I NEED URGENT ASSISTANCE WITH A BITLOCKER-ENCRYPTED 1 TB HARD DISK

I need assistance regarding an issue with my Dell laptop’s hard drives.

Originally, my system had a 256GB SSD (OS drive) and a 1TB HDD that was BitLocker-encrypted. I recently gave my laptop to a local service shop to upgrade the SSD to a new 1TB SSD. During the OS installation on the new SSD, they disabled Secure Boot and did not consider that the 1TB HDD was encrypted.

After the installation, the 1TB encrypted HDD became inaccessible — it does not appear in File Explorer, and when connected externally, it prompts to format or initialize the drive. The shop sent the HDD to Chennai for recovery but could not resolve it. The drive has now been returned.

I have both the BitLocker password and recovery key, and I believe the data is intact. I would like Dell’s support to:

Help me verify if the HDD is being properly detected by the system.

Assist in checking possible BitLocker unlock or recovery methods safely, without risking data loss.

Currently, my laptop runs on the new 1TB SSD. If required, I can reinstall the old 256GB SSD (original OS) and connect the 1TB HDD for further checks during a remote session.

Please guide me on the next steps and any tools or configurations needed before I reconnect the old drives.

Thank you, Mohamed Thabreez