It is easy to use. It is usually easy to recover someone's privacy. The manageability is much easier than McAfee. I think that Microsoft is a leader in this area. We are in the Microsoft school so our judgment of McAfee will be a little bit unfair as we recommend Microsoft all the time because of the easy manageability and support. I think that McAfee is designed for a different customer and every time we open a ticket with their support, it takes a very, very long time. The main difference is just the manageability and support. In terms of the solution itself or the functionality, I know that McAfee is very strong, but manageability and support, for us, is much more important. It strengthens the solution for us.
Co-Founder & Enterprise Solutions Architect at Qtopia Tech. Solutions
Easy to use and easy to recover someone's privacy
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to use. It is usually easy to recover someone's privacy. The manageability is much easier than McAfee. I think that Microsoft is a leader in this area. We are in the Microsoft school so our judgment of McAfee will be a little bit unfair as we recommend Microsoft all the time because of the easy manageability and support. I think that McAfee is designed for a different customer and every time we open a ticket with their support, it takes a very, very long time. The main difference is just the manageability and support. In terms of the solution itself or the functionality, I know that McAfee is very strong, but manageability and support, for us, is much more important. It's strengthens the solution for us."
- "If integration with Active Directory are not mandatory for him, I think that there are many other solutions in the market that equal or are much stronger than Microsoft."
What is most valuable?
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using this solution for almost six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. I think that it's easy to start.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We tested with 300 users to date. The maximum deployment with it is for 300 users. That is not too much, but we are trying to scale it up. I don't think that we'll have a problem because it's the count for minimum deployment for Microsoft to support is already 5,000. I think that it can scale up to 5,000 without much hardware needed.
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Microsoft BitLocker
January 2025
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How was the initial setup?
It is usually based on the number of computers and how this will be leveraged by the user. A normal project takes from one to two months, depending on the numbers. These numbers are read on the different departments and different mindsets of the users, in order to convince them to start correcting their data and explain to them that you will force a policy that will have an impact on their laptops. Afterward, encourage them in how this is chiefly for them. Usually, it takes a month or two months maximum.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's not about pricing, because we are working with Enterprise companies that already have Windows Enterprise, so BitLocker comes already included as a Windows feature. It's free for Enterprise users. The price is only for deployment. The customer will pay for McAfee, however.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are a partner for Microsoft here in Saudi Arabia, and one of our customers is interested in deploying Microsoft BitLocker to secure his computer devices and laptops, to encrypt all his data for hard disks, etc. I am already moving to read some documents and have some comparison between McAfee and BitLocker in order to convince the customer to install Microsoft BitLocker because from our insight we see that Microsoft BitLocker is much better than McAfee. That's why I was in need a document just to have a comparison between McAfee and Microsoft BitLocker.
From my point of view, Microsoft is much easier than McAfee. It is easy to deploy and integrate with Active Directory. Then, you have much more integration capabilities than McAfee. Microsoft is stronger and the integration between Microsoft ESP and all other Bit solutions is much better than McAfee. McAfee is a standalone solution right now that will not be efficient for the protection that we are aiming for. We need protection that integrates with all kinds of malware protection solutions. I think that Microsoft BitLocker is much better than McAfee.
What other advice do I have?
If anyone is looking for integration solutions and has a requirement related to integration between Active Directory and integration solutions, I think that he needs to strongly go to Microsoft BitLocker. If integration with Active Directory is not mandatory for him, I think that there are many other solutions in the market that equal or are much stronger than Microsoft.
I would give this solution an eight out of ten. In order to make it 9 or 10, I think that Microsoft would need to work on the desktop optimization deck that is coming with Microsoft to make the deployment much easier than what it is right now. Deployment is okay. As a partner, we can work on it without any issues, but some customers face issues deploying it by themselves because of the difficulty of understanding all of the requirements. The solution is very good and it is manageable for partners, because of their technical value or technical effort. For the level one customer help desk or administrator, however, it's not as easy. They should work on this part and make the deployment much easier.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of IT at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Easy to manage and provides good endpoint encryption
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft BitLocker's most valuable feature is endpoint encryption, and it's quite easy to manage."
