Microsoft will completely block installation of Windows 11 on older PCs

Support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025, but not all computers can be upgraded to Windows 11 using standard means, and Microsoft advised their owners not to be under any illusions – the system requirement for Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 for the current system is “non-negotiable” .

Image source: microsoft.com

The company published a blog post titled “TPM 2.0 – a must for a secure and future-proof Windows 11,” in which it made clear that it would not lower the strict requirements for the new system, even to encourage people to upgrade from Windows 10. Having this module among the system requirements The new platform was a surprise when it was announced in 2021, and today almost all modern PCs come with a TPM. This is a chip or software module that is involved in data encryption, verifies digital signatures, and is used in other cryptography-related operations.

«TPM 2.0 plays a critical role in improving identity and data protection on Windows devices and maintaining the integrity of your system. TPM 2.0 also ensures Windows 11 is future-ready. One way to do this is to help protect critical information as AI capabilities permeate physical, cloud and server architectures,” writes Steven Hosking, senior product manager at Microsoft. TPM is heavily used by security features in Windows 11: Credential Guard, Windows Hello for Business, BitLocker encryption, and Secure Boot protection.

Microsoft views TPM 2.0 as a “non-negotiable standard for the future of Windows,” so system hardware requirements will not be revised. PCs running Windows 11 must also support security features based on virtualization and hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI), meaning the system can only run on processors released after 2018.

Previously, enthusiasts found ways to run the new system on officially unsupported hardware, but over time, Microsoft began to block configuration and update functions for such machines – especially with the release of the 24H2 update. Enterprise customers can take advantage of the official Windows 11 LTSC 2024, which runs without a TPM, but processor requirements remain the same.