Dave TabbDue to my setting Secure Boot mode in my BIOS to "Windows" rather than "Other OS," Windows encrypted both my boot drive and my RAID without my asking, and it broke the "Windows Activation," too. I could not switch Secure Boot back to "Other OS" without losing access to my hard disks. "Turn off BitLocker" on the RAID drive has been running for a couple of hours so far, with no indication of when it will finish.
Roger Moore@dtabb73
This is Microsoft's way of encouraging you to go Linux-only. That said, I have made a deliberate decision to encrypt my whole Linux system, which seems like a wise decision for a laptop.
This is Microsoft's way of encouraging you to go Linux-only. That said, I have made a deliberate decision to encrypt my whole Linux system, which seems like a wise decision for a laptop.
@VATVSLPR
I will keep Windows 11 installed on some of my personal and work machines. I make frequent use of #Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. LibreOffice doesn't seem enough, to me, and I don't want to fall back to LaTeX. Using Office apps through the browser would just mean all my documents would be sniffed by Copilot. That's a hard no for me.
I will keep Windows 11 installed on some of my personal and work machines. I make frequent use of #Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. LibreOffice doesn't seem enough, to me, and I don't want to fall back to LaTeX. Using Office apps through the browser would just mean all my documents would be sniffed by Copilot. That's a hard no for me.
@dtabb73
It seems to me that breaking your activation is the main problem. Keeping everything encrypted is probably a good idea unless it's messing up something like dual boot. I assumed you weren't doing that, or you wouldn't have switched from "other OS" to "Windows".
It seems to me that breaking your activation is the main problem. Keeping everything encrypted is probably a good idea unless it's messing up something like dual boot. I assumed you weren't doing that, or you wouldn't have switched from "other OS" to "Windows".
@VATVSLPR
My working theory is that Windows has lost its activation because I switched Secure Boot to Windows from Other OS. If I try to revert that at the moment, I am blocked from seeing the drives. So by undoing BitLocker, I am trying to get back to bootable condition with the "Other OS" setting back in place. It's possible, though, that the BIOS update itself is what has changed the identity of my computer for Windows activation. I do not believe my motherboard allows a roll-back to its prior BIOS image, sadly.
I definitely do _not_ want my drives encrypted because I might decide to move the research data to another computer by physical means.
@dtabb73
I guess that makes sense. The whole thing with Windows deciding your activation is no good is awful.
I'm used to data being kept on a central server, so anything on individual machines is only there temporarily for work in progress. I'm also used to working with paranoid IT security people, so encryption seems natural.
@VATVSLPR
I am sad to say that reverting to "Other OS" Secure Boot did not allow my computer to reactivate Windows 11.
The act of flashing my BIOS to correct security holes was all that was necessary for my legitimate #Windows11 install to declare that I was no longer using the software legally.