- "The management of the product could be made a little easier."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to secure endpoints.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft BitLocker's most valuable feature is endpoint encryption, and it's quite easy to manage. Microsoft BitLocker's data protection is the most useful for mobile endpoints like laptops.
What needs improvement?
The management of the product could be made a little easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BitLocker for 5-6 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around 50 users are using the solution in our organization.
I rate the solution’s scalability ten out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We didn't pay for additional licenses since the solution is built into Windows.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Microsoft BitLocker, we evaluated Trend Micro.
What other advice do I have?
I use the latest version of Microsoft BitLocker. We didn't have any specific incidents where we needed to use the solution's recovery process. However, if there's a problem unlocking devices, it's pretty simple to manage.
The solution is not complicated to manage. Microsoft BitLocker is transparent to end users, and they are unaware of its existence. It doesn't impact their performance in a measurable way, and we don't have any problems with it.
Microsoft BitLocker is a very useful tool for managing endpoints, especially mobile ones, and ensuring that data is not leaked. The solution's drives are integrated into the mobile workstation. We require one person as a backup to maintain the solution, which is not time-consuming. It just takes a few hours every month. I would recommend the solution to other users.
Overall, I rate Microsoft BitLocker ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Apr 24, 2024
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Microsoft BitLocker
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft BitLocker. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
ICT Manager at a construction company with 11-50 employees
A system software that protects your hard disk and ensures that stolen PCs or laptops do not lose their data
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft BitLocker can be used to ensure that stolen PCs or laptops do not lose their data."
- "We recently found some stability issues with Microsoft BitLocker."
What is most valuable?
Microsoft BitLocker can be used to ensure that stolen PCs or laptops do not lose their data.
What needs improvement?
We recently found some stability issues with Microsoft BitLocker. We found that quite a few users on the web are complaining about the solution's stability, especially after the Microsoft update. One user's laptop did not boot because of such an issue.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BitLocker for about eight to ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Microsoft BitLocker a nine out of ten for stability.
How was the initial setup?
Microsoft BitLocker's initial setup is extremely simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft BitLocker's pricing is included in the Microsoft license, and you don't have to pay an additional fee for it.
What other advice do I have?
Microsoft BitLocker is directly deployed on the end user devices. Microsoft BitLocker is an encryption solution that ciphers the disk of the local machine. If you carry around your devices and somebody steals them, they cannot read the data off it even if they attach it to another device.
Microsoft BitLocker is directly deployed on the end user devices. Microsoft BitLocker is an encryption solution that ciphers the disk of the local machine. If you carry around your devices and somebody steals them, they cannot read the data off it even if they attach it to another device.
Using Microsoft BitLocker is very easy. After ciphering the data, it unlocks itself if you have a modern PC attached to the correct PC. However, you must have your old company username and password to create an account and see the data. You cannot see the data if you don't have the password. Nothing much can be done regarding the software's usability or evolution.
Microsoft BitLocker should not be considered as an end-user software. It's a system software that protects your hard disk.
Microsoft BitLocker is not hard to use.
Overall, I rate Microsoft BitLocker a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Infrastructure Analyst at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Provides disk protection while configuration is transparent to user, although implementation is complex
Pros and Cons
- "Integration with System Center Configuration Manager (C: and D: logical drives are encrypted before installing Windows via SCCM)."
- "The implementation of BitLocker is not simple. There are many prerequisites and hours of study and testing."
What is most valuable?
- Integration with System Center Configuration Manager (C: and D: logical drives are encrypted before installing Windows via SCCM).
- Use of the computer's TMP to not have to request PIN for the user.
- In Windows 10 (1511) the TPM supports the XTS-AES encryption algorithm.
How has it helped my organization?
Before BitLocker we used the DELL disk protection through the BIOS. This protection is not very efficient and the user needs a PIN to unlock the computer. With BitLocker I guarantee the protection of the disk and the configuration is transparent to the user.
What needs improvement?
The implementation of BitLocker is not simple. There are many prerequisites and hours of study and testing. We have had some communication problems between Windows 10 and TMP and, in some cases, the computer does not work and we need to generate a new key in MBAM.
For how long have I used the solution?
