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On October 14, 2025, Microsoft will stop delivering security updates to your Windows 10 PC except you are keen to pay an exorbitant value to affix the Extended Security Updates program.
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When you attempt to improve to Windows 11 on a PC over just a few years outdated, you will be instructed, in no unsure phrases, that your outdated PC does not qualify as a result of its CPU is not on the official list of compatible processors. Microsoft has made it abundantly clear that it’s going to not revise these necessities. Additionally, you will hit roadblocks in case your PC does not have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) model 2.0.
Whereas that could be the official coverage, as with every part Home windows-related, it pays to learn the tremendous print.
These pesky restrictions stop you from routinely upgrading to Home windows 11 utilizing Home windows Replace or the Home windows 11 Set up Assistant. But there are totally supported workarounds, as I doc in ZDNET’s Windows 11 FAQ.
Additionally: Yes, you can upgrade that old PC to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no. These readers proved it
An necessary observe: To reap the benefits of the workaround described in possibility 1 beneath, your laptop wants to fulfill all the opposite necessities for Home windows 11.
It should be configured to start out up utilizing UEFI, not a legacy BIOS configuration.
Safe Boot should be enabled.
Additionally, you should have a TPM enabled; model 1.2 is OK however a system with none TPM or with the TPM disabled will fail.
To test these particulars on a PC you are contemplating upgrading, run the System Info utility, Msinfo32.exe, and have a look at the System Abstract web page. Pay particular consideration to the BIOS Mode worth. If it says “Legacy,” you will must reconfigure your system to UEFI mode (and convert your system disk from MBR to GPT partitioning) earlier than you possibly can set up Home windows 11 as a traditional improve.
To see whether or not your PC has a TPM enabled, run the Trusted Platform Module Administration instrument, Tpm.msc. In case your laptop features a TPM and it is turned on, this app will show details about it. If there is no TPM, or if the TPM is disabled in firmware settings, you will see a message that claims “Suitable TPM can’t be discovered.”
When you’re unable (or unwilling) to vary from Legacy BIOS to UEFI, or you probably have an older PC that does not have a TPM possibility in any respect, you will want to make use of an undocumented hack to finish the improve. See possibility 2 on the finish of this submit for particulars on use the free Rufus utility to carry out this improve.
Additionally: Have a Windows 10 PC that can’t be upgraded? You have 5 options before support ends next year
When you plan to carry out a clear set up of Home windows 11, you possibly can boot from set up media and run Home windows Setup. That possibility skips the CPU compatibility test utterly (however nonetheless requires a TPM and Safe Boot help). After the set up completes, you will must reinstall all of your apps, restore your knowledge information, and tweak settings to personalize your system preferences.
Wish to keep away from all that problem? Comply with these 4 steps.
Choice 1: Use this straightforward registry edit to bypass CPU checks and settle for an older TPM
That you must make one small change to the Home windows registry, as documented on this Microsoft support document. This variation tells the Home windows 11 Setup program to skip the test for appropriate CPUs and to permit set up on a PC with an older TPM (model 1.2). The standard warnings apply when working with the registry, after all, and I like to recommend you make an entire backup earlier than continuing.
Open Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to the next key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMSetupMoSetup
If the MoSetup key, does not exist, you should create it. Proper-click the node for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMSetup within the left-hand navigation pane, then select New > Key. Identify it MoSetup and press Enter.
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Choose the MoSetup key after which right-click in any empty house within the pane on the fitting. Select the choice to create a brand new DWORD worth. (Do not select the QWORD possibility!)
Exchange the default title for that key by typing the textual content AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU after which press Enter. Then double-click the brand new worth and alter the “Worth knowledge” field to 1. The consequence ought to seem like this:
Use this registry tweak to override the Home windows 11 CPU and TPM compatibility checks.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Click on OK to avoid wasting your change, after which restart your PC.
On the PC you need to improve, go to the Home windows 11 Obtain web page (aka.ms/DownloadWindows11) and select the choice on the backside of the web page, “Obtain Home windows 11 Disk Picture (ISO) for x64 units.” Save the ISO file in your Downloads folder.
Be aware that it is a massive file. Relying on the pace of your web connection, the obtain might take some time.
After the obtain completes, open File Explorer and double-click the ISO file. Doing so mounts the file as a digital DVD drive in its personal folder.
In File Explorer, discover the Setup.exe file and double-click it to start the improve. You may see a stern warning about compatibility points, however after you click on OK on that dialog field, your improve ought to proceed with none critical points.
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You may have three choices: you possibly can preserve your apps, settings, and information (Full Improve); preserve your knowledge information however begin recent with apps and settings (Preserve Information Solely); or begin utterly recent (Clear Set up).
Choice 2: Use the free Rufus utility to bypass compatibility checks utterly
On older PCs with out a TPM and on PCs that do not help Safe Boot, you will want to make use of an undocumented hack to bypass the compatibility checker. You are able to do this manually by changing the Appraiserres.dll file (within the Sources subfolder on the Home windows 11 installer drive) with a zero-byte model. But it surely’s less complicated to make use of the free, open-source Rufus utility to make a USB drive that features this file.
Additionally: Why Windows 11 requires a TPM – and how to get around that
To get began, you will must download the Windows 11 ISO and provide a USB flash drive no less than 16 GB in dimension. You’ll reformat this drive as a part of the method, so again up any knowledge on that drive first.
Obtain Rufus from the developer’s site or from the Microsoft Store and run the app.
Select the USB drive after which select the “Disk or ISO picture” possibility.
Click on the Choose button, select the Home windows 11 ISO you downloaded earlier, after which click on Begin.
Within the Home windows Person Expertise dialog, choose the primary checkbox to take away {hardware} necessities, as proven within the screenshot beneath.
Click on OK to start creating the drive.
Be sure you select the highest checkbox right here to bypass the compatibility test for the Home windows 11 improve.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
After Rufus efficiently creates your installer, open that USB drive in File Explorer and double-click Setup.
My ZDNET colleague Lance Whitney has extra particulars on the opposite choices out there with Rufus in “How to install Windows 11 the way you want (and sneak by Microsoft’s restrictions).”
When you’ve tried this improve, I need to hear about your expertise. If it labored, please share the main points. When you bumped into snags, ship me an e-mail so we will determine what is going on improper. Be sure you embody particulars together with the make and mannequin of your PC and screenshots of any error messages. I’ve arrange a particular inbox only for this suggestions: Win11Upgrade [at] realworldwindows.com.
This text was initially printed on April 9, 2022, however has been up to date a number of occasions since then. It was final up to date on September 29, 2024.
Nermeen Nabil Khear