I'm marking it solved! Last tpm error was on 2/8. support assist got updated on 2/8. windows also got updated a few days later.
Shipped April 2018. Warranty expired in February 2021. Windows 10 20h2, all updates current. I've had this error 10 times. it started on 11/19. In the few days prior to this there were no unusual updates, just the regular defender updates. There is no "firmwaretpm.exe" file to be found on my machine. however, device manager reports that trusted platform manager 2.0 is working properly, and the driver version is 10.0.19041.746. I DO NOT wish to reset it in bios unless someone knows 100% that it will be fixed without losing anything on my machine. APPCRASHApplication Name: FirmwareTPM.exeApplication Version: 1.1.1.1Application Timestamp: 6368a364Fault Module Name: VCRUNTIME140.dll
17 R4, firmwaretpm.exe stopped working