Install Windows 11 on an Unsupported PC - WindowsTips.net - Windows Tips and Tricks with Geek

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Install Windows 11 on an Unsupported PC

 

Windows 11 on a laptop.

How to Enable TPM 2.0

Windows 11 officially requires TPM 2.0. (However, there’s an easy way to install Windows 11 if your PC only has TPM 1.2, which we’ll cover below.)

If the tool reports that your computer doesn’t have TPM, there’s a chance your PC does have TPM—but it may be disabled by default.


For more information, run on online search for the model name of your computer and “enable TPM,” or examine its official documentation. (If you built your own PC, search for your motherboard model name instead.)To check for and enable TPM 2.0, you will need to enter your computer’s UEFI firmware settings (the modern replacement for the BIOS). 

Look for an option named something like “TPM,” “Intel PTT,” “AMD PSP fTPM,” or “Security Device.” You may find it in the main UEFI settings menu or in a menu named something like “Advanced,” “Trusted Computing,” or “Security.”

You may also need to install a UEFI update for your computer or its motherboard. Manufacturers have been rolling out updates that either enable TPM 2.0 by default—or add support for it. It may even be possible to upgrade from TPM 1.2 to TPM 2.0 with a firmware update on some PCs; it depends on your hardware and system manufacturer. Check with your computer (or motherboard) manufacturer for more information about updates for Windows 11.

After enabling TPM, re-run the PC Health Check tool. You should be able to upgrade normally if that was your only problem.

In your UEFI's "Security" menu, look for "TPM" and "Enabled."

How to Enable Secure Boot

If PC Health Check reports your computer isn’t using Secure Boot, you should also look in UEFI firmware settings for a “Secure Boot” option and enable it, if possible.

You may have disabled Secure Boot to install Linux, or it may have come disabled on your motherboard. Modern Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora work on PCs with Secure Boot enabled, so you don’t necessarily have to disable this security feature to install Linux.

If you are able to enable Secure Boot, re-run the PC Health Check tool. You can now upgrade normally—assuming Secure Boot was the only problem.

In your UEFI's "Boot" menu, look for "Secure Boot" and "Enabled."
Benj Edwards

How to Fix No UEFI (MBR Instead of GPT)

Windows 11 requires UEFI. Some older computers offer both modes: UEFI firmware or a traditional legacy BIOS. If you are currently using a “traditional” MBR partitioning setup but your PC does offer UEFI as an option, you will have to switch to a GPT partition table to use UEFI.


If this is your only problem, one easier way would be to perform a clean install. First, be sure to back up your files (we recommend backing up your files before upgrading anyway.) Then, use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool to create bootable Windows 11 installation media on a USB drive or DVD.

 Now, use the installation media to perform a clean installation of Windows 11, wiping your drive—you may have to put your computer’s firmware into UEFI mode first. Windows 11 will erase your Windows 10 system and set up your drive in GPT mode.There are several ways to do this. Microsoft’s MBR2GPT tool may allow you to convert a drive from MBR to GPT format. Microsoft warns that you should only do this if you know your PC supports UEFI, and that you may have to change settings in your PC’s firmware to make it boot in UEFI mode rather than legacy BIOS mode afterward.

Registry Hack for Unsupported CPUs and/or Only TPM 1.2

If your only problem is that your computer has an unsupported CPU and/or that it only has TPM 1.2 instead of TPM 2.0, this is the easiest problem to get around.

If you so choose, you can get around this restriction with a simple Windows Registry change. Making this change will cause Windows 11 to ignore the CPU version check and install even if only TPM 1.2 is present. However, this won’t eliminate other checks—for example, if your computer doesn’t have a TPM at all, this registry change won’t let you upgrade.

Warning: The Windows Registry is complex, and you should be careful what you add, edit, or delete in it. You could cause problems with your Windows installation. If you’re not comfortable editing the registry, you may want to avoid upgrading. However, as long as you follow our advice here, you shouldn’t have any problems.

To get started, open the Registry Editor. You can press Windows+R, type “regedit”, and press Enter, or type “registry” into the Start menu’s search box and click the “Registry Editor” shortcut.

Launch regedit in the Run window.

Type the following address into the address bar in the Registry Editor window (or navigate to it in the left pane):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup

Enter the address in the Registry Editor's location bar.

Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and enter the following text as the name:

AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU

Double-click "AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU".

Double-click the “AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU” value here, set it to “1”, and click “OK.”

Enter "1" and click "OK."

This downloadable ZIP file contains two REG files: One that enables upgrades on unsupported PCs (Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg) and one that reverts the change (Undo Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg). Just double-click the “Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg” file and agree to add the information to your registry. If you want to undo your change, double-click the Undo file.

These files work in the same way as the above registry hack—they just set the “AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU” value to “1” (to enable unsupported upgrades) or “0” (to revert to the default setting).

Double-click the REG file and click "Yes" to agree.

To ensure the change takes effect, reboot your PC before continuing.

You can now download and run the Windows Installation Assistant tool from Microsoft’s website to upgrade your PC to Windows 11, just as if it had a supported CPU or TPM 2.0. You’ll just have to agree to a warning first.

No comments:

Post a Comment