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BitLocker detecting Fixed drives as Removable drives
Date Added: 8/28/2014

In the Manage BitLocker screen, it lists all the drives on your computer that you can encrypt.  Sometimes, it will incorrectly show Fixed drives (internal drives) as Removable drives (external USB drives).  To fix this, install your motherboard's SATA drivers and reboot your computer.

It is good to do this for multiple reasons:
1) Better performance from the chipset
2) BitLocker allows you to select Automatically unlock this drive on this computer instead of requiring a password

If you have an Intel chipset:
1) Download the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver zip file (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=&ProductID=2101&ProdId=2101)
2) Extract the zip file to a folder
3) Open Device Manager and expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers section
4) Right click the Standard SATA AHCI Controller and click Update driver software
5) Point it to the contents on the zip file you extracted and let it install.
6) Reboot the computer.



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Disclaimer: Everything on this website is written for my own use. I disclaim any guarantees that the procedures and advice listed here are accurate, safe, or beneficial for anyone else. If you attempt to follow any procedures or advice shared here, you do it at your own risk. Part of IT work is knowing how to recover from problems.