[PSA] Met all the basic requirements but Microsoft's tool still says your PC can't run Windows 11? It might be your CPU, but don't throw them out yet.

[Tieox]

Just now, wkdpaul said:

Genuine question ; is this an installer restriction, or is the OS just gonna straight up refuse to boot on unsupported machine (because going through the GUI isn't the only way to install it, I've installed the leaked ISO on bare metal on a PC without TPM or secure boot, and it works fine).

I am hoping @LinusTechgets a load of older processors right back to socket 775 Q6600's and tries them with loads of sketchy and budget motherboards and puts the whole topic to rest for a time.

[WkdPaul]

2 minutes ago, Tieox said:

I am hoping @LinusTechgets a load of older processors right back to socket 775 Q6600's and tries them with loads of sketchy and budget motherboards and puts the whole topic to rest for a time.

I have an old optiplex with a Core2Quad ... I might do some tests with the leaked ISO this weekend!

[Tieox]

1 minute ago, wkdpaul said:

I have an old optiplex with a Care2Quad ... I might do some tests with the leaked ISO this weekend!

Do let me know!

[Ash_Kechummm]

It seems my Dell box from 2012 (or 2013? i don't remember well) neither supports PTT nor has a TPM header to install a physical one, it seems this is becoming a linux box after 2025 (assuming the proprietary PSU lasts that long) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[linkboy]

My computer is a Thinkpad P50 with the following specs and, so far, it looks like the only thing holding it back is the CPU, as it's a 6th gen CPU (will hit the soft floor cap, so I'll get a warning during the install process)

 

• 2.6ghz i7 6700HQ (with Intel PPT 2.0, which I have enabled in the BIOS)
• 32GB DDR4 RAM
• 1TB m.2 NVME SSD
• Intel HD Graphics 530 (WDDM 2.1)
• Nvidia Quadro M1000M (WDDM 2.7)

My computer is DirectX 12 compliant.

 

It's utterly amazing how badly Microsoft has botched the announcement of the requirements.

 

Just based on three different Microsoft pages, I get three different results in regards to my computer

 

According to the minimum specs, I should be good to go.

According to the supported CPU list, my laptop can't run the OS.

According to the hard/soft floor, it can, but isn't recommended.

No wonder people are confused. If it's confusing people like us, it's going to be a massive nightmare for less tech savvy folks.

[tkitch]

13 minutes ago, linkboy said:

No wonder people are confused. If it's confusing people like us, it's going to be a massive nightmare for less tech savvy folks.

Honestly, it probably won't be a nightmare:

 

Microsoft will most likely put 'soft blocks' on the install.  This will prevent the not tech people from installing it without a fair bit of work or help.  

 

But if you're techie enough, you can flip the right switches and do it anyways.

 

Given that 10 will get updates and support for 3+ years after 11 drops, it'll give people a LOT of time to upgrade.

[D13H4RD]

12 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Given that 10 will get updates and support for 3+ years after 11 drops, it'll give people a LOT of time to upgrade.

That's honestly no biggie for me. My desktop stays on 10 for a good while because there's a good chance 11 on launch is going to have problems.

 

The laptop gets it sooner.

[Tieox]

20 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Honestly, it probably won't be a nightmare:

 

Microsoft will most likely put 'soft blocks' on the install.  This will prevent the not tech people from installing it without a fair bit of work or help.  

 

But if you're techie enough, you can flip the right switches and do it anyways.

 

Given that 10 will get updates and support for 3+ years after 11 drops, it'll give people a LOT of time to upgrade.

Most people see their computers like a toilet why replace it while it works?

 

They will sit on Windows 10 for possibly decades until it stops working period, this of course opens them up to security issues etc, however all they will see is Microsoft refusing to upgrade their computer.

 

 

[Ashleyyyy]

1 hour ago, Tieox said:

I've begun to call up many peeps a lot of them running socket 775 machines mixed between Quads and Dual Cores and saying post 2025 I can keep their machines going with a move to Linux which means zero cost to them, and they can keep using it for social media and YouTube with a bit of e-mail. 

my pc is from 2010 so similar age but a lot faster. it's running a supermicro server motherboard and dual Xeon X5650's for a total of 12 cores, 24 threads. it's still a monster of a machine that keeps up well with most tasks. but way too old to support any kind of modern TPM or Secure Boot. 

[Tieox]

8 minutes ago, Ashley MLP Fangirl said:

my pc is from 2010 so similar age but a lot faster. it's running a supermicro server motherboard and dual Xeon X5650's for a total of 12 cores, 24 threads. it's still a monster of a machine that keeps up well with most tasks. but way too old to support any kind of modern TPM or Secure Boot. 

I think older machines will have to wait for either custom .iso images or work on the official iso altering files etc to install Win11. 

 

[WkdPaul]

55 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Given that 10 will get updates and support for 3+ years after 11 drops, it'll give people a LOT of time to upgrade.

Seeing as people are still using 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen Intel CPUs, it will be an issue when Windows 10 be EOL.

 

For home work and budget gaming, those CPU are more than enough, locking Windows 11 to 8th gen and up WILL be an issue.

[tkitch]

1 minute ago, wkdpaul said:

Seeing as people are still using 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen Intel CPUs, it will be an issue when Windows 10 be EOL.

 

For home work and budget gaming, those CPU are more than enough, locking Windows 11 to 8th gen and up WILL be an issue.

except an 8th gen i5 in 2025 will be the equivilant of...  about a 3rd gen right now?  old AF and cheap.

