Microsoft updates Windows 11 minimum system requirements, reinstates PC Health Check app

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: Microsoft spent the past two months revamping the app and is rolling it out again to Windows Insiders. The new version of the PC Health Check app provides a more complete picture as to why a PC doesn’t meet the minimum Windows 11 requirements, plus adds links to support articles to better understand roadblocks and how to alleviate them.

Microsoft shared the first Windows 11 Insider Preview build back in June, but simultaneously muddied the waters a bit by removing the PC Health Check app from the equation. Redmond at the time said the app, which was intended to help people determine if their current PC could run Windows 11, didn’t fully inform users as to why a system didn’t meet upgrade requirements.

In the example above, you can see that the sample system doesn’t support TPM 2.0 and its processor doesn’t support Windows 11.

Microsoft said it also took another look at Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen processors to see if any of them could be added to their Windows 11 compatibility list. Following extensive testing, Microsoft added the following CPUs to the Intel compatibility list:

• Intel Core X-series, Xeon W-series
• Intel Core 7820HQ (only select devices that shipped with modern drivers based on Declarative, Componentized, Hardware Support Apps (DCH) design principles, including Surface Studio 2)

No first-gen AMD Zen processors made the cut.

Microsoft additionally clarified that it believes its 4GB of memory, 64GB of storage, UEFI secure boot, graphics requirements and TPM 2.0 are all the right minimum system requirements to deliver the best Windows 11 experience, so those won’t be changing.

“For those who are using a PC that won’t upgrade, and who aren’t ready to transition to a new device, Windows 10 is the right choice,” Microsoft said, adding that it’ll support Windows 10 through October 14, 2025. Win 10’s next feature update is expected later this year.

Microsoft plans to update the PC Health Check app with the newly added Intel CPUs in the coming weeks as the tool gears up for general availability.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/90991-microsoft-updates-windows-11-minimum-system-requirements-reinstates.html

 

[Dimitriid]

I kinda respect their stubbornness, but not without mocking it: 1st gen Ryzen chips are more than enough for their stupid os they plain just don't want people's money and install base, it will take them several years to get a fraction of the Windows 10 adoption rate and most people that can help it will be just like in the past: People refusing to upgrade to Vista, refusing to update to 8 and refusing to update to 11, except this time is not even because of anything the OS is doing wrong but just Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot by trying to enforce unreasonable hardware requirements nobody is going to care to upgrade to.

 

[Avro Arrow]

My system probably does meet the W11 requirements but it doesn't matter really because all my decades of PC experience have taught me one very important thing:

NEVER BE AN EARLY ADOPTER!

 

[bviktor]

I'm not sure why or how 1st gen Zens are incapable of running Win11, but I fully support their decision to require TPM2.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1408197280054841349

There's also a loophole:

Microsoft leaves a loophole for enthusiasts to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

Unfortunately, Microsoft is staying firm with minimum system requirements for Windows 11 but has left a loophole for enthusiasts who might want to upgrade their unsupported hardware to Windows 11.

www.neowin.net

 

[Fulljack]

I've been using Windows 11 Dev and Beta for several months, now. Since the first public Dev preview. I did clean install every update (by resetting through settings without keeping any data), so that it'll feels like a brand new machine everytime.

My conclusion is, the new explorer are slower, and so does the new settings app, compared to Windows 10. While new animations are fluids enough, it still didn't masks the lag that shows on those two apps. Video games are hit & miss, but most of the time it's a miss. My suspect is that WDDM 3.0 are the culprit, as it's still in development (I always use latest Intel and Nvidia graphic drivers). Sometimes, games like Valorant and CS GO lags heavily for a few seconds then return to normal. Other times, it keeps lagging until I restart the games or the system.

Those issue didn't occur or experienced on latest Windows 10 21H2 build 19044.1200 that I just installed on the same system a few hours ago.

The system I'm using is a laptop with i7-7700HQ, 16GB DDR4-2400, GTX 1050 Ti 4GB, 512GB NVMe SSD as main drive, and 1TB SATA SSD as data/backup drive.

