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Microsoft just announced Windows 11 and already there are some concerns from people about not meeting the necessary requirements. The Redmond based company offers an app that will check to see if your PC is ready to run Windows 11. This Windows 11 "PC Health Check" can be downloaded from the bottom of the Introducing Windows 11 page.
Chances are good that when you run this Health Check app, it will tell you that you do not meet the requirements for Windows 11, though it will not specify why. Even those with super modern computer builds are getting this message, so don't worry about it too much.
First off, make sure that you meet the minimum requirements as outlined by Microsoft:
| Processor: | 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC) |
| RAM: | 4 gigabyte (GB) |
| Storage: | 64 GB or larger storage device Note: See below under “More information on storage space to keep Windows 11 up-to-date†for more details. |
| System firmware: | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| TPM: | Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 |
| Graphics card: | Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver |
| Display: | High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9†diagonally, 8 bits per color channel |
| Internet connection and Microsoft accounts: | Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is required for some features. |
Microsoft has also provided a list of officially supported AMD CPUs and Intel CPUs.
Notice anything out of the ordinary there? If you meet the CPU, RAM, storage, and display requirements, you may still be hung up on the fact that you now need to have Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 enabled on your machine. This is more than likely going to be the biggest hurdle for most users when it comes to getting their computers Windows 11 ready.
Fortunately, most hardware built within the past several years should have some form of TPM built into them be they integrated into the motherboard directly (usually in laptops), integrated into chipsets, integrated into firmware, as a discreet piece of hardware added to the motherboard, or even some that are software based.
Please note: If you are not comfortable messing around in your computer's BIOS, for whatever reason, do not attempt the following. Messing around with settings in the BIOS can cause severe issues if you do not know what you are doing.
Most of you probably have TPM in some form, but the problem lies in the fact that it's more than likely disabled by default in the UEFI BIOS. So what you'll need to do is you'll need to hop into your BIOS (typically done by hitting DEL as your PC boots right after turning it on). Within the BIOS should be a setting that says "Trusted Computing," or "TPM," or "fTPM" (this is for AMD machines), or "PTT" (Intel Platform Trust Technology). You will probably find that it's set to "Disabled" by default. Simply change this over to "Enabled" then save and exit from your BIOS and let your machine restart normally.
If you cannot find any of the above words or acronyms then chances are this setting will be tucked away under advanced options somewhere in your BIOS settings. You may need to hunt for it a little bit before you find what you're looking for.
If you cannot find the option, all hope is not yet lost. You may still find that the setting exists if you consult the manual for your motherboard. If you don't have your manual easily accessible, most motherboard manufacturers have digital manuals on their sites. Just be sure to search for your specific motherboard on the manufacturer's site and see if they have the manual available as a download. If it's a PDF, you can probably just search for "Trusted" or "TPM" and see if any results are found.
If you still cannot find the place to enable TPM even after looking through your manual, you may either be looking in the wrong spots still or your hardware really is just too old.
However, if you did find the option and enabled it, you can now open back up Microsoft's "PC Health Check" once you're back inside Windows. Chances are pretty good now that the check to see if you can run Windows 11 will be positive.
