Microsoft said my PC was ‘too old’ to run Windows 11 – how I upgraded in 5 minutes anyway

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Microsoft stopped supporting Home windows 10 earlier this month.
• Many PCs with Home windows 10 do not cross Microsoft’s strict requirement test.
• It is doable to bypass this and set up Home windows 11 in 10 simple steps.

I constructed my present desktop again in 2020, and it is had Home windows 10 put in all through its lifecycle. I went with what was — on the time — a strong, midrange Asus motherboard and Intel Core i9-9900 CPU, each of which nonetheless carry out fairly properly in 2025. 

Additionally: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – 2 free options

However there’s one downside: This motherboard — and lots of on the market similar to it — is true on the cusp of being eligible for Home windows 11. It would not have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) model 2.0, so Microsoft deems it ineligible for Home windows 11. 

The TPM is a safe cryptoprocessor and an vital part of your PC, designed to mitigate safety dangers and deal with encryption keys on the system. Nevertheless, the typical PC consumer isn’t more likely to be aware of TPM, and that is the one factor protecting my in any other case strong PC from upgrading. 

Within the weeks and days main as much as Home windows 10’s lack of help on October 14, I skilled first-hand the pop-ups and notifications from Microsoft nudging me that “It is time to purchase a brand new PC.” Microsoft is hoping shoppers will forgo coping with the potential headache of an improve and simply fork over the cash for a brand new PC to “stand up to hurry” with Home windows 11. 

However if you happen to’re like me and have a PC that will in any other case run Home windows 11 simply nice, do not quit so quick. There are workarounds, and we have lined them extensively at ZDNET. Senior Editor Ed Bott wrote a comprehensive guide on how to upgrade your “incompatible” PC to Home windows 11, and it is helped lots of our readers (simply check out the feedback) improve programs that had been initially deemed ineligible — myself included. 

Additionally: Windows 11 upgrade not working? Try my 4 favorite troubleshooting tricks

The strategy that labored for me — and the one I wager applies to most folk with a PC round 5 years outdated — includes 10 quick steps and the third-party program Rufus. 

This technique is almost certainly to be your greatest wager if…

• Your PC is from round 2020.
• Your {hardware} is in in any other case good well being.
• Home windows says your system isn’t eligible due to the TPM test.
• Your PC in any other case meets all the opposite necessities (sufficient storage, and so on.).

Be aware: You will want an empty USB thumb drive with at the very least 8GB of cupboard space on it. Remember to maneuver all the things off the thumb drive; in any other case, it is going to be deleted on this course of.   

10 steps to put in Home windows 11

1. Obtain Rufus.
2. Go here and obtain the Home windows 11 multi-edition ISO below “Disk Picture (ISO) for x64 units” to the Downloads folder in your PC. 
3. Insert your empty thumb drive and launch Rufus. 
4. In Rufus, choose your thumb drive within the System menu. Underneath Boot Choice, click on “Disk or ISO picture.”
5. Click on Choose and discover the Home windows 11 ISO file you simply downloaded to your Downloads folder.
6. Click on Begin. 
7. When the Home windows Consumer Expertise window pops up, be sure the primary field is checked: “Take away requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Safe Boot and TPM 2.0”. The remainder of the packing containers are as much as your desire.
8. Click on OK, after which Begin.
9. As soon as it is finished, open up the USB drive in File Explorer. Double-click Setup. This may run the Home windows 11 set up. 
10. A remaining step: When the “Set up Home windows 11” window pops up, click on “Change how Setup downloads updates” and be sure to choose “Not proper now.” Click on Subsequent and undergo with the remainder of the set up.

At this level, your pc will exit Home windows and enter the OS installer, which may take a while. It will restart a number of instances throughout this course of, which is regular. If all goes properly — and it ought to! — your PC will boot up right into a contemporary model of Home windows 11. 

Additionally: Windows 10’s final update is a big one – with a record 173 bug fixes

In case you have any points throughout this set up, I like to recommend reviewing the comprehensive guide or our Windows 11 troubleshooting guide. 

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