File Share Encryption

I am posting this here to make sure the information being provided from Symantec is correct, I discovered this work around and we sent it to Symantec a couple weeks ago. Yesterday we received an email with a work around discovered by their engineers and it was not a complete or detailed set of instructions as what was provided to them.

This may or may not work for other models of computers, I have only had to use this on the XT3 from Dell.

We have several Dell Latitude XT3 tablets that have an issue with PGP Bootguard loading and Windows XP. I found the following workaround to the issue (it does disable some functionality in the laptop). This does allow the tablet to work properly.

The error is caused by a combination of Windows XP software and hardware in the laptop. The following steps have successfully enabled us to use PGP on multiple devices with no issues. Due to the items that must be disabled in the BIOS, this removes featues and capabilities of the laptop and a proper and permanent solution created by Dell or Symantec is needed.

You will need to be on a recent version of PGP, I have tested on 10.1.2 and 10.2.0 MP3 with success.

Part 1 – The WindowsXP bootsector  needs to be updated to the standard version in Windows Vista and 7.

Use a Windows Vista/7 install disk

Boot from the CD/DVD and obtain a command prompt using SHIFT – F10

Assuming the drive letter for the harddrive is C: run the following to replace the default Windows XP bootsector with the newer bootsector for Vista/7

Bootsect.exe /nt60 C: (or ALL for all drives) /force /mbr  -- This replaces the NT52 bootsector on the boot partition and the MBR with the newer NT60 code.

Part 2 – Need to disable devices in the BIOS as they are part of the incompatibility

The following items need to be unchecked in the BIOS

System Configuration - Miscellaneous Devies –

                Enabled Internal Modem

                Enable ExpressCard

                Enable Camera

                Enable Microphone

                Enable eSATA Ports

Wireless – Wireless Device Enable

                WWAN

                Blueooth®

Do not plug any USB devices into the laptop until after the PGP Bootguard screen has opened. Attaching a device may cause the computer to hang at the Stage 2 message.

After changing the computer as described above, we were able to install and encrypt 50+ Latitude XT3 computers with PGP and boot them with no issues.

Also of possible interest to XT3 users is this Knowledge Base Article. 

Hello Larry,

This issue has a bug attached to it and it is fixed in the next maintenence pack 10.2.1 MP1 at the beginning of July. Thank you for your patience.

Best Regards,

Joe