We went through the trouble years ago of ensuring all our important user data was not being stored on user machines. We then warned users whenever we noticed files being stored improperly that we would spend _zero_ effort recovering those files if their machine is lost, stolen or otherwise attacked by malware.<p>This made "nuke it from orbit" the default repair strategy for complicated machine issues.<p>I can't imagine having to putz around with BitLocker keys with zero infrastructure designed to actually use them in a disaster scenario let alone just a major inconvenience like this. I'm glad we never put ourselves in a position to have to do that.
MS needs to legitimize this hack ASAP. Bitlocked drives are the biggest time bottleneck for every IT tech. They're usually working with scraps of paper taped to keyboards.
Back in 2008, I used a receipt printer and a barcode scanner to bridge the gap in a paper based registration system for a college gym memberships. I set up a series of kiosk PCs that spit out a small receipt based on a web form that was filled out on the PC. Using a PHP script, it just separated data fields with embedded tabs in a QR code.<p>Once the membership was paid for, the admin would scan the receipt, making the membership live in under a second, by typing in that data in a web form on a different PC.<p>Why not have a direct linkage? Because in 2008 cash was still very popular, and we were working with legacy student ID system, so a direct linkage would have been difficult.<p>Before that change, students would fill out a paper form, and staff and students would type in all the data. It took months do to all 8000 memberships per semester, and most would be done around the halfway point of the semester. Madness.
I don't get why this works.<p>It obviously does, but how did we get to a place where a cheap barcode scanner hack is the best? How does going digital -> analogue -> digital makes sense?<p>Should there be a generic USB device with storage where we can send all types of inputs to a PC?<p>Previous - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41073006">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41073006</a> (27 comments)
saved you a click: they used barcode scanners to automate entering the bitlocker recovery code, which is different for each machine and is required during the removal process.