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Cannot enable TPM in BIOS on Surface laptop after Windows 10 reinstall

Anonymous
2018-04-15T09:42:28+00:00

Hi. I have Microsoft surface laptop. I had to reinstall Windows 10 since the face recognition and PIN on the previos installation suddenly stopped working and I had to enter my bitlocker keys every time the unit started, which was very annoying. After the fresh reinstall of WIndows 10, I converted it instantly to Pro,  installed also the surface driver pack but after the reinstall I cannot enable the TPM option in the UEFI BIOS. Please provide advice what to do in order to enable it.During the reinstall process I formatted all partitions (except those reserved by the system) and installed OS on newly created partition.

Surface | Surface Laptop | Safety and security

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-11T16:15:25+00:00

    for info, I have not reinstalled Windows 10 on my Surface Laptop but I too now have the issue where the UEFI (BIOS) will NOT allow me to enable TPM even though prior to it suddenly stop working it had been working fine and my C: drive was fully encrypted.

    Ideally I don't want to wipe the system to try and get it working. I have fully decrypted the drive so I can at least boot up and use the laptop but no matter what I try I cannot turn on the TPM in the Surface UEFI 

    So many times I have had issues with a Surface device, firstly a Surface Pro 3, then 4 then Surface Book and now my Surface Laptop. I seriously wish I hadn't purchased a Microsoft Surface device but I keep on buying for my own stupidity and keep on having numerous issues. 

    Thankfully though the plus side is that the company I work for which has 25,000 users wanted to move to Microsoft hardware and I steered them away from it due to the numerous issues I have had.

    Oh by the way, I have worked in IT for over 20 years and I can't get the bugger working so feel sorry for the non-technical users that are expected to move mountains.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-04-21T06:22:54+00:00

    Hi and many thanks for the feedback! Answers follow below each question

    Hi nerv3n,

    If TPM was not cleared when you reset Windows, it may lead to difficulties in enabling this feature. Let's review a couple of things to resolve this:

    • Was TPM enabled on the device prior to reinstalling Windows?

                  I am pretty confident that it was enabled (I have not changed any settings in the UEFI

    • Did you clear the TPM before proceeding with the reinstallation of the OS?

                No

    • What error are you getting when you enable TPM in the Surface UEFI?

              When I try to switch it on, I get a system message, stating the TPM cannot be enabled. Reboot (or something related to reboot).

    • Can you share a screenshot of the TPM Management window? Press the Windows key + R and type tpm.msc then click OK to open the TPM Management Console.

              ![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/e5a68850-e8be-4082-84e0-8c3683693a02?platform=QnA

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-04-16T03:40:32+00:00

    Hi nerv3n,

    If TPM was not cleared when you reset Windows, it may lead to difficulties in enabling this feature. Let's review a couple of things to resolve this:

    • Was TPM enabled on the device prior to reinstalling Windows?
    • Did you clear the TPM before proceeding with the reinstallation of the OS?
    • What error are you getting when you enable TPM in the Surface UEFI?
    • Can you share a screenshot of the TPM Management window? Press the Windows key + R and type tpm.msc then click OK to open the TPM Management Console.

    Give me an update so I can help you further.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-04-23T13:35:04+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for the update. The TPM Management window wouldn't allow you to make any changes as long as it is disabled in the UEFI screen. In order for the TPM to work, you need to suspend theBitLocker. Restart the Surface Laptop and access the UEFI and disable the Secure Boot under Security tab and enable TPM and then save the changes. Restart the Surface Laptop and enable BitLocker.

    Let us know how it goes.

    Thank you.

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