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Here’s how to check if your computer supports installing Windows 11, the new version of Microsoft’s operating system
Microsoft recently announced Windows 11 which is expected to be released to everyone by the end of the year. This new version has a renewed interface, a new Start menu, a taskbar reminiscent of the MacOS dock and other new features, but how do you know if your pc is compatible with Windows 11?
Will you be able to install Windows 11 on your old computer or will you have to buy a new one? In this article I will show you how to check it with some simple tools and how you can possibly immediately install this version of Microsoft’s operating system without waiting for the official release.
How to check if your pc supports Windows 11 yourself
The first method to check if your pc is compatible with Windows 11 is to compare the hardware configuration of your computer with the minimum requirements provided directly by Microsoft. Here are the minimum requirements for installing Windows 11 on a computer.
Processor : 1 GHz or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM : 4GB or more
Internal memory : at least 64GB
Firmware : UEFI, Secure Boot
TPM : TPM version 2.0
Screen : at least 720p and with a diagonal greater than 9 inches, 8 bits per color channel
Video Card : DirectX 12 compatible with WDDM 2.0 driver
Microsoft has also released a list where you can check the Intel, AMD and Qualcomm processors that support Windows 11. To check if your pc also has the TPM 2.0 module there are several ways. Below I show you some of them.
How to check if the pc has TPM 2.0?
TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module and is a small chip usually found on the computer motherboard and used to store sensitive data, encryption keys, and more. There are several ways to check if your pc has this module.
A first very quick way to check if your pc has the TPM 2.0 module is to use the Device Manager window. To do this, proceed like this.
- Right-click on the Start icon and select Device Manager.
- In the list that is shown, check that the item Safety devices is present.
- Click on it to open the submenu. If the TPM 2.0 is present you will see it indicated as in the figure below.
Another quick way to check if your pc has TPM 2.0 is the following.
- Press the WIN + R key combination.
- Type tpm.msc and press Enter.
- If the module is present, the TPM Management window opens on the local computer from which you can check the version.
Verify Windows 11 Compatibility with PC Health Check
To make it easier to check compatibility with Windows 11, Microsoft has created the PC Health Check app which can be downloaded directly from the official website. The use is very simple. After starting it, just click on the Check Now button to run the compatibility test with New Version of Windows.
A window will then appear informing you whether the PC can run Windows 11 or not. By clicking on the More information button, you can possibly find out why the computer is not compatible. If the PC Health Check application is not available for any reason, you can use WhyNotWin11.
Check Windows 11 compatibility with WhyNotWin11
WhyNotWin11 is a valid alternative to PC Health Check. Using this application is really easy. All you have to do is go to the official website, download the executable file and start it. WhyNotWin11 compares the hardware configuration of your pc with the system requirements needed to install Windows 11. A window will show you if all the requirements are met or, possibly, those that are not.
How to install Windows 11 in preview?
Windows 11 will be available soon, but if you don’t want to wait, you can already install the beta version in preview right away. Still being the prerelease version, there are still some bugs and some applications may not work properly. If you decide to install it, then, you do it at your own risk.
First I recommend that you make a backup of your data first – something could always go wrong. When you’re ready, follow these steps to install Windows latest version in preview.
- Go to the PC Settings.
- Navigate to Update & Security.
- From the left panel select Windows Insider Program.
- Sign up for the program by following the instructions shown on the page.
- Once subscribed, go to Update & Security and check for updates. If you have successfully signed up for the Windows Insider Program, you will be able to download and install the latest build of Windows 11.
How to uninstall Windows 11 and go back to Windows 10?
Windows 11 has a feature that allows you to revert to the previous version of Windows within 10 days of installation. Just go to Settings, go to System and select the Restore option to revert to the previous version.
After reinstalling Windows 10, you need to go to Update & Security and block the Windows Insider Program, otherwise Windows 11 will be brought back to you in the future. The second option to uninstall Windows New Version is to do a clean install of Windows 10 using the Media Creation Tool which will allow you to download the Windows 10