Microsoft has said that TPM hardware is required to install Windows 11. What this TPM is and why it is needed has been a problem for many in recent days. This article is intended to address those issues.
What is TPM?
Simply put, TPM is a small chip mounted on a computer motherboard.
When a computer with an encrypted hard drive tries to activate it by pressing the Power button, the chip scans the computer and assigns a unique code to the computer. This code is called the Cryptographic Key.
A dedicated TPM chip
If all goes well, the encryption on the hard drive will be unlocked and the computer will start working. However, if someone steals your computer and makes some changes to your hard drive, the computer will not work normally.
In addition to this function, email client software such as ThunderBird and Outlook also use the TPM chip to handle encrypted email messages. The TPM chip also supports web browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, and SSL certificates used for websites. In addition to computers, these chips are also found in devices such as printers.
In addition to these hardware TPM chips, there are two other types of TPM computer devices.
One of these types is embedded in the CPU. Sometimes it’s part of the hardware, sometimes it’s part of the firmware. This method provides the same protection as the hardware chip type TPM we discussed earlier.
The other way is Virtual TPM. This TPM is fully software and security is minimal.
Relationship between Windows and TPM
Windows 10 as well as Windows 7 support this TPM. This TPM is used for face-recognition (Hello face locking technology) called Windows Hello, which is used in Windows operating systems.
This method is faster and easier than the older methods used to secure computers. The TPM technology has been used in post-2016 editions of Windows, making it an integral part of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 11.
The Windows 11 compatibility tool available these days will check if this TPM service is enabled when it tests whether you can install Windows 11 on your computer and will inform you that you can not install Windows 11 if it is not enabled.
There are two versions of these TPM services and the older version is TPM 1.2. The new version is TPM 2.0. Microsoft allows installation of both versions of Windows 11, but Microsoft warns against using older versions.
However, with TPM 2.0 being the minimum requirement for Windows 11, the average market price of a TPM 2.0 chip has risen from $ 24.90 to $ 99.90.
Thanks to Windows 11, people are scalping TPM2.0 modules as well now.
$ 24.90 ➡ $ 99.90 in just 12 hours pic.twitter.com/9TTHC2c47w
- Shen Ye (@shen) June 25, 2021
How to check if your computer has TPM 2.0.
Most computers released after 2016 include TPM 2.0. However, this way you can check if your computer has this feature.
Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows icon and the letter R at the same time. Type tpm.msc and press Enter.
If an image type window opens, it indicates that your computer’s TPM service is active. But if you see an error message, the TPM service on your computer will not work.
Can the TPM service be used with Linux?
Some computer users may have this TPM service disabled for some reason by the Bios settings. Some users have taken steps to deactivate the TPM service when any operating system or software does not work with it.
However, almost all future and present software supports this TPM service, and the Linux operating system has long supported this TPM. Users who use Linux with Windows will probably not have any problems with this.
In the future, Microsoft will use this TPM chip to introduce a variety of security applications on Windows computers, just as it does fingerprint reading and image processing with the help of the T2 chip used in Apple computers. You must have this TPM device installed on your computer to use those applications. This TPM device will be an essential factor for future versions of Windows.