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Laptop, Secure Boot Mode and ReadSpeed

#1

D

digitalsage

I have one of those lovely Windows 10 laptops with no inner disk drive. I wanted to use ReadSpeed to in turn run SpinRite from a USB load. Went into the boot loader to try and change the boot order to USB first and no joy,

Is my only option to turn off Secure Boot mode? Certainly seems that way.


#2

P

PHolder

Is my only option to turn off Secure Boot mode?

In a word, yes.

Secure boot is preventing you from doing a legacy boot. You will NEVER get SpinRite 6.x to boot in UEFI (non legacy boot).

Be wary, turning off secure boot can damage secrets needed for Windows disk security... make sure you've got them backed up, etc.


#3

D

DanR

turning off secure boot can damage secrets needed for Windows disk security...
Could you explain more about this? All that my Googling has turned up is that if secure boot is turned off a layer of security will be lost if windows is booted up without it. Obviously. But, damaged secrets if booting DOS?


#4

P

PHolder

Could you explain more about this
Well I don't know all the ins and outs of it, because I think it varies between BIOS/UEFI implementations, but you occasionally see reports like this one I found online:
If you disable UEFI mode, the PC will no longer boot until you turn it back on. You can disable secure boot and TPM, but if you have Bitlocker enabled, you will need to manually enter your recovery keys every time you boot up. Also Windows Hello won't work.

So I believe there to be UEFI implementations that clear the keys from the TPM if you disable Secure Boot. If that happened, and you were using Bitlocker, you would be forced to hope you had recovery keys available (somewhere other than on the SSD/HDD you can no longer access.)


#5

D

DanR

I think it varies between BIOS/UEFI implementations
That makes sense.
So I believe there to be UEFI implementations that clear the keys from the TPM if you disable Secure Boot. If that happened, and you were using Bitlocker, you would be forced to hope you had recovery keys available (somewhere other than on the SSD/HDD you can no longer access.)
I am no expert here. That said, My perception is that this would only be a potential issue if if Windows were re-booted without re-enabling secure boot?

That is, if secure boot were disabled to boot and run SpinRite, there would be no mechanism in the DOS boot environment to affect Bitlocker, etc? And no means for any Windows level malware to do anything?

It would then be the responsibility of the user to re-enable secure boot before booting back into Windows.


#6

S

SeanBZA

Disabling Secure boot automatically wipes the keys it has stored, part of the security features. Thus you need the recovery keys to enter them back in on boot after enabling it again.


#7

B

Bplayer

Disabling Secure boot automatically wipes the keys it has stored, part of the security features. Thus you need the recovery keys to enter them back in on boot after enabling it again.
That does not happen on my HP Spectre laptop or HP AIO desktop, both running Win 11. I believe that the TMP stores my PIN an biometric info and it is not impacted by this. If I forget to turn Secure Boot back on and boot int Windows then Device Security will show that Secure Boot is not enabled, but Windows run just fine.


#8

miquelfire

miquelfire

I think the keys that are wiped are for BitLocker. If you don't have BitLocker enabled, then I assume the keys stored in Secure Boot are only there to check that nothing is corrupted with the boot files the UEFI needs to boot the OS (What causes the Windows logo (or BIOS logo if things are set up that way) to appear and the spinning dots)


#9

P

PHolder

The keys affected SHOULD only be those that are required for the actual boot to proceed without human interaction. Thus, normally, only the ones verifying the loading of binaries for secure boot and those allowing Bitlocker to decrypt the volume (where the Windows binaries exist.) There is also no guarantee that all BIOS/UEFI do the blanking to begin with... I'm sure MS/Intel have specs that are SUPPOSED to be followed, but are not always.

Never the less: Please, for your own safety, back up your Bitlocker keys if you use it.


#10

Barry Wallis

Barry Wallis

back up your Bitlocker keys if you use it.
Or even if you don't. :)


#11

P

PHolder

Or even if you don't
Um... I know you're into Magic Barry, but well.. how does one backup keys they don't have if they don't use the tool (BitLocker) the produces the keys you're encouraging them to back up? Please share this incantation so I can backup my non-existent keys now in case I eventually generate them later :D


#12

Barry Wallis

Barry Wallis

Um... I know you're into Magic Barry, but well.. how does one backup keys they don't have if they don't use the tool (BitLocker) the produces the keys you're encouraging them to back up? Please share this incantation so I can backup my non-existent keys now in case I eventually generate them later :D
It was my misreading your post. I thought by "if you don't" you meant to backup the keys if you turn off Secure Boot. On rereading it, I realize now you were referring to using Bitlocker itself.


#13

P

PHolder

Came across this article and posted to Steve's newsgroup, but it might also be helpful here.
BitLocker volumes may be protected with one or several protectors of various types that can be used together (for tougher security) or in parallel (for easier recovery). Multiple combinations of such protectors are available. By default, Windows requires the minimum of two protectors when the user creates an encrypted volume. The volumes are commonly using TPM (the first protector), while the backup Recovery Key (a 48-character numeric password) is created and stored in the AD, the user’s Microsoft Account, or on the hard disk or removable USB drive.


#14

C

CredulousDane

I know it's an old post but I'm interested - how did it go?

I don't have or use Bitlocker and my system is with Secure Boot and UEFI.