Issues with VeraCrypt everyday usage

In this post I want to share my experience of VeraCrypt usage. VeraCrypt is a great software that I love, but here I want to mention some negative points that I faced.

1. Complicated Windows update. This is not actually a problem, but a limitation of system drive encryption. Some time ago the only "official" way to update Windows with the entire system drive ecnrypted was to decrypt it first, update Windows and then encrypt again. A special patcher for Windows Installation Media exists (github.com/th-wilde/veracrypt-w10-patcher), but, obviously, there is absolutely no warranty that it will work as expected. Fortunately, in Windows 1607 an option `/ReflectDrivers` for Windows Setup was added, and it provides a way to use 3rd-party encryption drivers (e.g. VeraCrypt). VeraCrypt 1.23 or newer supports this mechanism. If configured properly, this update method should work even with Windows Update center, not only with manual update with Windows Installation Media. Future updates will reveal if this is true!

2. Problems with battery drivers. With VeraCrypt 1.24 Update 6 installed on Windows 2004, I faced the following problem: my laptop was able to boot only when connected to a power socket, even when the battery was fully charged. The laptop just powered off during boot, like if it had insufficient battery charge level. There were no problems with unplugging the charge adapter after a successful boot - the battery level was correct, and I was able to use my laptop without connecting to a power socket, but to power it on I had to do it! I solved this issue by performing some irreproducible magic with battery drivers in Windows Device Manager. The issue showed up once again some time later, but after updating Windows from 2004 to 20H2 it disappeared. I'll update this post if it appears again.

3. Problems with keyboard drivers in VeraCrypt bootloader. To boot into Windows, I first type my password and PIM in VeraCrypt bootloader. One day I powered on my laptop and was shocked: I was unable to type my password! The keyboard just did not work. I was able to boot into BIOS with pressing the `Del` key, but inside it the keyboard did not work either! Moreover, the keyboard behavior was pretty strange: LED lights that should be triggered on `fn` key pressed were triggered on EVERY key pressed (and continued to shine until hard power off). I had an online English test that day, and the prospects of NEVER booting my laptop again were even more depressing than normal. Fortunately, I have an electronics store near my house, and the cheapest USB-keyboard that I bought worked both in VeraCrypt bootloader and BIOS, and I was able to boot into Windows. Inside Windows, my regular laptop's keyboard worked! I opened Windows Device Manager, disabled my keyboard drivers and enabled them again, and it started working in bootloader as before. Magic!