Really technical question

[Marauder2003]

The infamous TPM

CPU chip supports TPM. Mobo BIOS has Trusted Platform option.

What happens on the first Win 10 boot after TPM is turned on? Will Win 10 do some un-reversable updates? Can TPM be turned off and will Win 10 still work?

[C.G.]

The infamous TPM

CPU chip supports TPM. Mobo BIOS has Trusted Platform option.

What happens on the first Win 10 boot after TPM is turned on? Will Win 10 do some un-reversable updates? Can TPM be turned off and will Win 10 still work?

Here is an overview from Microsoft:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/tpm/initialize-and-configure-ownership-of-the-tpm

You can turn TPM on and off. Some have experienced Wifi problems after turning it on but I don't know the details and I am not aware of other issues (but there may be). Once you turn on the TPM 2.0 Microsoft will probably try to update you to W11, which in my book is a good thing. One warning from Microsoft do not try to clear the TPM cache unless you are installing a new operating system you may lose data.

BTW, is your TPM 1.2 or 2.0? If TPM 1.2 then you won't be upgraded to W11 unless you do a workaround.

[Marauder2003]

Here is an overview from Microsoft:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/tpm/initialize-and-configure-ownership-of-the-tpm

You can turn TPM on and off. Some have experienced Wifi problems after turning it on but I don't know the details and I am not aware of other issues (but there may be). Once you turn on the TPM 2.0 Microsoft will probably try to update you to W11, which in my book is a good thing. One warning from Microsoft do not try to clear the TPM cache unless you are installing a new operating system you may lose data.

BTW, is your TPM 1.2 or 2.0? If TPM 1.2 then you won't be upgraded to W11 unless you do a workaround.

[Marauder2003]

How does one determine the TPM version? The BIOS or the CPU capabilities?

[C.G.]

How does one determine the TPM version? The BIOS or the CPU capabilities?

The BIOS if not turned on or:

https://helgeklein.com/blog/how-to-check-windows-tpm-status-enable-cpu-amd-ftpm-intel-ptt/

https://www.ghacks.net/2016/05/16/find-out-if-your-computer-supports-tpm/#:~:text=To%20find%20out%20if%20TPM%201.2%20or%202.0,Platform%20Module%20%28TPM%29%20management%20on%20the%20local%20computer.

[Marauder2003]

I decided to test TPM on my Intel NUC. BIOS had an option to turn on Trusted so I did. Rebooted and all was fine. Ran tpm.msc. It went thru some setup process and said all is fine. I have TPM 2.0.

CPU is i5-4250u which Intel says does not support TPM.

So who is lying?

[C.G.]

I decided to test TPM on my Intel NUC. BIOS had an option to turn on Trusted so I did. Rebooted and all was fine. Ran tpm.msc. It went thru some setup process and said all is fine. I have TPM 2.0.

CPU is i5-4250u which Intel says does not support TPM.

So who is lying?

It could be a chip on the motherboard:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-a-tpm-and-why-do-i-need-one-for-windows-11#:~:text=At%20its%20most%20basic%2C%20the%20TPM%20is%20a,phone%20to%20log%20in%20to%20your%20bank%20account.

[Marauder2003]

Did not think about the mobo chip.

OK, bigger question. Why TPM? What pressing disaster occurred that required MS to make an OS that obsoleted tons of PCs?

It could be a chip on the motherboard:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-a...ank%20account.

[bigmike82]

So there's two issues at play.

First, the processor and the TPM are completely and totally separate. They are as different as the processor and the GPU.

Windows 11 doesn't support the i5-4250u; that doesn't mean that the processor doesn't support TPM (and to be fair, I haven't heard of any processor that is incompatible with TPM).

I'm also reading that the processor isn't supported for *upgrades* but it may work if you manually install Windows 11. Not sure if that's true or not, but if you're running a system with this proc it may be worth your while to investigate this option.

As far as why TPM ... it's all about encryption and secure key management. The TPM provides a highly secure * place for the operating system to store highly sensitive security keys, such as your bitlocker disk encryption decryption key. Here's more details on why:

https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-tpm-2-explanation/

* depends on the hardware implementation; there was a trivial way to decode the encryption keys if the motherboard does a bad job of installing the chip (https://pulsesecurity.co.nz/articles/TPM-sniffing).