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I have bought a new computer with a board MSI B460M PRO-VDH WIFI.

I would like to turn on BitLocker, but I should buy TPM first.

Unfortunately I cannot find compatible Trusted Platform Module in any nearby eshop.

I have found that TPM 2.0 (MS-4462) is compatible, but they don't send it outside of USA.

So, it is possible to mount somehow 14-1 pin TPM to board with 12-1 pin connector?

Is really TPM needed for bitlocker? Does bitlocker protect data even without TPM if computer is turn off and stolen?

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  • “ Is really TPM needed for bitlocker?” - No; “Does bitlocker protect data even without TPM if computer is turn off and stolen?”-Yes
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jan 10, 2021 at 18:50

1 Answer 1

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I have found that TPM 2.0 (MS-4462) is compatible, but they don't send it outside of USA.

Check eBay.

So, it is possible to mount somehow 14-1 pin TPM to board with 12-1 pin connector?

In your specific case, I'm going to guess no, because the "MS-4462" module appears to use the SPI bus for communications, while most motherboards and modules with 14-pin headers use the LPC bus instead.

Note that even two 14-pin headers from different manufacturers can be incompatible. For example, I just looked at two motherboard manuals I found on Google, and saw that MSI puts 5V power where Asus puts GND and vice versa, with all other pin assignments being shuffled around as well.

(So even if the header was physically compatible, it still depends on which pins on the TPM correspond to which pins on the motherboard connector – connecting the wrong kind of TPM module might actually fry it, unless you do some soldering and rewiring.)

Is really TPM needed for bitlocker?

Technically no. However, automatic unlocking of the system volume is a TPM feature – without it, you will need to enter the unlock password on every boot. (Alternatively, the unlock key can be stored on a USB stick.)

So you can use BitLocker in password-only mode, without a TPM, but you'll need to activate this feature through Group Policy (gpedit.msc).

Does bitlocker protect data even without TPM if computer is turn off and stolen?

Yes, as long as nobody knows your disk encryption password.

BitLocker only uses the TPM as one possible location for storing the disk key – it doesn't actually use the TPM for actual encryption; that's still done by the OS/CPU.

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