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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Most PCs from the previous 15 years can run Home windows 11.
- PCs bought with Home windows 10 can normally improve after a registry edit.
- On older or unusually configured PCs, a third-party utility is likely to be required.
Editor’s notice: This text has been frequently reviewed and up to date by its writer to replicate new steering since its 2022 publication.Â
Are you the designated PC skilled for your loved ones and associates? The following time you get a name asking for assist with a Home windows PC, test to see which model it is working. If the System > About web page says Home windows 10, then they actually need your assist.Â
On Oct. 14, 2025, Microsoft formally ended assist for Home windows 10, cutting off security updates for retail clients. Anybody who has ignored Microsoft’s more and more strident warnings and continues to be working Home windows 10 is already a number of months behind, having missed the necessary month-to-month safety updates beginning in November 2025. And by Microsoft’s personal accounting, there are a whole lot of tens of millions of PCs nonetheless working Home windows 10.Â
Additionally:Â Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess
Belief me. You actually do not wish to be doing something on a PC that is lacking months of safety updates. So, what are your choices?
You’ll be able to enroll within the Extended Security Updates program, which pushes the expiration date out till October 2026. That is just a few months away.
Or you’ll be able to improve to Home windows 11. Sadly, that is not a simple project. In case you attempt to improve to Windows 11 on a PC that is greater than 5 – 6 years outdated, you will most likely encounter an error message telling you, in no unsure phrases, that outdated PC would not qualify as a result of its CPU is not on the official list of compatible processors. Additionally, you will hit roadblocks if the PC would not have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) model 2.0, or if the TPM just isn’t enabled.
That is likely to be the official coverage, however as with every little thing Home windows-related, it pays to learn the positive print. If that PC is lower than 10 years outdated and has adequate reminiscence and storage, then it is most likely price retaining, and also you can improve it.
Additionally:Â How to get free Windows 10 security patches on your PC – from now to October 2026
These pesky restrictions forestall you from mechanically upgrading to Home windows 11 utilizing Home windows Replace or the Home windows 11 Set up Assistant. But, as hundreds of ZDNET readers have reported over the past few years, there are documented workarounds for many PCs that have been initially constructed for Home windows 10. On units which are greater than 10 years outdated, although, particularly these constructed utilizing AMD processors, you is likely to be out of luck.
The directions on this article take all these components under consideration.
Additionally: Windows 10 PC can’t be upgraded? You have 5 options – and must act now
These directions additionally assume that you’ve got a PC with an x64 CPU (not ARM and never 32-bit), working a retail or OEM version of Home windows 10 (House or Professional), and that you’re signed in as an administrator on the PC you wish to improve.
You additionally want adequate free area in your system drive. The official necessities specify that you just want 64GB of free area, however an improve ought to work with a minimal of 25GB to 30GB free. If you do not have that area free, you will must uninstall apps or take away recordsdata to achieve the minimal.
Which choice do you have to select?
Please do not skip over this part.
This text describes two improve choices. To reap the benefits of the workaround described in choice 1 under, your pc should meet all the opposite necessities for Home windows 11.
- It have to be configured to begin up utilizing UEFI, not a legacy BIOS configuration.
- Safe Boot have to be supported, though it doesn’t should be enabled. (However critically, people, you must allow Safe Boot.)
- A TPM must be enabled; model 1.2 is OK, however a system with none TPM or with the TPM disabled will fail. Any PC that was initially designed for Home windows 10 ought to embrace a TPM 2.0.
To test these particulars on a PC you are contemplating upgrading, run the System Data 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’ll be able to set up Home windows 11 as a traditional improve.
Additionally: Windows 11 upgrade not working? Try my 5 favorite troubleshooting tricks
To see whether or not your PC has a TPM enabled, run the Trusted Platform Module Administration instrument, Tpm.msc.
In case your pc features a TPM and it is turned on, this app will show details about it. Below the TPM Producer Data heading, test the specification model to verify that it’s 2.0. 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.”
In case 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 choice in any respect, you will want to make use of the second choice, which takes benefit of an undocumented hack that lets you bypass the compatibility checks and full the improve. Skip to the Choice 2 part of this submit for particulars on how one can use the free Rufus utility to carry out this improve.
Lastly, notice that Microsoft added a brand new set of restrictions starting with the Home windows 11 model 24H2 replace. These modifications require a CPU that helps particular directions: SSE4.2 and PopCnt. Most PCs with Intel CPUs from 2009 or later will meet this normal. AMD CPUs from 2013 or later also needs to meet these necessities.
However it’s unimaginable to improve to a supported model of Home windows 11 on a PC that was in-built 2008 or earlier. For particulars, see “Microsoft blocked your Windows 11 upgrade? This trusty tool can (probably) fix that.”