Please note that I understand that this is a BETA software and currently are still in development. This is just me stating the CURRENT state of Dev and Beta build, running on an unsupported hardware—although Microsoft did currently disable some hardware requirements to collect more data that I'm happily oblige.

also, edited because click post too soon.

 

[DZillaXx]

My system probably does meet the W11 requirements but it doesn't matter really because all my decades of PC experience have taught me one very important thing:

NEVER BE AN EARLY ADOPTER!

I've been rocking a pretty strong PC for a long time, and never had issues jumping on new versions of windows. Vista worked great for me as I already had 4GB of RAM and a C2Q, Back then I rocked a WD Raper for the OS HDD. Never had a single issue with Vista, worked great.

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10. I've moved to each within the first month of release. Windows 8 & 8.1 with Start8 was great IMO.

I will not be moving to Windows 11 any time soon. I hate this new taskbar and the removal of features. There is a lot to like overall, but windows 10 is just about perfect UI wise. The Settings menu needed some fixing. It's a share they are moving away from windows 10.

 

[hahahanoobs]

My system probably does meet the W11 requirements but it doesn't matter really because all my decades of PC experience have taught me one very important thing:

NEVER BE AN EARLY ADOPTER!

Testing beta software is nowhere near the same as being an early adopter.

If you're testing a beta, you're installing it knowing that. Not sure why you felt the need to attack important beta software no one is forcing you to use, but then again I got replies implying a smart tv is for watching DVDs so I shouldn't be surprised by your comment.

 

[navuho]

Even if W11 is released this year, it will be polished enough and ready for daily driver to normal person in 2023 anyway. Today's software tends to be in alpha and beta at least an year after release with very few exceptions.

 

[Fearghast]

You know what?
I had it, I do not care for Windows 11 till they will launch and can be considered as stable.
Seriously, who cares if M$ will change it, make another false statement etc.
On Win 10 I was gladly part of beta program, but this is just a pathetic.

 

[Nobina]

I'm more interested in going back to Windows 7.

 

[Rocky4040]

Windows 11 preview worked fine on my i7 2600K@5.1 32GB DDR3 2133Mhz system. yes I had to how to say it...jump through a hoop or two to get it past the your system sucks statement. In the end the clean windows 11 install took about 8 minutes to complete from a clean format to desktop on my back up SSD drive. Everything worked as it should and had no issues other than hating the new task bar and what they call a start menu now.

6 hours later I pulled the back up SSD and connected my Windows 10 SSD and never looked back at Windows 11.

 

[hahahanoobs]

You can install W11 with unsupported hardware if installed manually via ISO. Kernel mode crashes are more likely.
Source:XDA, verge

 

[Loli Pop Carbon]

I watched Linus' video and see that W11 has one major turn off for me. The "show more options" menu in explorer. It's basically forcing you to take extra mouse movement to access the current right click menu which is so dumb and a step backward.

Also not mention how hard it is to set default browser. Harder than W10.

Conclusion: no, thanks, I'll stay with W10.

 

[Axle Grease]

Ah, yes... And you KNOW Microsoft has created a very limited list of Windows 11 compatible CPUs to get people to buy sparkly new PCs, because otherwise the Windows 11 compatibility checker would be CPU agnostic and just check for the presence of TPM 2.0. My 7 yo Intel i7-5960X has no TPM 2.0, but the motherboard supports it.

 

[mAdmAnDingo]

Testing beta software is nowhere near the same as being an early adopter.

If you're testing a beta, you're installing it knowing that. Not sure why you felt the need to attack important beta software no one is forcing you to use, but then again I got replies implying a smart tv is for watching DVDs so I shouldn't be surprised by your comment.

He wasn't talking about W11 beta release, he was talking about the final release W11 later this year. And many users have had issues with final release Windows OS (including myself), and besides the possible stability and/or software issues, there are are usually kinks to be worked out, and also general usability from an interface standpoint to consider (which can be tweaked by MS as the OS matures).

