Bitlocker query

MouldyOldDough

Does bitlocker slow a PC down much?
My new device has a 5.2Ghz (max) processor and 64Gb Ram with a 1Tb SSD and is quite quick but not that impressive.. 
I discovered that bitlocker was set on by default and just wondered whether this could be a factor?
Is it possible to turn bitlocker off after a PC has files on it? 

booneruk

It can make your drives slower. Any kind of encryption will increase the load. It's not a simple topic to break down, but I did find a good write up here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-software-bitlocker-slows-performance

Personally I'd disable bitlocker and forget about it. I don't think I've ever used it, and if I realised I was I'd remove it, purely to avoid the performance hit. It's not as if I have anything on my PC's hard drive that I really wouldn't want a burglar to read (now my NAS might be a different story!)

MouldyOldDough

booneruk said:

It can make your drives slower. Any kind of encryption will increase the load. It's not a simple topic to break down, but I did find a good write up here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-software-bitlocker-slows-performance

Personally I'd disable bitlocker and forget about it. I don't think I've ever used it, and if I realised I was I'd remove it, purely to avoid the performance hit. It's not as if I have anything on my PC's hard drive that I really wouldn't want a burglar to read (now my NAS might be a different story!)

Can bitlocker simply be uninstalled then?
45% is a huge loss of performance 

booneruk

It would seem so. Search the article I linked for the Disabling BitLocker Encryption section towards the bottom

400ixl

Unless you are doing massive amounts of read writes then you will not even be able to notice it 

That whole article is like the Daily Mail of IT. Do that level of read write consistently and you SSD would be dead in months.

Far better to have the security protection than the small amount of performance gain.

tedted

just open task manager to see how much its using

Olinda99

First of all are you running Windows Home or Windows Pro

Windows Home does not even have a Bitlocker - if you have Home you are talking about device encryption on your C drive. 

If you don't want it on simply go to settings and turn it off - you can Google how but I believe it is under the security settings

Turn the slider switch off and you will see a message about the drive being decrypted

booneruk

400ixl said:

Far better to have the security protection than the small amount of performance gain.

Very subjective. Personally I'd prefer the least performance impact I can get, which is why I also disable features such as core isolation.

In all my years of running a PC I've never had my PC or storage device stolen - which is the only situation bitlocker will provide any protection.

45% is probably a worst case synthetic test though, I agree. 

400ixl

booneruk said:

45% is probably a worst case synthetic test though, I agree. 

Unnoticeable to the average user is the reality. So giving up other benefits, especially security is not really a sensible choice, again for the average user.

Also never had a laptop stolen, but wouldn't want one unencrypted to be so if it were to happen.

Bitlocker also helps when disposing of a device. Wiping drives which are encrypted is safer than unencrypted. 

Olinda99

If unencrypted and someone gets your laptop then they take the disk out, put it in another laptop and although Windows may complain when booting once it has booted they have access to everything on your drive 

HillStreetBlues

I doubt that it's the cause if you feel it's that noticeable.