whats needed before hashcat attacks

[Ian Marais]

Oh no that's just my ignosance speaking when refering to using together. I realy don't actually know what I'm talking about as I'm only learning about this now.

I saw VMKs in the john hash extraction process of I can call it that, would you be able to point out which VMK to use?

So I should try using $bitlocker$2$ for the best chances?

Sorry I know I'm asking a lot of dumb questions.

So I'm using $bitlocker$2$, VMK, wordlist, mask and manage bde.exe?

I'm not sure what you mean by used together....
But the $bitlocker$2$ is supposed to be a bit faster than $bitlocker$3$, but it comes with the prize if possible false positives. That said, the chance of getting any hit is almost non-existing.

Getting the recovery password does not provide the bitlocker key (again, not entirely sure what you mean). Bitlocker makes use of 2 keys, a Volume Master Key, VMK, which is used to encrypt a Full Volume Encryption Key, FVEK. The VMK is encrypted by a Key Protector, KP, like fx. a TPM.
When we crack the user password or the recovery password, we don't get the keys.
Also, if we crack the recovery password, we don't get access to the user password. But if we crack the user password, we can get access to the recovery password using manage-bde.exe.