Summary
After installing Full Disk Encryption (FDE), you are prompted to restart the computer to complete the process. The FDE OS is loaded and the pre-boot login screen is displayed after the restart. This gives the impression that FDE was installed successfully. However, when you try to log in, the following error message appears:
Error: Failed to retrieve Policy Server URL. Policy Server URL is null.
Details
The above error means that the installation failed. When you check the FDE login screen, there is no Server Name listed. If this is the case and you already restarted the computer after the installation, do the following to recover from the failed installation:
- Restore the Windows MBR.
- Start Windows from a Windows CD. For more details, refer to the Microsoft article Start Windows from a CD or DVD.
- Access the Recovery Console to get to command prompt. For more information about Recovery Console, refer to the Microsoft article How to install and use the Recovery Console.
- On the command prompt, type the commands below corresponding to your Operating System to restore the MBR:
- For Windows Vista/7:
Bootrec /fixmbr
Bootrec /fixboot - For Windows XP
fixmbr
fixboot
- For Windows Vista/7:
- Exit and restart the computer. Windows should load.
- Uninstall Full Disk Encryption.
- Restart the computer.
- Reinstall Full Disk Encryption.
