Since disabling is an operation you can undo, it's probably not done by clearing anything (though it might be a temporary removal).
More likely, it's just not Windows 8 certified as you suggest. That does rather suggest that 'all x86 platforms' will do whatever the hell ugly hacks their BIOS/mobo vendors want, though. Asus is not a small mobo vendor...
Posted Jan 9, 2013 20:12 UTC (Wed) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239)
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Enable may just be restoring the default keys. Alternatively, enable may enable it without installing any keys, leaving that up to the end user. This is why we ended up going with a solution that doesn't depend on the motherboard offering any specific set of options.