As ejn63 says, image uploads to this forum are still unfortunately only visible to the person who posted them and to Dell reps. If you're seeing that within Windows, it probably means BitLocker is enabled, or the very similar "Device encryption" option that's available even in Windows 10 Home on systems that meet certain requirements.
Those are the BitLocker/Device Encryption indicator icons. The lock means the drives are encrypted, and the fact that they're unlocked means they're currently unlocked so that you can access the data.
When I bought this laptop this icon wasn't visible but a few days back I restore factory settings and now it appears. I hope this is normal.
Thank you so much for the help!
BitLocker doesn't enable on its own (short of managed systems where a policy enforces that), but the related Windows "Device encryption" feature can if your PC meets certain hardware requirements AND you have your Windows logon associated with your Microsoft account. Normally enabling encryption in the background would be dangerous because you wouldn't have had a chance to back up the system's Recovery Key, but when you associate your Windows logon with your Microsoft account, your Recovery Key gets backed up to your cloud Microsoft account -- although some people aren't thrilled with that idea either for privacy/security reasons. Anyway, you can certainly disable it if you want (Settings app > Update & Security > Device encryption), but as ejn63 says, in general it's a good idea to encrypt your data. You definitely want backups, but frankly you should have backups even if you DON'T use encryption. And also make sure you can find your Recovery Key in your Microsoft account.
You can leave it on if you want your system to be encrypted -- when you're not using it, if it's lost or stolen, that can be a tremendous asset.
It also means you absolutely MUST keep backups, because the encryption will render it that much more difficult to retrieve data from the drive if that ever becomes necessary due to hardware or software corruption.
I would think it means BitLocker is turned on but not encrypted. If you check the properties on each partition you might be able to turn it off.
No, it means BitLocker is enabled for that partition and the partition is currently unlocked. There's no such thing as BitLocker being on but the partition not being encrypted, except when the partition is in the process of being encrypted/decrypted, but in that case this lock icon overlay appears as soon as encryption begins and stays there until decryption is complete.
ejn63
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June 20th, 2018 03:00
We cannot see your image, but it likely means the drive is locked with a security password.
jphughan
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June 20th, 2018 08:00
As ejn63 says, image uploads to this forum are still unfortunately only visible to the person who posted them and to Dell reps. If you're seeing that within Windows, it probably means BitLocker is enabled, or the very similar "Device encryption" option that's available even in Windows 10 Home on systems that meet certain requirements.
Bhagirath11
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June 21st, 2018 14:00
IMAGE/SCREENSHOT
Bhagirath11
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June 21st, 2018 14:00
Please check the screenshot that I had taken for more clarity.
ejn63
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June 21st, 2018 14:00
jphughan
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June 21st, 2018 15:00
Those are the BitLocker/Device Encryption indicator icons. The lock means the drives are encrypted, and the fact that they're unlocked means they're currently unlocked so that you can access the data.
Bhagirath11
4 Posts
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June 22nd, 2018 10:00
When I bought this laptop this icon wasn't visible but a few days back I restore factory settings and now it appears. I hope this is normal.
Thank you so much for the help!
jphughan
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June 22nd, 2018 11:00
BitLocker doesn't enable on its own (short of managed systems where a policy enforces that), but the related Windows "Device encryption" feature can if your PC meets certain hardware requirements AND you have your Windows logon associated with your Microsoft account. Normally enabling encryption in the background would be dangerous because you wouldn't have had a chance to back up the system's Recovery Key, but when you associate your Windows logon with your Microsoft account, your Recovery Key gets backed up to your cloud Microsoft account -- although some people aren't thrilled with that idea either for privacy/security reasons. Anyway, you can certainly disable it if you want (Settings app > Update & Security > Device encryption), but as ejn63 says, in general it's a good idea to encrypt your data. You definitely want backups, but frankly you should have backups even if you DON'T use encryption. And also make sure you can find your Recovery Key in your Microsoft account.
ejn63
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June 22nd, 2018 11:00
You can leave it on if you want your system to be encrypted -- when you're not using it, if it's lost or stolen, that can be a tremendous asset.
It also means you absolutely MUST keep backups, because the encryption will render it that much more difficult to retrieve data from the drive if that ever becomes necessary due to hardware or software corruption.
You can enable/disable bitlocker as you wish:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/bitlocker/disable-bitlocker?view=win10-ps
Saltgrass
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June 22nd, 2018 11:00
I would think it means BitLocker is turned on but not encrypted. If you check the properties on each partition you might be able to turn it off.
jphughan
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June 22nd, 2018 11:00
No, it means BitLocker is enabled for that partition and the partition is currently unlocked. There's no such thing as BitLocker being on but the partition not being encrypted, except when the partition is in the process of being encrypted/decrypted, but in that case this lock icon overlay appears as soon as encryption begins and stays there until decryption is complete.
Chandu roy
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September 27th, 2019 20:00
How to remove that lock icon on drive