And many of MS OS have had issues, just because you or others have had none, doesn't mean everyone hasn't had issues, the PC landscape is a broad ecosystem with a lot of possible hardware/software combinations, you know this yourself, and I had enough issues with W10 when it was released (not to mention some of MS prior OS release as well), but W10 has come a long way from its 2015 release and is better all round by comparison, but W10 still gets some updates that break or mess up something or other, but that is besides the point.

But I digress, considering much of the above, there is nothing wrong with waiting for an OS to mature and receive some updates before considering the upgrade, and I am myself in this position, my PC's are mostly for work (and are X570 Zen2/Zen3 PC's which fully W11 compatible), and I had enough issues with W10 early on (and issues with several updates as well), but it is quite stable now and performs mostly without issues (rock solid work performance), and I wont risk putting my work flow out as an early W11 adopter, I will give it a few years to first mature on all fronts, and then I will consider it. And I also want to see how the interface evolves over-time first as well, I am not fond of some of the changes to the user interface they have made, so I will wait to see if those are changed or improved upon first as well.

 

[hahahanoobs]

He wasn't talking about W11 beta release, he was talking about the final release W11 later this year. And many users have had issues with final release Windows OS (including myself), and besides the possible stability and/or software issues, there are are usually kinks to be worked out, and also general usability from an interface standpoint to consider (which can be tweaked by MS as the OS matures).

And many of MS OS have had issues, just because you have had none, doesn't mean others haven't, the PC landscape is a broad ecosystem with a lot of possible hardware/software combinations, you know this yourself, and I had enough issues with W10 when it was released (not to mention some of MS prior OS release as well), but W10 has come a long way from its 2015 release and is better all round by comparison, but W10 still gets some updates that break or mess up something or other, but that is besides the point.

But I digress, considering much of the above, there is nothing wrong with waiting for an OS to mature and receive some updates before considering the upgrade, and I am myself in this position, my PC's are mostly for work (and are fully W11 compatible), and I had enough issues with W10 early on (and issues with several updates as well), but it is quite stable now and performs mostly without issues (very staisfied with it), and I wont risk putting my work flow out as an early W11 adopter, I will give it a few years to first mature on all fronts, and then I will consider it. And I also want to see how the interface evolves over-time first as well, I am not fond of some of the changes to the user interface they have made, so I will wait to see if those are changed or improved upon first as well.

Lot's of software has issues. This is not news.
Writing "Don't be an early adopter" in all caps like it's a dire warning is overreacting at best. I know people like to predict downfalls, but when it's every time, it gets old and most times, it's unwarranted and just noise.

 

[mAdmAnDingo]

Lot's of software has issues. This is not news.
Writing "Don't be an early adopter" in all caps like it's a dire warning is overreacting at best. I know people like to predict downfalls, but when it's every time, it gets old and most times, it's unwarranted and just noise.

I don't think that is what he meant mate, I think he is just older like I am (I have been using MS OS since the 80's), and has had their fair share of issues with MS OS (and other OS) over the years, nothing personal or against W11, just personal experience over the years, but I understand where you are coming from and your intent as well.

And I am certain no one who was planning on upgrading to MS new OS promptly will be put off either, because they will upgrade based on their own personal experience, if they had a pleasant experience with early adoption, then they will continue to be early adopters (as you would expect), people are stubborn creatures (myself included), and we will continue our patterns and habits till the day we die. And indeed, lots of software does have issues, no disagreement there whatsoever

 

[hahahanoobs]

I don't think that is what he meant mate, I think he is just older like I am (I have been using MS OS since the 80's), and has had their fair share of issues with MS OS (and other OS) over the years, nothing personal or against W11, just personal experience over the years, but I understand where you are coming from and your intent as well.

And I am certain no one who was intent on upgrading to MS new OS will be put off either, because they will upgrade based on their own personal experience, if they had a pleasant experience with early adoption, then they will continue to be early adopters, people are stubborn (myself included), and we will continue our patterns and habits till the day we die. And indeed, lots of software does have issues, no disagreement there whatsoever

Sharing personal experience is one thing. Going from that to giving bad advice to a wide audience based on it is where things went south. And the caps just made it look that much less credible.

