TPM or Trusted Platform Module version 2.0 is a must-have if you plan on upgrading your system to Windows 11. So what exactly is TPM and do you have it?
What exactly is TPM?TPM is a tamper-resistant hardware technology tasked with generating and storing encryption keys inside it for better PC security.
It can be remotely used to authenticate hardware and software by utilizing a unique endorsement key placed into the hardware itself.
This technology can be used for example in BitLocker inside Windows in order to have data on a hard drive encrypted so if the mentioned drive is connected to another computer it would not be able to be accessed since the encryption key is stored in the TPM module.
Microsoft is pushing its agenda that Windows 11 must be and must feel like safety first OS which will protect user data and user information and requiring TPM means that each Windows 11 will be secure so no additional software patches will be required for an extra layer of security.
Windows 11 will assume that each user has TPM encryption enabled and will be built upon that.
If your computer or hardware has been purchased in 2016 or later there are very high chances that you already have the required technology to run Windows 11.
Unfortunately, many gaming motherboards have not been placing TPM in their boards and you might not have it.
Also, there is the option of you having it but it is turned off in motherboard settings making Windows unable to detect it.
As you can clearly see there are a lot of scenarios around required tech and honestly it is a complete mess.
But lucky for you there are ways to find out do you possess the needed module in order to make an upgrade.
On your current computer on which you would like to make an upgrade in your current Windows OS press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog.
Inside run dialog type in TPM.msc and press ENTER to open Trusted Platform Module Management on Local Computer.
You will immediately receive information do you have the required module.
If everything is fine, you are good to go, however, if it says that compatible TPM cannot be found there is a chance that either you do not have needed hardware or it might be turned off inside motherboard settings.
If you have a newer motherboard but Windows utility cannot detect TPM there is a chance that it might be turned off directly on your board.
In order to check this, you will have to boot up your PC into UEFI either by pressing the corresponding key when it is turned ON or from Windows reboot options.
Once you are inside UEFI you need to find security options and see if there is an option to turn ON or enable TPM.
Since every motherboard is different and has different UEFI software we cannot cover all of the permutations and the best we can do is hope that provided information is enough.
You can also visit your motherboard manufacturer to see instructions for your specific case.
TPM itself is generally an OK idea and I can surely see good sides of it but there is this lurking feeling that generally, Microsoft is not really concerned about the security of our data and that the real requirement for this is trying to battle software piracy.
I simply cannot trust company which introduced tons of telemetry tracking through ages and which has done everything in their power to battle non-legal use of their software.
I do not promote piracy but I support free choice and besides, who can tell me what will happen if TPM malfunctions, will I lose all of my data forever?
It is not so uncommon that TPM has malfunctioned in the past and it is only logical to presume it can do it again in the future but this time we will not have the choice not to use it, we will be forced into it.

net stop wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver
net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver
Error Causes
When opened you will be greeted with general settings window. These are settings for power toys themselves, Here you can check for updates, change the looks of power toys, run it on system startup and run them as administrator. Set them up so they best suit your needs.
The color picker will let you as the name suggests pick colors, it will sample colors from running applications and windows, snap their values, and place them in the clipboard. A useful application if you are working as a graphic designer, want to create some cool word document, or just want to compare the difference between colors.
After the Color Picker is activated, hover your mouse cursor over the color you would like to copy and left-click the mouse button to select a color. If you want to see the area around your cursor in more detail, scroll up to zoom in. The copied color will be stored in your clipboard in the format that is configured in the settings (HEX by default). The editor lets you see the history of picked colors (up to 20) and copy their representation in any predefined string format. You can configure what color formats are visible in the editor, along with the order that they appear. This configuration can be found in PowerToys settings. The editor also allows you to fine-tune any picked color or get a new similar color. Editor previews different shades of currently selected color - 2 lighter and 2 darker ones. Clicking on any of those alternative color shades will add the selection to the history of picked colors (appears on the top of the colors history list). Color in the middle represents your currently selected color from the history of the colors. By clicking on it, the fine-tuning configuration control will appear, which will let you change the HUE or RGB values of the current color. Pressing OK will add newly configured color into the history of the colors.