Additionally: Microsoft said these 400 readers couldn’t upgrade to Windows 11. They did it anyway
In case you plan to carry out a clear set up of Home windows 11, you’ll be able to boot from set up media and run Home windows Setup. That choice skips the CPU compatibility test utterly (however nonetheless requires a TPM and Safe Boot assist). After the set up completes, you will must reinstall all of your apps, restore your information recordsdata, and tweak settings to personalize your system preferences.
Wish to keep away from all that problem? Select the choice that is acceptable on your {hardware}.
Choice 1: Use this easy registry edit
With this registry edit, you’ll be able to bypass CPU checks and settle for any TPM model. Please bear in mind that this feature requires that you just run the Setup program from inside your present Home windows set up. You’ll be able to’t boot from a USB flash drive and improve to Home windows 11 this manner.
This course of requires 4 steps.
That you must make one small change to the Home windows registry.
For greater than three years, this alteration was documented at Microsoft’s assist web site, however the firm eliminated these directions in December 2024. (This is an archived version of that support article.) This variation tells the Home windows 11 Setup program to skip the test for suitable 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; 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 would not exist, you want to create it. Proper-click the node for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMSetup within the left-hand navigation pane, then select New > Key. Title it MoSetup and press Enter.
Additionally: Wiping your Windows laptop? Here’s the simplest way to erase all personal data
Choose the MoSetup key after which right-click in any empty area within the pane on the precise. Select the choice to create a brand new DWORD worth. (Do not select the QWORD choice!)
Change the default title for that worth by typing the textual content AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU, after which press Enter. Then double-click the brand new worth and alter the “Worth information” field to 1. The outcome ought to appear like this:
Use this registry tweak to override the Home windows 11 CPU compatibility test. It’s essential to have a TPM (any model) and Safe Boot have to be enabled.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Verify for errors earlier than continuing. Home windows is frustratingly literal concerning the contents of the registry, and if you happen to misspell the important thing or worth title, or if you happen to create the required worth within the unsuitable location, your improve will fail. Click on OK to avoid wasting your modifications, after which restart your PC.
On the PC you wish 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.
Observe that it is a huge file. Relying on the velocity of your web connection, the obtain may take some time.
Additionally: Your complete Windows 11 upgrade guide: Everything to know – before you ditch Windows 10
For these working Home windows with a non-US language, you would possibly run into issues throughout the set up course of.
The default obtain is English (United States), however you even have the choice to decide on English (Worldwide) when prompted for a product language. A number of readers with Home windows 10 PCs configured to make use of different languages, together with English (UK), have reported that selecting the unsuitable language leads to an improve that didn’t permit them to maintain put in apps and information recordsdata. If that occurs to you, again out of the improve, obtain the opposite language choice, and take a look at once more.
After the obtain completes, open File Explorer and double-click the ISO file you downloaded within the earlier step. Doing so mounts the file as a digital DVD drive in its personal folder, with its personal drive letter.
In case you’ve put in another file compression app like 7-Zip, you would possibly get an error message complaining that the file ‘Autorun.dll’ can’t be loaded. In case you see that error, right-click the ISO file and select Open With > Home windows Explorer.
In File Explorer, discover the Setup.exe file within the digital drive you opened within the earlier step and double-click it to start the improve. You may see a dialog warning you in scary language about compatibility points and the chance that performing an improve will imply you aren’t entitled to future updates.
Do not be frightened by this dialog. Simply click on Settle for to proceed the improve.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
You’ll be able to safely click on Settle for to acknowledge that you just learn this message and proceed the improve. (For particulars on what that warning message actually means, see Is Microsoft really going to cut off security updates for your ‘unsupported’ Windows 11 PC? Spoiler: They aren’t going to chop off safety updates.) After you click on OK on that dialog, your improve ought to proceed with none critical points.
Additionally:Â Why Windows 11 requires a TPM – and how you can get around it
In case you’re upgrading from the identical version (House or Professional), you will have three choices: Maintain your apps, settings, and recordsdata (Full Improve); preserve your information recordsdata however begin recent with apps and settings (Maintain Knowledge Solely); or begin utterly recent (Clear Set up). In case you do not see the Full Improve choice, see the notice in Step 2 about language choice. Obtain the Home windows 11 ISO once more, selecting the proper language, and take a look at once more. Â
One final piece of recommendation: Watch rigorously originally of Setup for an choice labeled “Change how setup downloads updates.” To extend your probabilities of a profitable improve, click on that hyperlink and select the “Not proper now” choice. That ought to permit Home windows Setup to complete sooner. You may have an opportunity to obtain these updates after the improve is full.
In case you encounter any difficulties or if the improve fails, test this text for detailed recommendation on what to do to search out and repair the issue: Windows 11 upgrade not working? Try my 5 favorite troubleshooting tricks.
