No, Microsoft isn't letting you install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

News
By
published

An incorrect report claims that Microsoft has dropped Windows 11's strict TPM requirement. It hasn't.

Windows 11 Install
Microsoft has not changed Windows 11's system requirements. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

This past week, a report that appears to have originated from PCWorld / PC-WELT has been making the rounds claiming that Microsoft is now allowing users upgrade to Windows 11 on PCs that don’t meet its strict minimum system requirements.

It didn't take long for Reddit threads and social media posts to pop up discussing Microsoft’s supposed change of heart, and rightly so, as relaxing these system requirements would be a big deal. However, it only takes a few seconds of research to figure out that this news isn’t actually true.

Here’s what the PCWorld article claims:

“With Windows 11, Microsoft’s chief requirement is the availability of a TPM 2.0 chip … in most cases, you did need TPM 2.0 for Windows 11. Until now. Users can now upgrade directly to Windows 11 even without the needed hardware.”

Their source for this claim is a Microsoft support article, where the report says Microsoft is now detailing steps for installing Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. “ … in an unexpected and puzzling move, the company is issuing instructions for installing Windows 11 on incompatible PCs” says the PCWorld report.

Except, if you actually look at the support document, no such instructions are given. Instead, the support document simply details what will happen if you choose to install Windows 11 on an unsupported machine. It does not provide instructions on how to do so.

Furthermore, this support document has existed since Windows 11 version 21H2. It was first published on Windows 11's launch day, and was updated recently with instructions on how to return to Windows 10 if you did force an upgrade to Windows 11 on a PC that does not meet its minimum requirements.

For the uninitiated, Windows 11 is not offered as an upgrade on PCs that do not meet the minimum system requirements. If you attempt to install on a PC that is below these requirements, the installer will refuse to continue. There have always been ways to bypass this, but none are considered officially supported methods of updating to or installing Windows 11.

Microsoft has now since updated the support article that PCWorld references, confirming that Windows 11 still enforces its minimum system requirements, including TPM. If you attempt to install or upgrade to Windows 11 on a PC that does not meet these requirements, the installer will refuse to continue, just as it always has. Microsoft has no plans to change this behaviour.

Here's the support articles new clarification:

"This support article was originally published on October 4, 2021, when Windows 11 was first released to the public. At the time of publication and still today, the intention behind this support page is to detail considerations for customers to understand the implications of installing Windows 11 against Microsoft's recommendation on devices that don't meet system requirements for Windows 11. If you installed Windows 11 on a device not meeting Windows 11 system requirements, Microsoft recommends you roll back to Windows 10 immediately. Windows 11 minimum system requirements remain unchanged"

If you are unsure what any of this means, the easiest way to find out if your PC meets Windows 11's system requirements is to run Microsoft's PC Health Check app. This will tell you if your PC is eligible for Windows 11 and will outline which parts of your computer are at fault if you do not.

Bypassing Windows 11's system requirements is still an option

While Microsoft isn't officially letting users install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, you have always been able to bypass its requirements. You can follow our guide here on how to do that if you want to install Windows 11 on an unsupported machine. Keep in mind, even if you bypass the requirements, your PC is still ineligible for Windows 11 and may not receive feature or security updates once installed as a result.

Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • NapoleonsTeapot
    All well and good, but if you take 30 seconds to follow the links on that MS page, the instructions are provided.
    4/10, see me after class.
    Did an upgrade using those instructions on unsupported hardware yesterday and it works.
    Reply
  • Aries Powvalla
    This article is purely an attention grab. You can very easily find Microsoft's detail that describes their TPM requirement changes.
    Reply
  • Zac Bowden
    Aries Powvalla said:
    This article is purely an attention grab. You can very easily find Microsoft's detail that describes their TPM requirement changes.
    As mentioned in the article, there are no changes. TPM 2.0 is still required to be considered officially supported by Microsoft on Windows 11.

    The way Windows 11 enforces its requirements has been in-place since October 2021, and nothing has changed as of this week.
    Reply
  • NapoleonsTeapot
    Well I'll be a...
    As I said above, I personally sat in front of a machine the other day, tweaked the registry using the instructions on the linked page and the upgrade worked, despite the CPU being unsupported.
    Today, I am holding in my hand the same device I read those instructions on. Not only has the link I followed (via the page: "Ways to install Windows 11" ) gone, but the history of my having visited the page with the instructions (more than once) has upped and vanished from Edge on Android (that'll teach me).
    Were it not for the fact that I still have the upgraded machine, I'd suspect that I'd dreamed it all....

    EDIT: The tweak was to add the REG_DWORD AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMorCPU to the key HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup and set it to "1". Anyone want to check if that still works?
    Yup. Evidence still there in the machine's registry. I'm not dreaming this at all.
    Reply
  • NapoleonsTeapot
    Wayback machine FTW!
    See their Dec 10th snapshot of "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e".

    Some serious arse covering going on at MS methinks.
    Reply
  • cyberwolf01011
    Based on your comment I very much want to believe that you hands on tried because it's completely false that Windows is restricting anything or more accurately that they're able to, and the first place they were never giving access to unsupported devices they were only really acknowledging the fact that they couldn't stop anyone from sidebusting and even that is necessary to do anymore even I have it working beautifully on my 2004 Dell XPS yes you read that right 11's hard specs are still the defining Factor no matter what any tech journalist keyword there or Microsoft of course is going to tell you but I have now twice put it on taking it back off put it back on and I ditched it again because they're screwing everything up with all the updates they do leaving so many glitches in back doors I know personally from several of the large hacking incidents is across the several of the corporations in America including cdk specifically that they got f***** by Microsoft screwing up leaving vulnerabilities because the hacking always comes after an update mysteriously, did you need the second time I thought was just basic sense given that 11 is updates are causing more software issues than 10s having without their security, the true fact is that Microsoft wasn't truly saying they were out going to allow unsupported devices blah blah they were admitting publicly that they know they can't stop people from sidebusting it it's always been possible throughout all of its lifespan in different versions and 11 regardless of advancements is no better repelling the same kind of behavior for a very obvious reason Microsoft doesn't lock it up they know that you would lose the majority of the business worlds business if they complicated their crap even more and made it definitely secure in their own way would exclude the usability of more business than they can afford to lose the hard specs are still in what they were before and no matter what there's minimum requirement settings are they are just a figment of some senior developers imagination is best guess at what could only run it and it's not even at minimum, my 04 is running an i7 2100 ish I think 8 gigs of RAM that God knows what speed not fast even the graphics card is a GT generation which I think hasn't been made in at least 15 years which is only relevant because I wanted to mention that it's still plays Modern games to this date and again has the processing power required to run Windows 11 regardless of its compatibility and it's definitely the only way you should run 11 as it gives you the opportunity to customize the install cutting out a large trunk in fact the possibility change to get rid of all of the Microsoft just bass ass bloatware and even a couple of these bonus security features that are in fact negatives in drawbacks to the system and not even helpful I very much hope this information reaches those of you who are still trying to get it go take a deeper look at what is possible and not what Microsoft wants to tell you or a paid journalist not a technician is wanting to write about it the article makes it clear he's not personally experienced or I hope not because then he really would need to choose a better career based on his writing Style and presentation of good luck to all and feel free to reach out
    Reply