FancyZones is a window manager utility for arranging and snapping windows into efficient layouts to improve the speed of your workflow and restore layouts quickly. FancyZones allows the user to define a set of window locations for a desktop that are drag targets for windows. When the user drags a window into a zone, the window is resized and repositioned to fill that zone. When first launched, the zones editor presents a list of layouts that can be adjusted by how many windows are on the monitor. Choosing a layout shows a preview of that layout on the monitor. The selected layout is applied automatically.
Only 3 options here but maybe some are important to you. This extension lets you enable SVG file preview in File Explorer, enable Markdown preview, and enable SVG thumbnails. Turn on each one you might need.
Image Resizer is a Windows shell extension for bulk image-resizing. After installing PowerToys, right-click on one or more selected image files in File Explorer, and then select Resize pictures from the menu. You can specify your own sizes if you want, you can resize when dragging files, you can overwrite files or make new copies of new sizes, and many more options. A very useful tool I am sure plenty of users can use since this eliminates the need for pictures or any other image application for common resizing tasks.
The PowerToys Keyboard Manager enables you to redefine keys on your keyboard. For example, you can exchange the letter A for the letter D on your keyboard. When you select the A key, a D will display. You can also exchange shortcut key combinations. For example, the shortcut key, Ctrl+C, will copy the text in Microsoft Word. With the PowerToys Keyboard Manager utility, you can exchange that shortcut for ⊞ Win+C). Now, ⊞ Win+C) will copy text. If you do not specify a targeted application in PowerToys Keyboard Manager, the shortcut exchange will be applied globally across Windows. PowerToys Keyboard Manager must be enabled (with PowerToys running in the background) for remapped keys and shortcuts to be applied. If PowerToys is not running, key remapping will no longer be applied.
PowerRename is a bulk renaming tool that enables you to:
PowerToys Run is a quick launcher for power users that contains some additional features without sacrificing performance.
PowerToys Run features include:
> (for example, > Shell:startup will open the Windows startup folder)
This guide uses PowerToys to display common keyboard shortcuts that use the Windows ⊞ key. Windows key keyboard shortcuts can be used while the guide is being shown and the result of those shortcuts (active window moved, arrow shortcut behavior changes, etc) will be displayed in the guide. Releasing the Windows ⊞ key will make the overlay disappear. Tapping the Windows ⊞ key will display the Windows Start menu.
Hey, you made it till the end, thank you for reading and I hope to see you soon.
If we are to believe news from Intel, new series of processors based on Alder Lake architecture are about to be released somewhere in October. Alder Lake is the 12th Generation Core of Intel processors and it is meant to have all advantages of the current CPU structure.
I9 is aimed to pack a punch against its competitors with technology including eight high-performance Golden Cove cores (P-cores) with Hyper-Threading and eight energy-efficient Goldmont (E-cores) equipped with a 30MB L3 cache and operating at high clock speeds.
During the benchmark test, the new CPU outperformed all of Intel’s previous Rocket Lake structure processors which is logically expected but the big surprise came from results that indicate better performance than Apple’s new M1 processor even in single-threaded performance which is supposed to be best in that field.
Another surprise was really beating AMD Ryzen 9 in each field. If we take into account that i9 has 16 cores in total and can process 24 threads against Ryzen 9 with 16 Cores and 32 threads this is an impressive feature.
Now truth to be told Alder lake has massive L3 cache and microarchitectural advantages and consumes much more power but the results of performance are high. Also, note that this early CPU is not really a mass production one and maybe some things will still change but early results are very satisfactory.
We will see what will price tag be since in this age of shortage and competition that will also play a big role in its overall success. Speaking of competition I eagerly await AMD’s response to this, in any way it seems that the CPU market is for some turbulence which is always a good thing for the final customer and I welcome it.
Rollback using system restore