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I have an ASUS P8P67 DELUXE motherboard, which (as far as I can tell) does not come with a TPM module, so I can't use BitLocker without a PIN or USB key.

Is there any way to buy and install a TPM module myself?

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I don't think so, since TPM is also part of the bios. – Moab Nov 9 '12 at 1:23
Where would you "install" it to? :\ Just get a USB/Bluetooth/PCIe one if you can. – Breakthrough Nov 9 '12 at 1:24

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Some ASUS enthusiast motherboards do have a slot into which you can plug a TPM module (which ASUS sells separately). Unfortunately the P8P67 DELUXE is not one of them.

If you're merely trying to enable BitLocker on Windows 7 or Windows 8, you can do that by setting up a local group policy to allow BitLocker without a TPM.

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Hm, that is unfortunate; I was hoping there was some secret TPM slot on my board. Too bad TPMs don't just fit in PCI slots (any idea why they don't make them like that?). Thanks. – grantman16 Nov 10 '12 at 0:50
1  
@grantman16 TPM doesn't need the performance of the PCI bus. Instead (along with the bios, fan controllers, and legacy ports like ps2/com/lpt) it's connected to the much simpler LPC bus which is a derivative of the ISA bus designed for the original IBM PC over 30 years ago. Unfortunately non-corporate/government interest in full system crypto has never reached a level sufficient to make a product with a pcie bridge chip. – Dan Neely Apr 30 at 23:47
up vote 3 down vote

It depends on if your motherboard can handle the installation of a TPM chip such as the AXXTPME5 by Intel. Or a TPM module using 20 pin headers, for example. You will need to check the specifics on your motherboard.

Portable TPM modules are, AFAIK, a thing of theory and not mass production. If your MoBo doesn't have support for it, then you're practically out of luck.

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