Windows 11 installer warns you that you are not “allowed” for updates on unsupported PCs

Officially, running Windows 11 will require a newer PC that meets all of the operating system’s performance and security requirements. Unofficially, under Windows 11 without meeting these requirements will be possible, but we still don’t know much about the details: how difficult it will be to install Windows 11 on these machines, how often they will remind you that you are using unsupported hardware , and although they will receive normal Windows security updates.

The Verge spotted a seemingly new warning message in the Windows 11 setup app that explicitly warns users of the dangers of installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware – you may experience “compatibility issues” “, your PC” will not be allowed to receive updates, “and that” damage to your PC due to lack of compatibility is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. ” That’s all we’ve heard from Microsoft before, but this is the first time this policy has appeared during the Windows 11 installation process rather than in media reports. Once you click on this warning message, the installation of Windows 11 is apparently allowed to continue.

I have tried and failed to recreate this screen on multiple unsupported Windows 10 systems from different vintages, both with versions downloaded through the Insider program and installations directly from a manually downloaded Windows 11 ISO file. I haven’t seen any first-hand reports on this outside of the Verge report either. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen – Microsoft is always rolling out different updates for different groups of people at different times – just that I can only speculate on when you’ll actually see this message and what it means. .

I’m assuming it’s possibly intended to replace another screen that’s currently displayed when attempting a manual install of Windows on an unsupported system, a screen that completely blocks the upgrade if you don’t meet the CPU requirements, Windows 11 TPM or Secure Boot. The only way to bypass this screen and proceed with installing current versions of Windows 11 is to implement some registry changes that disable system checks. This new screen would keep the controls in place while still allowing users to perform the kind of manual, officially unsupported installations that the company reluctantly decided to allow.

Officially supported or not, many PCs released between 2015 and 2017 should be able to run Windows 11 more or less as reliably as officially supported systems. Sixth and seventh generation Intel Core processors and first generation AMD Ryzen processors always receive modern driver updates from Intel and AMD, one of the key factors Microsoft cited when reading stability. Windows 11 on newer computers. These PCs also remain perfectly capable of almost all modern PC workloads except high-end gaming or video editing, things that actually benefit new processors and GPUs with more cores and faster speeds. higher clock.

We’ll explain what it’s like to run Windows 11 on unsupported systems as part of our OS review, so that enthusiasts and testers at least have an idea of ​​what they’re into. ‘engage. Windows 11 is officially available to the public on October 5. An updated version of Microsoft’s PC Health Check app that was recently released to the public can tell you more about whether your system meets Windows 11 requirements and what you can do (if applicable) ) to repair it.

List image by Andrew Cunningham