Computer displays blinking cursor after entering passphrase

Products

• Symantec Products

Issue/Introduction

After rebooting a PGP Whole Disk Encrypted system and successfully entering the passphrase at the PGP BootGuard screen, the computer displays only a blinking cursor in the top left corner of the screen and Windows fails to load.

Resolution

This issue can be caused by a recovery partition on the computer conflicting with PGP Whole Disk Encryption. Many hardware makers include a partition on the hard disk of the computer for recovering your system.

In most cases, this issue can be resolved by decrypting the disk using a recovery disk and then encrypting the disk using partition encryption. However, in some instances, the recovery partition included on the computer must be deleted before performing PGP Whole Disk Encryption.

Use the following steps to recover and re-encrypt the disk

Backups should always be on hand before performing this operation as this could lead to a loss of data.   If backups have not been created you will need to make an image of your disk, and transfer that to a new drive.   Use the drive with the image for all testing and troubleshooting so that the original remains intact.

1. Download the recovery disk image for your version of PGP Desktop.
2. Attempt to boot from the Recovery Disk BootGuard (DO NOT PRESS "D" to decrypt) Simply enter your passphrase and proceed to boot.
3. Should step 2 fail and you do not have backups the hard drive should be slaved to another machine with PGP so that backups of your critical data can be made.
4. If you are able to boot into windows (and have backups) Decrypt the drive from within windows using PGP desktop.
5. Open PGP Desktop and click the PGP Disk Control box.
6.  In the Select disk or partition to encrypt window, expand the boot disk for your system
7. Select the partition for your boot disk only and click Encrypt. If prompted, create a new Passphrase User.

Should the above steps fail you can try decrypting from the recovery CD itself using the following option.  Again backups should be on hand.  If you do not have a backup and one cannot be made an Image should be created and loaded onto another hard drive.  You can then use these steps on the drive with the image while leaving the original disk intact for use by Technical Support.

1. Download the recovery disk image for your version of PGP Desktop.
2. Decrypt the disk by booting the computer with the recovery disk and then pressing D and typing your passphrase when prompted.
3. Open PGP Desktop and click the PGP Disk Control box.
4. Select Encrypt Whole Disk or Partition.
5. In the Select disk or partition to encrypt window, expand the boot disk for your system.
6. Select the partition for your boot disk only and click Encrypt. If prompted, create a new Passphrase User.

Note: Once a disk or any of its partitions have been encrypted, you cannot change the disks partitioning (for example, adding or removing a partition, or resizing an existing partition). Make sure the disk is partitioned the way you want it before protecting it with PGP Whole Disk Encryption.

If the issue continues to exist after re-encrypting the disk by partition, try removing the recovery partition on the computer. For information on removing the recovery partition, check with the hardware maker of your system.