended drives and logical drives are not supported.
- The partition must be formatted by using the NTFS file system.
- The partition must not be compressed.
- The cluster size of the partition must be less than 4 KB or equal to 4 KB.
- The partition is not using software spanning, software mirroring, or software RAID. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Note This tool works correctly in hardware RAID configurations.
314343 Basic storage versus dynamic storage in Windows XP
- For a split operation, at least 10 percent of the active partition must remain free after the partition size is reduced by 1.5 gigabytes (GB).
- For a merge operation, the partition's total capacity must be at least 1.5 GB. Also, the partition must have at least 800 MB of free disk space.
The following chart shows the target system requirements.
![[GRAPHIC: Target system requirements]](/wiki/index.php?title=File:930063a.jpg)
Operational overview
Target system configurations
The BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool supports Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Ultimate Enterprise. This tool successfully creates a split-load configuration when the active state, the system state and the boot state are all assigned to the same simple volume.
Default operational procedure
When the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool starts, it tries to create a split-load configuration by using the following methods, in order of preference:
- Merge unallocated space with a type 0x7 Windows Recovery (WinRE) partition
- Create a new partition from unallocated space
- Split an existing partition
Note The tool tries to split the current active partition. If this action fails, the tool splits the largest available partition.
- Merge unallocated space with the smallest suitable partition
Preferred order of operations
The following chart shows the preferred order of operations that the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool follows.
![[GRAPHIC: Preferred order of operations]](/wiki/index.php?title=File:930063b.jpg)
Command-line parameters
The BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool uses a simple set of command-line parameters. These parameters make integration with enterprise deployment tools more flexible. Enterprise deployment tools include Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) and Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment (BDD). The parameters also provide customized deployment options. The following table lists the parameters. The parameters are not case-sensitive.
| Parameter | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| [-?] [/?] | Help - Provides a brief description of the tool's purpose and parameters | |
| [-driveinfo] | Displays the drive letter, the total size, the maximum free space, and the partition characteristics | Only valid partitions are listed. Characteristics are noted only for WinRE, operating system, and unallocated partitions. |
| [-target {unallocated ¦ drive: {shrink ¦ merge}}] | Indicates the desired operation for target partition: create a new partition from unallocated disk space, split the target partition to create a new partition, or merge unallocated space with the target partition | Cannot merge unallocated spaced with the operating system partition. Unallocated space is not listed if four primary or extended partitions already exist. |
| [-newdriveletter] ¦ DriveLetter:] | Indicates the drive letter for the newly created partition | Letters A, B, and C are excluded. If no letter is indicated, the first available drive letter backward from S is applied. |
| [-size ¦ SizeInMegabytes] | Indicates the size in megabytes for the new partition | The minimum size is 1500 MB. At least 10 percent of the target partition must be free after the new partition is created. |
| [-quiet] | Suppresses confirmation text to avoid user interaction | |
| [-restart] | Restarts the system immediately after all operations are complete | Restarts immediately, regardless of open files or other users logged in. |
Example scenario 1
The target system has a single partition. To prepare the computer for BitLocker, you want to split the operating system partition. You want the following conditions to be true:
- The size of the new partition is 1500 MB.
- The new partition uses X for the drive letter.
- During the operation, confirmation dialog boxes do not appear.
- The system restarts when the operation is complete.
To use these settings, run the following command at a command prompt:
BdeHdCfg.exe -target c: shrink -newdriveletter x: -size 1500 -quiet -restart
Example scenario 2
The target system has more than one partition. To prepare the computer for BitLocker, you want to merge unallocated space with an existing partition. You want the following conditions to be true:
- During the operation, confirmation dialog boxes do not appear.
- The system restarts when the operation is complete.
To use these settings, run the following command at a command prompt:
BdeHdCfg.exe -target d: merge -quiet -restart
A common problem
You may receive the following error message when you use the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool:
This error may occur in one of the following scenarios.
Scenario 1: You do not have sufficient free disk space
At least 10 percent of the active partition must remain free after the partition size is reduced by 1.5 gigabytes (GB). To resolve this error, move files to another partition or delete files.
Scenario 2: The partition contains files that cannot be moved
The BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool may resize partitions to prepare a hard disk for BitLocker. Occasionally, some unmovable files may prevent the tool from defragmenting and resizing partitions. These files may include any of the following items:
- Page files
- Hibernation files (Hiberfil.sys)
- The registry
- NTFS metadata files. These files include the following files and others:
- $mftmirr
- $secure
- $volume
This issue may occur even if the operating system is newly installed.
To work around this error, use one of the following methods:
- Temporarily disable hibernation option and hard disk paging. Then, use the Windows Preinstallation Environment to delete the Hiberfil.sys file and the Pagefile.sys file. Restart the computer in Windows Vista. Then, run the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool again.
- Reinstall Windows Vista.
You receive an error message when you try to enable the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool on an IBM portable computer
When you try to enable the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool on an IBM portable computer that is running Windows Vista, you may receive the following error message:
To resolve this problem, follow these steps.
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
- Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then click regedit in the Programs list.
- Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management - Verify the data type of the PagingFiles registry entry. If the data type is REG_SZ, follow these steps:
- Note the value data for the PagingFiles registry entry.
- Back up the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management - Right-click PagingFiles, and then click Delete.
- Click Yes when you are prompted.
- On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.
- Type PagingFiles, and then press ENTER.
- On the Edit menu, click Modify.
- In the Value data box, type the value data that you noted in step 3a, and then click OK.
- Exit Registry Editor.
- Restart the computer.
For more information about security for portable computers that are running Windows Vista, visit the following Lenovo Web site:
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products. Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.
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