We tested the solution for four months on all computer models we have before placing it in the production environment.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes. We had communication problems between the OS and TPM 1.2 of the computer. It is best to use computers with TPM 2.0.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No. We have 1200 computers and the environment, with one MBAM server and one SQL, is supporting the environment. I do not know how scalability is using Active Directory to store the encryption keys.
How are customer service and technical support?
There is a lot of documentation in English and Brazilian Portuguese. To date, we have not needed Microsoft technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No. Symantec, Dell and McAfee solutions for disk encryption are expensive and some of them use BitLocker behind the solution, but are very expensive.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. You have the task of turning on the TPM of all computers before attempting to use the BitLocker. When using MBAM + SCCM + SQL it is important to have a CA root in your environment to issue the digital certificate to the MBAM.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
BitLocker is already in Windows 10 and its price has already been "paid". To use another disk encryption solution you have to analyze well the needs of each company and how much data is critical to the business.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated solutions from DELL, Symantec and McAfee. Among all, Symantec has a good solution, but very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We are using BitLocker for Windows 10 (which depends on TPM 1.2 or greater) being managed by MBAM 2.5 with SQL Server database to store the encryption keys. BitLocker is configured to use Active Directory or SQL to store the encryption keys. When using AD, the keys are stored in an unprotected directory. When using SQL, the stored keys are stored in an encrypted database.
I recommend that you study many hours before you start testing. Take the MBAM test at Microsoft's website.
Study TPM 1.2 and 2.0.
Use SQL to store the encryption keys and not the Active Directory, so you leave the AD free of high processing and add a layer of protection with the encryption of the database.
It is important to test on ALL models of computers, there is always a model that will not work.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Microsoft Partner.
Director, Cryptographic Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Stable with good encryption but unsure if it protects the hard drive of stolen laptops
Pros and Cons
- "The hard drive encryption is very good."
- "It's possible that the time it takes to pull items in to BitLocker could be reduced a bit."
What is our primary use case?
BitLocker is a feature of which enables hard drive encryption. It's similar to Symantec Endpoint Encryption. For us, both go hand-in-hand, however, BitLocker has an advantage in that it stores the key in TPM.
What is most valuable?
The hard drive encryption is very good.
What needs improvement?
Right now, the problem for us is, if a laptop is stolen, how they address it with the hard drive if it is already protected in BitLocker? We cannot protect anything until we have a centralized server feed where w can get all the information from all the laptop and the device if it does get stolen. Currently, to solve this, we are using a solution called Unbound.
I'm a hardcore developer. I don't know whether the solution has any source files. That said, I don't see anything that's really lacking, feature-wise.
It's possible that the time it takes to pull items in to BitLocker could be reduced a bit. It can take a long time - sometimes up to 90 minutes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since I started working for my current company. I haven't been with them for so long and therefore haven't been working with the solution for too long just yet.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have about 80,000 laptops and an encryption rate of approximately 99%. The stability seems to be pretty good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't attempted to scale the solution. I wouldn't be able to properly discuss how scalable it is at this time.
Currently, we have the solution on approximately 80,000 laptops.
I'm not sure if we will increase usage. I'm actually considering changing the solution in the near future.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't really had any contact with technical support. Since I've never used them, I can't really discuss if they are responsive or knowledgable. Right now, my sole purpose is to look for an alternative to Unbound, and therefore I don't work too much with BitLocker troubleshooting.
How was the initial setup?
I didn't handle the initial setup. It would be impossible for me to discuss the process or to talk about if it is difficult or straightforward. I didn't handle any aspect of the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not really involved in the pricing aspect of the solution. I don't know if it is expensive or reasonably priced.
What other advice do I have?
I essentially joined the company and since I got here all the laptops and endpoints have been encrypted using BitLocker. We are using IBM as management for all the data and to stop Microsoft from taking away Unbound support.
We are looking for an alternative. We're curious about Symantec or endpoint encryptions that I can use with BitLocker, on top of the Symantec client that I have.
We're using the latest version of the solution, from what I understand. We load the solution directly onto laptops.
I would recommend the solution. However, if I find another endpoint solution, I may switch. I'm not tied to this product.
I don't have a lot of experience on the solution just yet. I'm still evaluating it in a lot of ways, and discovering the features.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Team Manager at JJ soluciones
A stable and easy-to-deploy solution that is used to protect data if laptops are lost or stolen
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is included in Windows 11."