 

[mAdmAnDingo]

Sharing personal experience is one thing. Going from that to giving bad advice to a wide audience based on it is where things went south. And the caps just made it look that much less credible.

It's an online PC forums mate, it is all about personal experience, and from his and mine personal experience, it is sensible advice from our experience over the years, and there are many of us who have had issues, just as there are many that haven't. If his or my personal experience were different, then we would voice different opinions, but alas, that is not the case. And this is Techspot, we are largely tech-heads with years of experience that have already formed our own opinions, and for newbies, they need to know the potential issues if they have never upgraded an OS before, caps or no, still something that should be considered by newbie readers.

And there will be many others who have had that same/similar experience, and I would reckon a number (if not all) of those up-votes on his post would be users who have experienced similar issues (or know of others who have), so it is something others can identify with, it is not always a flawless experience for everyone, and nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution for those of us who have had issues, and it is not bad advice per say to advise others to wait for an OS to mature a little, it is the backbone of your PC, and if you use it for work like I do, then you should already take an OS upgrade quite seriously, as it is your livelihood.

And if you only upgrade a little later, then it is not a catastrophe, you lose nothing, and gain a possibly more solid and functional OS, W11 isn't going anywhere, there is honestly no rush, and I don't see any features that W11 has that require an immediate upgrade either (upgrading on day 1 isn't paramount, you wont be missing anything major), so advising others to upgrade day 1 if it does not benefit them, could also be seen as bad advice if they do have issues or don't take to the new OS. But advising all users to upgrade promptly, and advising no users to not upgrade promptly, are both extreme, and it is likely best left to the user to decide as long they are informed and capable of doing so.

But luckily it is fairly easy to just install/upgrade to W11 (when it is released I mean, unless they want to try the pre-release, but waiting for final may be the better idea for new users, and backing up sensitive/important data is also good idea when performing an OS upgrade/clean install on your main drive), and then the user can test for themselves if everything works as it should, and see if they are satisfied with the new interface as well, and keep W11 if they are content, or roll-back/re-install W10 if they are not.

The only concern is that W11 will give you only 10 days to roll back to W10 according to a previous TS article, but hopefully that will be enough time for users to test everything and decide (but if a clean-install they can take as long as they like). So no problem, I see no issues with doing that if users want to, no harm no foul, and it is to be expected from the PC community. And that is something I see a number of us on Techspot have already done with the pre-release W11 (as you would expect from our community), and some are still using it, and others have gone back to W10, so it depends on the user, and nothing wrong with a user testing for themselves.

 

[hahahanoobs]

It's an online PC forums mate, it is all about personal experience, and from his and mine personal experience, it is sensible advice from our experience over the years, and there are many of us who have had issues, just as there are many that haven't. If his or my personal experience were different, then we would voice different opinions, but alas, that is not the case. And this is Techspot, we are largely tech-heads with years of experience that have already formed our own opinions, and for newbies, they need to know the potential issues if they have never upgraded an OS before, caps or no, still something that should be considered by newbie readers.

And there will be many others who have had that same/similar experience, and I would reckon a number (if not all) of those up-votes on his post would be users who have experienced similar issues (or know of others who have), so it is something others can identify with, it is not always a flawless experience for everyone, and nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution for those of us who have had issues, and it is not bad advice per say to advise others to wait for an OS to mature a little, it is the backbone of your PC, and if you use it for work like I do, then you should already take an OS upgrade quite seriously, as it is your livelihood.

And if you only upgrade a little later, then it is not a catastrophe, you lose nothing, and gain a possibly more solid and functional OS, W11 isn't going anywhere, there is honestly no rush, and I don't see any features that W11 has that require an immediate upgrade either (upgrading on day 1 isn't paramount, you wont be missing anything major), so advising others to upgrade day 1 if it does not benefit them, could also be seen as bad advice if they do have issues or don't take to the new OS. But advising all users to upgrade promptly, and advising no users to not upgrade promptly, are both extreme, and it is likely best left to the user to decide as long they are informed and capable of doing so.

