What Is the TPM in Windows? — An Illustrated Guide to the "Safe That Never Lets Keys Out" and Measured Boot (archived 2026-08-30)

Abstract

An illustrated explanation of the TPM: how keys never leave the chip, PCRs and Measured Boot, how BitLocker and Windows Hello use it, the differences between dTPM, fTPM, and Pluton, how to check the state with Get-Tpm, and what to do when you are asked for a recovery key — all from a practitioner's point of view. Archived version of https://comcomponent.com/en/blog/windows-tpm-explained/, as published on 2026-08-30. The live article is maintained and may change after this date. First published 2026-07-25.