Choice 2: Use the free Rufus utility
On older PCs and not using a TPM and on PCs that do not assist Safe Boot and UEFI, you will want to make use of an undocumented hack to bypass the compatibility checker. It’s technically attainable to do that manually by changing the Appraiserres.dll file (within the Sources subfolder on the Home windows 11 installer drive) with a zero-byte model after which making a sequence of registry edits. However it’s easier to make use of the free, open-source Rufus utility to create set up media (on a USB flash drive) that features these tweaks mechanically.
To get began, obtain the latest version of Rufus. Variations sooner than 4.6 will not work, due to changes Microsoft made in October 2024 to its compatibility checking instruments. For particulars on how the newer variations work, see Microsoft blocked your Windows 11 upgrade? This trusty tool can (probably) fix that.
As well as, bear in mind that utilizing Rufus is not going to permit you to bypass the restrictions on very outdated PCs that have been launched with Home windows 11 model 24H2. When you’ve got a PC with a CPU that lacks assist for SSE4.2 and PopCnt directions, not even Rufus will help. (After all, any PC that fails that take a look at might be 15 to twenty years outdated and deserves to be retired.)
Additionally: You can still upgrade old PCs to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no: Readers prove it
To get began, you will must obtain the Home windows 11 ISO from aka.ms/DownloadWindows11. Select the choice on the backside of the web page, “Obtain Home windows 11 Disk Picture (ISO) for x64 units.” (Though Rufus provides an choice to obtain the ISO file, I like to recommend that you just get it instantly from this official web page as an alternative.)
Save the ISO file within the Downloads folder of your Home windows system drive so you’ll find it simply. You may additionally want a USB flash drive of at the very least 16GB in measurement. You’ll reformat this drive as a part of the method, so again up any information on that drive first — and don’t retailer the Home windows 11 ISO right here!
- Obtain Rufus from the developer’s site or from the Microsoft Store and run the app.
- In Rufus, select your USB drive after which select the “Disk or ISO picture” choice.
- Click on the Choose button and select the Home windows 11 ISO you downloaded earlier (trace: it is in your Downloads folder). After you make that choice, affirm that the Partition Scheme and Goal System choices match the system you intend to improve. That is particularly necessary if you happen to’re upgrading an outdated system with a Legacy BIOS quite than UEFI. (For many PCs in-built 2015 or later, the default settings will likely be right.)
- Click on Begin.
- Within the Home windows Consumer Expertise dialog, choose the primary checkbox to take away {hardware} necessities, as proven within the screenshot under. (In case you see an error message a few revoked UEFI bootloader, obtain a recent ISO file and begin over.) Modify some other settings as you favor.
- Click on OK to simply accept these modifications after which click on Begin to start creating the bootable set up drive.
You should definitely 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. Don’t attempt to improve by booting from that USB drive and performing a clear set up; it will not work.
As is the case with the opposite choice, you will see a warning about compatibility points, with the heading “What wants your consideration.” It is a scare tactic. (For particulars on what the language in that warning message truly means, see Is Microsoft really going to cut off security updates for your ‘unsupported’ Windows 11 PC?) After you click on Settle for on that dialog field, your improve ought to proceed with none critical points.
A number of readers have reported that Setup failed prematurely and displayed an error message (“An unsupported operation was tried”) when run from media created utilizing Home windows 11 model 24H2 and the most recent model of Rufus. The repair? Watch rigorously originally of Setup for an choice labeled “Change how setup downloads updates.” Click on that hyperlink and select the “Not proper now” choice, as proven right here. That ought to permit Setup to proceed with out interruption.
If Setup quits unexpectedly with an error message, attempt once more however select this feature as an alternative.Â
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
My ZDNET colleague Lance Whitney has extra particulars on the opposite choices accessible with Rufus in How to install Windows 11 your way (and avoid Microsoft’s restrictions).
In case you encounter any difficulties or if the improve fails, test this text for detailed recommendation on what to do to search out and repair the issue: Windows 11 upgrade not working? Try my 4 favorite troubleshooting tricks.
Did your improve work?
In case you’ve tried this improve, I wish to hear about your expertise. If it labored, please share the main points. In case you run into snags, ship me an e-mail so we will determine what is going on unsuitable. I’ve arrange a particular inbox only for this suggestions: Win11Upgrade (at) realworldwindows (dot) com.
Additionally: 9 things I always do after setting up Windows 11 – and why you should too
You should definitely embrace particulars just like the make and mannequin of your PC and screenshots of any error messages. In case you’re capable of create a report utilizing the SetupDiag utility, please embrace that as properly. You may discover detailed directions in my Windows 11 upgrade troubleshooting guide.Â
I am unable to reply to each submission, however I learn all of them, and I’m immensely grateful for the studies you present. That info has been invaluable over the three-plus years I’ve been retaining this information up to date.