[WkdPaul]

2 minutes ago, tkitch said:

except an 8th gen i5 in 2025 will be the equivilant of...  about a 3rd gen right now?  old AF and cheap.

while true, I doubt 6th or 7th gen owners will feel the same (I pointed out to 2nd and 3rd gen because they're currently cheap and affordable), 4th, 6th and 7th gen will be more than useable in 4 years, yet won't be eligible for Windows 11. I still think this CPU white list is bullshit.

[tkitch]

11 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

while true, I doubt 6th or 7th gen owners will feel the same (I pointed out to 2nd and 3rd gen because they're currently cheap and affordable), 4th, 6th and 7th gen will be more than useable in 4 years, yet won't be eligible for Windows 11. I still think this CPU white list is bullshit.

I installed it on a 6th gen i7 with no errors or tweaking.  It does have TPM. 

[WkdPaul]

4 minutes ago, tkitch said:

I installed it on a 6th gen i7 with no errors or tweaking.  It does have TPM. 

The leaked OS maybe, but the retail one won't let you do it, there's a "soft lock" for anything older than 8th Gen CPUs ;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

 

That's why I asked if the lock was in the installer, or in the OS. If it's in the installer, that'll be easy to bypass, not so much if it's in the OS.

[GamerDude]

I failed the TPM part. seems my not cheap mobo doesn't have TPM capability....

[tkitch]

1 minute ago, GamerDude said:

I failed the TPM part. seems my not cheap mobo doesn't have TPM capability....

doesn't have, or is just disabled?  Check the BIOS

[Ashleyyyy]

25 minutes ago, tkitch said:

except an 8th gen i5 in 2025 will be the equivilant of...  about a 3rd gen right now?  old AF and cheap.

3rd gen i5's are still insanely capable lol. i used a 2nd gen one a while ago and they don't feel old at all. sure if you benchmark it you'll notice but just doing web browsing you don't notice

[Quartz11]

Would getting a TPM module help?  I have an 8/16 core LGA 2011 Xeon E5 1680 V2 with an Asus Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard system used by a family member, with 32gb of quad-channel RAM.  That’s still a powerful system for all of their gaming and work tasks.  

 

Not sure if having an older CPU is a hard limit, or if presence of a TPM 2.0 module on the motherboard would be sufficient.

[Doobeedoo]

Well, I'm excited to see how much of an actual improvement 11 brings though. Not much is show, but I'd hope before official release that they finally improved; settings as better way to find certain options, better use of space. Why is Control Panel a thing and some other old legacy like windows, that I'd expected follow modern design and theme.

Dark theme Task Manager already, could get more improved too why not. Tabs and other for File Explorer it could use more options.

 

The AutoHDR seems neat, but yeah hopefully both OS and monitors for proper HDR get better implementations. Looking forward to DirectStorage eventually.

 

Hopefully the bug for loss of focus for opened windows is fixed, so many times randomly or when certain program or a window opens it takes away the focus of a working one etc. 

[Sam Flynn]

I turned fTPM on in my X570 BIOS for my r3950 and it still says it's not compatible. The pessimist in me thinks TPM is going to be used as a layer of DRM to block apps outside the windows store. 

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, GamerDude said:

I failed the TPM part. seems my not cheap mobo doesn't have TPM capability....

Assuming you're using the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-XTREME-rev-10/sp#sp

 

Then yeah, your Motherboard has a TPM socket, but does not seem to include a TPM module by default. This does mean you can likely just go out and buy the module:
1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header (2x6 pin, for the GC-TPM2.0_S module only):

https://www.gigabyte.com/ca/Motherboard/GC-TPM20_S#ov

 

I found one listing on Amazon Canada for about $100 CAD.

 

If the motherboard isn't a current product, you might find availability a little short though.

[D13H4RD]

3 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

The leaked OS maybe, but the retail one won't let you do it, there's a "soft lock" for anything older than 8th Gen CPUs ;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

 

That's why I asked if the lock was in the installer, or in the OS. If it's in the installer, that'll be easy to bypass, not so much if it's in the OS.

Based on what has been said, having something like a 7th gen Core i7 doesn't mean you can't install Windows 11. It just means while installing, a message asking if you'd like to proceed as it "might not provide the best experience" would pop up. 

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Quartz11 said:

Would getting a TPM module help?  I have an 8/16 core LGA 2011 Xeon E5 1680 V2 with an Asus Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard system used by a family member, with 32gb of quad-channel RAM.  That’s still a powerful system for all of their gaming and work tasks.  

 

Not sure if having an older CPU is a hard limit, or if presence of a TPM 2.0 module on the motherboard would be sufficient.

According to your user manual, your motherboard has a "20-1" pin TPM module socket. 

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA2011/RAMPAGE_IV_BLACK_EDITION/E8670_Rampage_IV_Black_Edition.pdf

Check page 63 for details.

 

When I google "20-1 pin TPM", one made by ASUS is one the top results:

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/Accessories/TPM-L-R2-0/

 

Most likely for anyone who has a newer motherboard (even DIY builds), the motherboard probably has a TPM socket on the board - you just need to go out and buy a TPM module for it.

 

Big pain in the ass, but realistically, this will not affect most consumers who own a relatively modern OEM PC. It's really only going to affect the tech enthusiasts who do custom builds.

 

I'm 100% sure that my work laptop (HP Zbook G5 v15) and personal laptop (HP x360 Spectre) would have a TPM module installed from the factory. I have an old Dell Optiplex 7010 in the office, but no one ever uses it (literally hardly gets turned on), but even that machine might have an older TPM module.

[WkdPaul]

MSI also has a TPM header, and sells TPM modules separately ;

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/TPM-20-Module