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Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

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21–30 of 288 posts

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#21
post #12
post #2

Does TPM support/requirements actually have any meaningful impact on a home user? I could understand being a requirement for Windows 11 Pro (which I believe has Bitlocker, but Home does not). I don't see why it would be required for Home, maybe some features just wouldn't be available, but are those features that people actually care about?

> Does TPM support/requirements actually have any meaningful impact on a home user? Disk encryption, Windows Hello and PIN bruteforce prevention. I have no love Microsoft and avoid using Windows whenever I can, but I think making those features accessible to more people is a good thing.

VBS also requires it, which is a big improvement to Windows' security.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some examples of DRM that uses TPM? What does TPM provide that stuff like SGX (which is already used in DRM) doesn't provide?

Valorant requires it for anticheat. The purpose is to prevent users from running unauthorized software on the computers they allegedly own. I wouldn't expect many examples to exist yet. You want to wait until almost everyone is on Windows 11 before you get up to those shenanigans.

Valorant uses VBS, which in turn requires TPM 2.0. Valorant isn't directly leveraging TPM.

https://support-valorant.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/169...

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#24
I wonder if there’s any room for a manufacturer that would make an untrusted TPU. Like, one that quacks like a TPU, but has will sing like a bird if you ask for its keys. Violates all of the security guarantees? Yep, you bet. But it does provide some insurance against an industry that might want to use TPUs against us (e.g. DRM).

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#25

The requirements for Windows 11 has really put computers with older hardware in a difficult spot. They are used to Windows so they want to stay there, I want to suggest Linux Mint but I am not aware of how much of the apps used daily is supported in Linux. Not every user want to fiddle with the terminal.

I recently found out that a friend of mine installed Linux on his own, completely removing his Windows install. And he has yet to "fiddle with the terminal", but still enjoys gaming on Steam and goes on with his daily routine.

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#26
post #2

Does TPM support/requirements actually have any meaningful impact on a home user? I could understand being a requirement for Windows 11 Pro (which I believe has Bitlocker, but Home does not). I don't see why it would be required for Home, maybe some features just wouldn't be available, but are those features that people actually care about?

Microsoft has made device encryption available to Home edition users if they sign in with a Microsoft account. It relies on the TPM to seal the volume key.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/device-encryptio...

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#27
post #25

The requirements for Windows 11 has really put computers with older hardware in a difficult spot. They are used to Windows so they want to stay there, I want to suggest Linux Mint but I am not aware of how much of the apps used daily is supported in Linux. Not every user want to fiddle with the terminal.

I recently found out that a friend of mine installed Linux on his own, completely removing his Windows install. And he has yet to "fiddle with the terminal", but still enjoys gaming on Steam and goes on with his daily routine.

Linux is in desperate need of a PR campaign. The popular distros are just as functional out of the box as Windows, but no one knows it.

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#28
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some examples of DRM that uses TPM? What does TPM provide that stuff like SGX (which is already used in DRM) doesn't provide?

Valorant requires it for anticheat. The purpose is to prevent users from running unauthorized software on the computers they allegedly own. I wouldn't expect many examples to exist yet. You want to wait until almost everyone is on Windows 11 before you get up to those shenanigans.

> The purpose is to prevent users from running unauthorized software on the computers they allegedly own.

I've maintained for several years now that the actual corporate wet dream is that they can lock down the average PC architecture/OS to the same degree they have on phones. Because unfortunately, in the phone sector, the market has already shown the majority of users don't care who really owns their devices.

My hope is that Linux gets wide enough adoption to prevent that from becoming a feasible option for them in the future.

Re: Microsoft deletes official Windows 11 CPU/TPM bypass for unsupported PCs

#29
post #24

I wonder if there’s any room for a manufacturer that would make an untrusted TPU. Like, one that quacks like a TPU, but has will sing like a bird if you ask for its keys. Violates all of the security guarantees? Yep, you bet. But it does provide some insurance against an industry that might want to use TPUs against us (e.g. DRM).

You can install Windows 11 into a virtual machine with a virtual TPM, and it will detect and use the vTPM the same as it would a physical TPM on real hardware.
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