But luckily it is fairly easy to just install/upgrade to W11 (when it is released I mean, unless they want to try the pre-release, but waiting for final may be the better idea for new users, and backing up sensitive/important data is also good idea when performing an OS upgrade/clean install on your main drive), and then the user can test for themselves if everything works as it should, and see if they are satisfied with the new interface as well, and keep W11 if they are content, or roll-back/re-install W10 if they are not.

The only concern is that W11 will give you only 10 days to roll back to W10 according to a previous TS article, but hopefully that will be enough time for users to test everything and decide (but if a clean-install they can take as long as they like). So no problem, I see no issues with doing that if users want to, no harm no foul, and it is to be expected from the PC community. And that is something I see a number of us on Techspot have already done with the pre-release W11 (as you would expect from our community), and some are still using it, and others have gone back to W10, so it depends on the user, and nothing wrong with a user testing for themselves.

Your experience is your experience.
That doesn't grant permission to yell at people. A sample size of one is not a good sample size.

 

[ZedRM]

Still unacceptable and these asinine limitations will be bypassed, COMPLETELY. So, Microsoft? No Thank You, we will use Windows 11 as we need to, not as you dictate.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Still unacceptable and these asinine limitations will be bypassed, COMPLETELY. So, Microsoft? No Thank You, we will use Windows 11 as we need to, not as you dictate.

90% if consumers aren't going to be looking at tech sites to see if it's safe to use before installing I promise you.

 

[ZedRM]

90% if consumers aren't going to be looking at tech sites to see if it's safe to use before installing I promise you.

I'm not talking on behalf of those 90%. IF they want to be sheep, that's their choice. I'm talking on behalf of those people who are enthusiasts, power-users & people who have know-how and willingness to tell M$ to shove it. We're going to use Windows 11, because many of the changes they've made are cool. We are NOT going to let them tell us we have to replace perfectly good PC's because they say so and because doing so is extremely environmentally unfriendly not to mention wasteful. Very ungreen of M$. As such we will ignore their requirements and use Windows 11 anyway. Yeah, because that's how that works.

 

[hahahanoobs]

I'm not talking on behalf of those 90%. IF they want to be sheep, that's their choice. I'm talking on behalf of those people who are enthusiasts, power-users & people who have know-how and willingness to tell M$ to shove it. We're going to use Windows 11, because many of the changes they've made are cool. We are NOT going to let them tell us we have to replace perfectly good PC's because they say so and because doing so is extremely environmentally unfriendly not to mention wasteful. Very ungreen of M$. As such we will ignore their requirements and use Windows 11 anyway. Yeah, because that's how that works.

Techies and enthusiasts don't need someone screeching orders to them in the comments.

 

[mAdmAnDingo]

Your experience is your experience.
That doesn't grant permission to yell at people. A sample size of one is not a good sample siz

It's caps mate, not in person, my ears aren't ringing, and I very much doubt yours are either, and being in caps doesn't make his, mine, or others experiences any less true nor less valid (just as it doesn't make yours any less valid either), and I don't see you complaining about anyone else using caps (even others you are replying to in this very post), only when what is being said doesn't suit you.

And as I said, we are stubborn creatures, and you are just as stubborn as the rest of us, and want your voice to heard above all others, even though you are a sample size of one yourself, just like others you complain about, funny that, not a two way street for you it seems, only your experience is important, not his, mine, nor the others who up-voted the post (or the many other users out there who had issues), only your lone experience is what counts, and so only your voice is allowed to be heard, how very strange indeed, all others shall submit to your lone personal experience, as only your lone experience and opinion counts, how very hypocritical of you indeed.

Shall we make it that everyone else say only what agrees with you (after your approval of course), because only your experience counts (obviously), and we shall do so only without caps as well (unless its a post that agrees with you or doesn't bother you, then it is fine), any other conditions we should be made aware of? Or did I get them all? Or how about no one else ever post or share their own experience, and this can be your personal forum only sharing yours as only yours (and those that agree with you) is ever valid, and then you can have your purely one sided narrative determined by your experience alone? But luckily, you alone are not in charge, and we are allowed to voice ourselves, now should we just leave it at that, or would you like to continue?