Windows 10: Can I encrypt Windows 10 Home tpm not usable, pcr7 unsupported, Hardwa

I never really knew what encryption was until recently getting the files off my crashed drive... There should be a screaming banner when you install windows while it makes you set up a password that says: BTW anyone can just unplug your drive and get everything off of it, or just use a few simple keystrokes on boot to access everything without the password, lol.


when I checked my hardware requirements as instructed here:
How to enable device encryption on Windows 10 Home | Windows Central

I see: "Reasons for failed automatic device encryption tpm is not usable, pcr7 binding is not supported, Hardware security not usable"

motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Rev 2.0
GA-Z97-HD3 (rev. 2.0) Overview | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global
"Along the southern edge of the board, where we usually see a Trusted Platform Module header, Gigabyte has chosen to supply both serial and parallel port headers."
Gigabyte's Z97-HD3 motherboard reviewed - The Tech Report



i7-4790K Socket H3 LGA-1150
GTX-1050-Ti 4GB GPU
I'm not overclocking CPU or GPU

I don't want to use One Drive or a Microsoft account if that'll enable encryption (something about Home users are more likely to lock themselves out of their computer and having it encrypted makes them loose everything but maybe even if getting the non-requirement I'm seeing if you add the encryption key to One Drive or maybe a MS account it'll let you encrypt, but I don't want One Drive nor an MS account. I don't want to mess with BIOS or anything either not have to plug a USB stick with encryption every bootup. I'd prefer to buy a new motherboard or windows 10 Pro if that'll allow encryption.

I bought Windows 10 home just a few weeks ago because my windows 8.1 drive crashed.

I also have two 1TB Western Digital Passport external drives as back ups. They require password to access, as far as I know, (I've tried all folders/options it shows before you can enter the password and there's not data there) but who knows with these things now, maybe I should encrypt them too if possible?

Without this getting too confusing, because I don't want workarounds, maybe even omitting upgrading 10 Home to 10 Pro if possible for a cheaper price than a full 10 Pro, I'd rather spend like $150 for Windows 10 Pro, is that the easiest option, or a different motherboard and can at least sell this one?
I can't return this USB version Windows 10 Home to newegg now that I activated it, I didn't make any Microsoft or One Drive accounts with it either so maybe I can just sell it on ebay with the key?

thanks.

:)

 

Windows 10 devices now requires hardware encryption/TPM

Stolen from Sweclockers, but it's in swedish.

So from now on devices (OEM built) needs a TPM module. Relevant bit:

Pretty interesting, but there's tons of questions I guess. I don't actually now anything about how TPM works, just that it's hardware, meaning the key is stored in a physical chip and that the decryption has to run through this chip. But I have no idea how let's say biometrics is tied to this. Or what the implications will be, or what exactly is encrypted. The entire storage or just the log in details as such?

 

Windows 10 devices now requires hardware encryption/TPM

I think pushing TPM requirements is a good thing, this should've been done years ago...why folks wouldn't want to use it is beyond me. For many industries where encryption is required, TPM has been required for years...and supporting 2.0+ standards is the obvious way to go.

We deploy A LOT of devices in the medical industry where TPM and active encryption are required, honestly @Solaris17 has TPM pretty well covered. It really is a good thing to be supportive of when deploying encrypted devices on a professional level and a personal level, how important is your data?

For those that might need a little more understanding for what TPM can provide, take a quick read:

Page not found | Trusted Computing Group

Windows Trusted Platform Module Management Step-by-Step Guide

http://www.howtogeek.com/237232/what-is-a-tpm-and-why-does-windows-need-one-for-disk-encryption/

Not saying software-only solutions are better or worse, but in my experience, TPM works very well, if its there, and you know how to use it right, then why not use it? Some situations where TPM is not available or supported by the provided encryption solution means sure don't use it, and requires another solution like a USB key...something you need not lose. Make your footprint small and make yourself seem like you're not worth the effort of breaking the encryption to access your data. This topic could really expand out into great depth in a hurry...

 

Windows 10 devices now requires hardware encryption/TPM

You know those are just encryption softwares right? the TPM by itself encrypts nothing.

EDIT: looking back at your statement about software and your endorsement of the now unsupported truecrypt I am going too assume you use the software extensivly and maybe fell upon this in there wiki article?

If it is I would like to re-iterate that the TPM is a very secure method of obtaining a key to use in conjuntion with supported software to encrypt any device. The article and truecrypts stance on TPMs relies on the assumption that it can be broken if you have physical access, which means it must not be secure. However I would remind you that in any security experts eyes physical access is the highest level of access you can have with a machine.

I would then counter with software cannot be any more secure than a physical piece of hardware responsible for generating a code because as even true crypt stated a keylogger can be used to lift the password. Encrypted data means nothing on a machine that is infected. Its like running bitlocker on a hard drive with a keylogger and my bank info. Encryption does nothing to protect my bank account. Likewise truecrypt veracrypt bitlocker are all just software resources used to encrypt a hard drive.

They only provide you with protection if a drive is physically read from another machine. A TPM is not an encryption device. It is a device used to generate a key based off of the hardware in a given machine to help add an extra layer of protection to encryption software using that key as a PARTIAL unlock sequence (any software that uses a TPMs code does not use it exclusively it simply uses it in conjunction with a software key generated to unlock your data) thus is the hardware changes the code changes which inturn renders the drives unlockable unless you use the emergency unlock sequence provided too you by the software vendor.