cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

SSD Upgrade Question

Trenz
Level 7
Hey all,

I was looking to upgrade my G55VW with a new Samsung 840 Pro SSD (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NB8WTI). I had a quick question for those who may know:

For this SSD, it supports hardware full disk encryption, but I did not know if my laptop would support this given that the motherboard must support TPM (Trusted Platform module). Does the G55VW support this?

I am running the stock 206 BIOS if that makes any difference; haven't upgraded as I have not seen any problems with my current performance. Should I upgrade to the latest 217?

Thanks!
29,720 Views
4 REPLIES 4

brkkab123
Level 7
That just basically means the motherboard need's a tpm module. Most mobo's since 2007 have a tpm plugin. The question is does your's have the tpm module plugged into your mobo. Either way BitLocker will work without a tpm in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. For Vista/7 you need the Ultimate or Enterprise version. For 8 & 8.1 you need the Pro or Enterprise version. Here's a link on how to get BitLocker to work without a tpm module. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6229/how-to-use-bitlocker-on-drives-without-tpm/

Thanks for the reply.

I am unfortunately on Windows 7 Home Premium, so a software solution like BitLocker is not available to me. If I were to use a software solution, I would aim for TrueCrypt, but due to me (and others) having a GUID partition table and not an MBR, that is also not available to us.

I suppose you're right about the main question being: Does the G55VW have the TPM module plugged into my motherboard?

I am leaning toward no, as this thread here: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?15766-G55VW-and-TrueCrypt-with-system-partition-encryption& - says the G75VW probably does not have it, thus, I do not think the G55VW will, but I just wanted to confirm.

If anyone knows for sure, be sure to shoot me a line on here. Thanks!

rewben
Level 13
there are several ways to check if a tpm is present:
1. you can check the bios > security tab for the options to configure tpm (the last time i checked, there were none).
2. you can also check by doing a win key + r, then type in tpm.msc and press enter key. it show you that if there is an active tpm chip.
3. in addition to that, tpm chip might show up in the device manager;
4. you can use system information (msinfo32) to see if it is present. type Trusted Platform Module in the find what field and press enter key.

if all the above failed, it should be safe to say that tpm is absent. afaik, business grade laptops might have tpm, but not gaming ones.

from samsung magician 4.3, you should be able to see under data security tab that 840 pro supports only class 0 encryption (hdd password in bios). this is based on the table named data security support by model in that software.

31732

Hey all,

I just wanted to post a quick follow up to my thread: after contacting ASUS technical support for information, it has been confirmed that I (and other G55VW variants) do not have the TPM module.

Unfortunate to say the least, but at least I have solid information on the issue now.

I will still go ahead with the SSD upgrade but will await for TrueCrypt to support MBR drives.

Thanks to everyone who commented!