- "The product must improve the centralization of keys."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for laptops assigned to sales in case it’s lost or stolen.
What is most valuable?
The solution is included in Windows 11.
What needs improvement?
The product must improve the centralization of keys. BitLocker is not perfect. Sometimes, we have problems when Windows tries to start. It shows that the key is not available.
For how long have I used the solution?
I am using the solution currently.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
How are customer service and support?
We check the Microsoft forum to resolve issues.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We can activate the product at no cost. We're just taking advantage of what is included in Windows.
What other advice do I have?
We have individual files when IT support prepares the computers. We have the information to replace an SSD or increase the size. We need to remove BitLocker, change the drive, put it back, and encrypt it again with BitLocker. We can check the way the encryption is used because it is centralized. It is good to test the features and centralize the encryption. Overall, I rate the tool an eight or nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT manager at a sports company with 501-1,000 employees
Provides good encryption, but user interface could be improved
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft BitLocker is a Microsoft native product that provides good encryption."
- "The solution should have a better user interface and dashboard."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for encryption.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft BitLocker is a Microsoft native product that provides good encryption.
What needs improvement?
The solution should have a better user interface and dashboard.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BitLocker for four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around 80,000 users use the solution in our organization.
I rate the solution’s scalability ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team asks for a lot of logs.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The solution's competitor is Trellix. Trellix is a bit better than Microsoft BitLocker because it has a very good reporting feature.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is complex.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed the solution by myself in a couple of days.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
The solution's recovery option works fine to support our data security strategy. We integrate the Azure OpenAI tool with Microsoft BitLocker. I would recommend the solution to other users.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jun 15, 2024
Flag as inappropriateDirector IM/IT at Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Encryption that provides protection that is ideal for our cloud-based environment
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the simplicity and integration with the Microsoft Clouds platform."
- "I would like to be able to encrypt our cloud tenancy."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case of this solution is to encrypt all of our laptops. If they are ever lost then they are useless to anybody, unless they have the key.
Our keys are stored in our Active Directory, making it impossible for anyone to decrypt what we have in our devices.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the simplicity and integration with the Microsoft Clouds platform. I can store the keys to the devices kept in my Active Directory in Microsoft Azure.
What needs improvement?
In the next generation, it could have a higher level of encryption.
I would like to be able to encrypt our cloud tenancy.
I would like to have the ability to encrypt a cloud-based server with BitLocker.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is fine. It has no impact on performance or negligible impact on performance. No one notices.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is essentially unlimited.
We have 60 users who are everyone from the CEO to the standard line worker.
Everyone in our organization is encrypted with BitLocker, in addition to all of our devices.
All of our laptops, PCs, and all of our interactive devices are encrypted with BitLocker.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have contacted Microsoft technical support for other issues and they are very responsive and very quick to follow up.
Solutions are not always there, but I find Microsoft support reasonable.
I haven't needed technical support for BitLocker.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
There was no other solution in place. We deployed BitLocker because it fits within our strategy for the environment that we were building, which is a no-infrastructure infrastructure.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very simple.
We expected that the devices had to encrypt themselves once we initiated BitLocker.
Deploying them and having the encryption run only took a few days to implement. This was all being done in the background and no one was impacted while they worked.
We only need one staff member for deployment and no one for maintenance, as it is auto-updating from the Microsoft Cloud.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution internally.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of this solution is bundled in with part of the subscription for the Microsoft Cloud.
We have users subscribed to Enterprise E5 and it comes with E5.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We researched a few websites for comparative encryption, but we didn't want to introduce another vendor. BitLocker satisfied all of the criteria that we had. We don't need any military-grade or any military level or anything beyond those capabilities.
What other advice do I have?
We have no infrastructure. Everything we have, our entire infrastructure, has moved and it's in the Microsoft Azure cloud.
This solution does everything that we need it to do. It is very convenient and it fits into our strategy of having everything in a homogeneous Microsoft Cloud.
It is difficult to rate anything a ten as there may be future bugs or features that may be introduced, or if someone can discover how to hack it. At this time, we feel very safe and very covered with the encryption levels that we have with BitLocker.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: January 2025
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